A Study in Scarlet

I just finished reading the first novel “A Study in Scarlet” of my Sherlock Holmes-Volume 1. To describe it in one word, it is simply WONDERFUL. The novel is divided into two parts. If you have read it, you will know. In the first part, it is a perfect detective story and in the second part, a perfect blend of emotions, horror and thrill. This work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has left me mesmerized. He has established a link between the two parts of the novel so well, that even if Sherlock Holmes himself ever read it, he would not be able to find a tiny mistake in it. After reading the first part, I was very surprised when the second part started with “In the central portion of the great North American continent, there lies an arid and repulsive desert…” In fact, the description of this ‘desert’ continued for two pages and I began to doubt whether there was a link between the two parts of the novel or not. But then, the surnames of the two murdered people of the first half appeared at one point and I came to the conclusion that this was a flashback. How beautifully this flashback has been described. Whether the feelings of the young Lucy Ferrier, or the orthodox Latter Day Saints and their customs, or the vindictiveness of Jefferson Hope at every point, the descriptions are too good. If Sherlock Holmes was the hero of the first part, Jefferson Hope was the hero of the second. He carries the whole story on his shoulders. He commits his life to the revenge of the murder of his lady love and her father. He is such a patient man. After reading about him, it seems that our patience is just not enough. Why can’t we all be a bit more patient, a bit more tolerant, like Jefferson Hope?
The two parts of the novel are too different from each other. But, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle connects them with extraordinary skill. He makes the novel so touching. It’s more than just a detective novel. Unless you read it, you won’t understand that some magic is there in it too. “Harry Potter” has magic as its theme, but Sherlock Holmes doesn’t. Still, it is just as magical. Only that magic is different.