Sherlock’s Legacy Lives On

Written by Jon Williams

News emerged last week from the Toronto International Film Festival that Sir Ian McKellan, the renowned British actor who has played such legendary characters from Shakespeare and Charles Dickens throughout the course of his storied career, and who is known these days for his portrayals of Gandalf and Magneto, is set to take on yet another larger-than-life role: famed detective Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes, one of the great literary characters of all time, first appeared in the pages of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet. The character went on to star in another novel (The Sign of Four) and a number of short stories (collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes) before Doyle killed him off in “The Final Problem,” published in 1893.

For most characters, that would have been the end of the line, but not so for Holmes. Public outcry over his death (including from the author’s own mother) led Doyle to bring the intrepid sleuth back for another adventure in 1902’s The Hound of the Baskervilles before resurrecting him for good in 1903’s “The Adventure of the Empty House.” That and twelve other Sherlock stories were collected in The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905). The fourth and final novel, The Valley of Fear, wasn’t published until 1915; it tells of a Holmes adventure set before “The Final Problem.” Two more story collections followed: His Last Bow (1917), and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (1927).

Doyle passed away in 1930, but to the delight of detective fiction fans everywhere, his greatest creation did not follow him into the grave. There are any number of tales from other authors detailing the further adventures of Mr. Holmes. A number of them are collected in The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which includes stories by such names as Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. Dust and Shadow by Lindsay Faye pits Holmes against Jack the Ripper, while The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz was the first non-Doyle Holmes novel to be authorized by the late author’s estate. There’s also the Young Sherlock Holmes series for young adults by Andrew Lane, detailing the youthful exploits that shaped the detective’s experience.

In fact, Sherlock film featuring McKellan will be adapted from another of these later tales. A Slight Trick of the Mind, a 2005 novel by American author Mitch Cullin, features Holmes in his twilight years, struggling to solve a mystery from his past through the mist of his own failing memory.

As this upcoming film serves to remind us, the Holmes tradition is not strictly a literary one, but a dramatic one as well. The most visible current example is the series of films (the first in 2009, the sequel in 2011; a third is currently in the early stages of development) starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and his faithful companion Dr. Watson, but it is not the only one. The CBS television series Elementary updates Holmes’s setting to modern-day New York City, while the BBC series Sherlock (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson) does the same in London.

As the Guinness Book of World Records lists Holmes as the most portrayed fictional character, there are literally hundreds of other films and TV shows available. Basil Rathbone is perhaps the most famous (and certainly the most prolific) Sherlock, but the famed detective has also been played by such actors as Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Charlton Heston, and Christopher Plummer, just to name a few.

Clearly, Sherlock Holmes has proved to have staying power, capturing the imagination of readers and viewers for over 125 years. In addition to the multitude of titles listed here, be sure to SmartBrowse the character’s name on our homepage to explore even more audiobooks and DVDs you can offer your Holmes-hungry patrons.

Hot This Week: September 9

The Mark Wahlberg-Dwayne Johnson action flick Pain & Gain, from director Michael Bay, takes the top spot on this week's DVD list. Four new titles grace the CD chart, led by hard rockers Avenged Sevenfold. Louise Penny's latest Chief Inspector Gamache mystery knocks The Cuckoo's Calling from fiction's top spot, while the non-fiction list sees only familiar titles.

DVD

1. Pain & Gain
2. Olympus Has Fallen
3. 42
4. Mud
5. The Big Wedding
6. Scary Movie V
7. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
8. Admission
9. Killing Season
10. Identity Thief

 CD

1. Avenged Sevengold, Hail to the King
2. Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
3. Big Sean, Hall of Fame
4. Juicy J, Stay Trippy
5. Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines
6. Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
7. John Mayer, Paradise Valley
8. Various Artists, Alabama & Friends
9. Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
10. TGT, Three Kings

Fiction

1. How the Light Gets In, Louise Penny
2. The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith
3. Inferno, Dan Brown
4. Mistress, James Patterson and David Ellis
5. And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini
6. The Whole Enchilada, Diane Mott Davidson
7. Bones of the Lost, Kathy Reichs
8. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
9. Night Film, Marisha Pessl
10. The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon 

Non-Fiction

1. The Liberty Amendments, Mark R. Levin
2. Zealot, Reza Aslan
3. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
4. Happy, Happy, Happy, Phil Robertson and Mark Schlabach
5. Lawrence in Arabia, Scott Anderson
6. The Butler, Wil Haygood
7. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand
8. The Duck Commander Family, Willie and Korie Robertson and Mark Schlabach
9. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris
10. The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown

Carol Burnett to Receive Comedy Award

Written by Kyle Slagley

As one of the most groundbreaking female comediennes of the past 50 years, I thought it entirely fitting when I read that Carol Burnett is to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor next month at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Burnett, now 80 years old, made appearances on a variety of TV comedy programs throughout the 1950s, but her career got a big jolt when she landed the role of Princess Winnifred in the Original Broadway Cast of Once Upon a Mattress in 1959. After that, her career was on the fast track, and by 1967 she had successfully realized her dream of fronting her own variety show, The Carol Burnett Show, which won 22 Emmy Awards during its 11-year run.

As if honoring a legendary clown like Burnett wasn’t enough, the ceremony itself is a veritable who’s who of funny people, particularly today’s top comediennes. Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway, two of Burnett’s oldest friends from their days on The Carol Burnett Show, will be hosting the event.

Julie Andrews, who co-starred with Burnett in the TV special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, will likely sing a song or two during her portion of the event. Other actors who will be in attendance include Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, and Maya Rudolph. Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Burnett’s idol and mentor Lucille Ball, will also help pay tribute.

Ever the laugher, when told she would receive the award, Burnett reportedly commented, “I can’t believe I’m getting a humor prize from the Kennedy Center. It’s almost impossible to be funnier than the people in Washington.”

The ceremony will take place on October 20, and will be broadcast on PBS on November 24.

Gentlemen Take to the Road

Written by Jon Williams

I recently had the great pleasure to attend a Gentlemen of the Road Tour stopover event. British folk rock band Mumford & Sons put together these stopovers to bring an event to smaller towns that rarely see big-name musical acts come through. In this case, it was a two-day music and culture festival that took over the entire downtown area, with more than 30,000 people cramming into the high school football stadium to check out a wide variety of bands.

The music kicked off Friday evening with Half Moon Run, a Canadian rock band whose debut album, Dark Eyes, came out earlier in 2013. They brought a folky sound of their own, and their hit “Call Me in the Afternoon.” They were followed by deep-voiced singer-songwriter Willy Mason,whose most recent album is 2012’s Carry On. Then came Phosphorescent, aka Matthew Houck, whose atmospheric vibe began garnering acclaim with his 2007 release Pride, carrying it through Muchacho, which came out in March of this year.

Friday night’s headliner hit the stage around 9:30. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros managed an intimate performance despite the size of the venue, with singer Alex Ebert jumping down into the crowd to share the experience with fans and hear their stories. The twelve-member collective were joined by Marcus Mumford for “All Wash Out,” from their second album Here, and they finished up with the emotional “Home,” from their debut, Up from Below. Their self-titled latest album was just released in July.

Saturday was a full day of music, with the stadium opening to the public at noon and the first band, the up-and-coming Bear’s Den, taking the stage at 1:45. The second band, Those Darlins, brought a Nashville-tinged rock sound with them, playing songs from their two albums, Screws Get Loose and Blur the Line. One act that I particularly enjoyed was Justin Townes Earle (son of outlaw country singer Steve Earle, and named for singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt), who played a mellow brand of bluesy country-rock. His most recent album, Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, was released in March of 2012; he mentioned during his set that he’s working on a new one.

Afterwards, the Vaccines performed the most straightforward rock music heard during the weekend, which can be found on their albums  What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?  and Come of Age, and whose song “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” is included on the soundtrack for the hit HBO series Girls. They were followed by Americana favorites Old Crow Medicine Show, who performed their hit “Wagon Wheel” (from their full-length debut O.C.M.S.) to the extreme delight of the crowd, which sang along at the top of their lungs.

And then it was time for the headliners. Mumford & Sons themselves took to the stage around 8:30 and played for nearly two hours. They played fourteen songs from the albums Sigh No More and Babel (the 2013 Grammy Winner for Album of the Year) in their main set, with the rain coming down during “Thistle and Weeds” being a nice touch. After leaving the stage briefly, they then came back out for a five-song encore which included covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and the Beatles’ “Come Together.”

All in all, it was two incredible days filled with phenomenal music—some from bands I knew, and some from bands I’m eager to hear more from. If your patrons like Mumford & Sons (and trust me, they do), be sure to treat them to CDs from this wide range of artists invited to perform with them at these rare, amazing stopover events.

Hot This Week: September 3

Scary Movie V and Killing Season make their debuts on the post-Labor Day DVD chart. Luke Bryan keeps his #1 spot on the CD chart, with four new titles following him, led by the latest from rock superstar John Mayer. The familiar names remain the same at the top of the fiction list, with the latest in the Sword of Truth series from fantasy author Terry Goodkind leading a trio of newcomers. The non-fiction list also remains mostly the same, with The Butler making its first appearance, buoyed by the movie starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.

DVD

1. Olympus Has Fallen
2. 42
3. Mud
4. The Big Wedding
5. Admission
6. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
7. Scary Movie V 
8. Identity Thief
9. Bullet to the Head
10. Killing Season

 CD

1. Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
2. John Mayer, Paradise Valley
3. TGT, Three Kings
4. Jimmy Buffett, Songs from St. Somewhere
5. Earl Sweatshirt, Doris
6. Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines
7. NOW That's What I Call Music 47
8. Teen Beach Movie Soundtrack
9. A$AP Ferg, Trap Lord
10. Jay-Z, Magna Carta Holy Grail

Fiction

1. The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith
2. Inferno, Dan Brown
3. Mistress, James Patterson and David Ellis
4. And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini
5. The Third Kingdom, Terry Goodkind
6. Night Film, Marisha Pessl
7. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
8. The Kill List, Frederick Forsyth
9. The Husband's Secret, Liane Moriarty
10. The English Girl, Daniel Silva

Non-Fiction

1. The Liberty Amendments, Mark R. Levin
2. Zealot, Reza Aslan
3. Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg and Nell Scovell
4. Happy, Happy, Happy, Phil Robertson and Mark Schlabach
5. Lawrence in Arabia, Scott Anderson
6. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand
7. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris
8. The Butler, Wil Haygood
9. The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown
10. These Few Precious Days, Christopher Andersen