The creator of “Sherlock Holmes” hated him!
It is said that “Arthur Conan Doyle” hated the Sherlock Holmes character he created himself. But what was the reason for this hidden hatred that brought this author to the height of fame and fortune?
Charso Press: Historian Lucy Worsley says that Arthur Conan Doyle hated his creation, Sherlock Holmes detective stories, and blamed the character of the detective for the lack of visibility of his outstanding historical stories.
After the Sherlock Holmes crime stories appeared in a magazine in 1891, Doyle was catapulted from obscurity to world fame and knighted 11 years later.
Conan Doyle was trying to find a publisher for his Sherlock Holmes stories, and after being rejected by several publishers, the stories were finally accepted by a fourth publisher, who said it was exactly what they were looking for: Style!
Holmes stories were profitable for Conan Doyle, but the author decided to kill off the character after making enough money, and in one story in 1893 threw him over a waterfall in Switzerland. However, a decade later, when an American publisher offered him $1.6 million, the author was tempted to revive the character.
This historian writes: “Although Arthur Conan Doyle is famous as an author who borrowed from Sherlock Holmes, he privately hated the character because he thought that the success of these crime stories meant that his other historical and outstanding works were never seen.” And now, 93 years after his death, most of his historical novels have not been read, while his cheap – but beloved – detective remains forever in people’s minds.
Sherlock Holmes is the most popular fictional detective in history. “Conan Doyle” wrote four novels and 56 short stories about this mastermind’s pursuit of criminals using the detective’s observational skills and powers of deduction. Most of the stories are narrated by Holmes’ assistant Dr. Watson.
The Sherlock Holmes stories have been adapted for stage, film and television, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Cushing, Roger Moore, Ian McKellen, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Jonathan Pryce among those who have played the detective.
Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh and trained as a doctor before turning to writing. He made two unsuccessful attempts to enter parliament, and after the death of his son, he became attracted to spiritualism. This writer died in 1930 at the age of 71 due to a heart attack.