Literature

Arthur Conan Doyle Interview

Arthur Conan Doyle was a very interesting man. He’s best known for writing what may be the most logic-driven character to ever exist, Sherlock Holmes, in stories which time after time proved the seemingly mystical to have rational causes. While doing so, he also spent most of his life investigating and publicly supporting spiritualism, often famously promoting acts that were later debunked.

This is an interview that was posted on Reddit earlier in the week in which he explains how he decided to approach writing the Sherlock Holmes stories. He’s clearly fed up with the character and is much more interested in his spiritual investigations. I don’t know if there are many other videos of him out there, so it’s a neat find, even if he is a bit harsh on Watson. You get to see his dog and hear his old-timey Edinburgh accent!

2 Comments

  • Lady Disdain

    Thanks for posting this, I had no idea that one of Sir ACD existed! It’s so bizarre (and also wonderful) to be able to hear him speak. Also, I can’t believe he called Dr. Watson stupid D: I realize that tons of adaptations have caricatured him that way, but to hear Doyle saying it is just depressing. And reading the comments on youtube, someone’s mentioned that he based Watson on himself, too . . .

    • Rob

      It feels like he was just fed up with a lot of it and wanted to focus on his spiritual pursuits, so maybe he was just being overly critical. Compared to Sherlock, Watson was stupid, but that’s a reflection of Sherlock’s genius more than anything. Maybe he had started to relate more to Sherlock than Watson by the end…

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