4 - Traditional Readings, New Theoretical Critiques (1971–1990)

Summary

The number of academic publications focused on Doyle's fiction grew appreciably beginning in the 1970s. Most criticism focused on Holmes, but the attitude of scholars was changing: Doyle's detective sto-ries were no longer viewed as simple entertainments. Additionally, during these decades Doyle's heirs waged a series of court battles to control his estate, originally managed by his surviving sons. In 1965 Adrian Conan Doyle moved many of his father's possessions to a château in Switzerland and established a Sherlock Holmes Museum there. After Adrian's death in 1970, Denis Conan Doyle's widow sued to have the estate inventoried so it could be sold, generating a long-lasting squabble over ownership and future control. Family members and relatives by marriage bickered over copyrights, memorabilia, and (perhaps most important for scholars) papers left behind when Doyle died. As long as these papers were with-held from the public, scholarly inquiry remained seriously hampered.

Two Sensational Publications

In 1974, two books were published that generated renewed interest in Holmes and Doyle among the general reading public. The first was a novel. Of course, fiction based on the Holmes stories had appeared spo-radically in the years after Doyle's death, but the principal audience for these adaptations, sequels, prequels, and “new” adventures were diehard fans of Holmes. Twenty-nine-year-old writer and film director Nicholas Meyer's The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1974) fills in the gap in Holmes's biography between his “demise” at the Reichenbach Falls, related in Doyle's 1893 story “The Final Problem,” and his “resurrection” years later. In Doyle's 1903 story “The Empty House,” Holmes describes to Watson his activities during this period, but Meyer creates an alternative scenario to explain Holmes's mysterious absence: Holmes was not “in the wind” at all, but at Watson's insistence was committed to the care of the up-and-coming Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud in an effort to treat Holmes's cocaine addiction. Unlike many Holmes stories written by oth-ers, Meyer's novel reads much like Doyle's tales, and its appeal extended far beyond that of typical mimicry. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution became an international publishing sensation. The novel spent forty weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. It was reviewed favorably in influential popular magazines, including Time (August 12, 1974) and the Saturday Evening Post (March 1975). The novel even received notice in academic circles.