7:23 a.m. - 2012-03-25
BOOK NOTES: SHERLOCK HOLMES
So what's the deal with Watson's wound? In "A Study in Scarlet" he tells us that he took a bullet in the shoulder while serving in Afghanistan (some things never change), but in "The Sign of the Four," the wound is in his leg. Then by the time we get to "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor," Watson describes it only as a wounded LIMB. No Conan Doyle fan would ever believe that Watson was a malingerer, feigning injury in order to collect his small military pension, but he doesn't give any evidence of memory problems in other areas. My best hypothesis is that Watson was wounded twice during his stay in Afghanistan: His first wound was in the leg, but he continued to serve once it was healed. Later he took a bullet in the shoulder, and it was the second wound that led to his medical discharge. As time passed it was the older leg wound that gave him the most trouble, so that's the one he talks about the most.

Other inconsistencies: In "A Scandal in Bohemia," the housekeeper is named Mrs Turner, not Mrs Hudson. No explanation is given. And a Scotland Yard detective named Athelney Jones in "The Sign of the Four" has been rechristened Peter Jones for "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League." We know it's the same detective because he mentions working with Holmes on the earlier case. Maybe Peter was his middle name and he decided to go with that.

Holmes knows right away, or almost right away, that James Windibank and Hosmer Angel are the same person in "A Case of Identity," but Superman/Clark Kent has been fooling people for years just by putting on a pair of glasses. No wonder we think of Holmes as a genius.

In "The Five Orange Pips," Holmes tells Watson, without any apparent sadness, that Watson is his only friend. In "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," there is a large reward offered. Peterson, the commissionaire, is the person who found the gem, but after Holmes takes it into his possession, there is no mention of Peterson again. No wonder Holmes doesn't have many friends.

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