How successful is Conan Doyle in writing detective fiction that appeals to a modern reader?
Some people say that one of the reasons they enjoy reading crime stories like Sherlock Holmes is that order is always restored, good always triumphs over evil. Crime fiction is popular still today because there are many programmes on T.V today i.e. A Touch of Frost, Taggart, and Wire in the Blood. It is also in books like the novels of Ian Paterson. The genre is so popular because people enjoy it and there is an atmosphere of expectation in most stories. Conan Doyle was popular with the Victorian audience because the criminal's always got caught, and his stories were published in a magazine read in a parlour or on a train journey.
The basic structure of a crime story is that at the beginning there is order and all is well. Soon, however something happens usually a crime to disrupt that order. Then the detective investigates and solves the case. Finally order is restored again as good has defeated evil.
This structure is evident in 'The Man with the Twisted Lip'. For example it begins orderly at the beginning of the story as we read about Dr Watson and his wife in the sitting room just before the hour that a man goes to bed. His wife is knitting and Dr Watson sat in his chair. Then the order is disrupted when the doorbell rings and one of Dr Watson's patients Kate Whitney is at the door and she tells what's up. Dr Watson then goes to find Kate Whitney's husband and whilst there, finds Sherlock Holmes in the Opium den. The crime Sherlock Holmes has to investigate is the apparent murder of Neville St Clair. He solves the case by realising that Neville St Clair is in disguise as Hugh Boone. Finally order has been restored because Holmes gets to Neville St Clair and undisguises him as evil is defeated.
Some people say that one of the reasons they enjoy reading crime stories like Sherlock Holmes is that order is always restored, good always triumphs over evil. Crime fiction is popular still today because there are many programmes on T.V today i.e. A Touch of Frost, Taggart, and Wire in the Blood. It is also in books like the novels of Ian Paterson. The genre is so popular because people enjoy it and there is an atmosphere of expectation in most stories. Conan Doyle was popular with the Victorian audience because the criminal's always got caught, and his stories were published in a magazine read in a parlour or on a train journey.
The basic structure of a crime story is that at the beginning there is order and all is well. Soon, however something happens usually a crime to disrupt that order. Then the detective investigates and solves the case. Finally order is restored again as good has defeated evil.
This structure is evident in 'The Man with the Twisted Lip'. For example it begins orderly at the beginning of the story as we read about Dr Watson and his wife in the sitting room just before the hour that a man goes to bed. His wife is knitting and Dr Watson sat in his chair. Then the order is disrupted when the doorbell rings and one of Dr Watson's patients Kate Whitney is at the door and she tells what's up. Dr Watson then goes to find Kate Whitney's husband and whilst there, finds Sherlock Holmes in the Opium den. The crime Sherlock Holmes has to investigate is the apparent murder of Neville St Clair. He solves the case by realising that Neville St Clair is in disguise as Hugh Boone. Finally order has been restored because Holmes gets to Neville St Clair and undisguises him as evil is defeated.