The Narrative of John Smith by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Narrative of John Smith by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Narrative of John Smith in 1883 when he was just 23, living in Portsmouth and struggling to establish himself as a doctor and a writer. By that time he had succeeded in getting a number of short stories published in leading magazines of the day, such as Blackwood's, All the Year Round, London Society and the Boy's Own Paper. But, as was the accepted practice of literary journals of the time, his stories were published anonymously and Conan Doyle realised that to make his name as a writer he would have to write a novel. That novel, the first he ever wrote, and published here for the first time, is The Narrative of John Smith. More a string of ruminations than a novel, it is however of considerable biographical importance and has exceptional value as a window into the mind of the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Many of the themes and tropes of his later writing, including his first Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet (published in 1887), can be clearly seen. Via the protagonist, John Smith, a 50-year-old man confined to his room by an attack of gout, Conan Doyle sets down his thoughts and opinions on a range of subjects - literature, science, religion, war, education - with no detectable shyness or diffidence, full of bravado in the face of little professional success at that time. Although it has little in the way of plot it stands as a fascinating record of an early attempt at writing by a man who was on his way to being one of the best-known authors in the world.

Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the most popular of all English-language authors.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780712358415
ISBN 10	0712358412
Title	The Narrative of John Smith
Author	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	British Library Publishing
Year published	2011-09-20
Number of pages	138
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable