The Hound(s) of (the) Baskerville(s)
As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I was excited but not surprised to see "The Hound of the Baskervilles" on the syllabus. It is one of the bets known and highest rated Holmes novels ever. The plot has what every good mystery story normally does, or in this case what almost every Sherlock Holmes story does: a murder, a suspicious character, something to throw the readers off, and of course a wild solution that no one could have seen coming. It's a basic plot line, but yet still so enjoyable. It was only a matter of time before BBC's show "Sherlock" had its own adaptation of the beloved novel.
Though the book and the show are quite different, there are a few differences and a similarity that I want to draw attention to.
The first difference being the title. In the novel, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" hound is singular and Baskerville is plural, referring to the family that is cursed with hell hounds. The Sherlock episode is titled "The Hounds of the Baskerville". The plural word brings attention to what party is responsible, in the novel someone of the Baskerville bloodline is the murderer while in the show it is a H.O.U.N.D. member that is responsible. The second difference is how the plot is developed. In the novel the person who contacts Holmes fears for his friends life but in the television show, the person who reaches out to Sherlock is the one who fears for his life. An actual hound is used as the murder weapon or H.O.U.N.D. is the basis for a delusion. Technology plays a major role in the show, since it takes place in modern times, whereass the only technology used in the novel is telegrams.
The one similarity I want to point out is the importance of the fog. In the novel the fog obstructs the detective's view of Henry, while the fog is the mode of transportation for the chemical that causes Henry Knight's delusions. Fog is a natural occuring phenomenon that creates an ominous air. Fog is something that cna be overlooked but this can cause its necessity to slip past audience's unnoticed.
Here's a link to see how smart you are (according to Buzzfeed and Sherlock Holmes)
I think the difference in the role of technology lies in that the TV show used science as a stand-in for superstition in the novel. In the novel everyone believes in a supernatural spectral hound, whereas the people in the episode are afraid of genetic experiments and unethical research. The myths of what goes on in Baskerville labs does border on fantasy so the creators maybe be communicating that people continue to buy in to supernatural stories. For someone such as Sherlock to figure out what's actually going on he must resist the appeal to believe the impossible.
ReplyDeleteI also wondered about the differences in the names between the show and the novel. Great inferences as to why. Makes a lot of sense!
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