Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Influence on Twentieth Century Detective Literature

             There are many different books, in many different genres. There are
             horror novels, love stories, suspenseful books, and detective stories. The
             detective story's evolution has been a long and eventful process. The man
             responsible for the biggest leap in the detective story was Arthur Conan
             Doyle. He gave the world Sherlock Holmes, who could be considered the
             greatest investigator in detective story history. Holmes was unique in
             detective story history. "... The reader's interest is captivated not only by
             the detective's "unique methods," but to perhaps to even a greater degree
             by "the singular personality of this remarkable man" (Sayers 10). Doyle
             also gave the world Dr. Watson, Holmes' sidekick. Other authors could
             have written about this pair, but none could match Doyle. "Doyle was a
             master storyteller" (Snow, 8). Without Doyle the detective story would
             never have been what it is now. Cresterton states, "With Conan Doyle, the
             detective story at last came to full fruition" (Cresterton, 170). This
             statement is true. All detective stories after Doyle's had some of the
             aspects of his stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle shaped the way detective
             stories were written in the twentieth century by using a third person limited
             perspective, using a structured plot line, and by having Holmes investigate
             Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the first detective story author to make
             good use of the third person limited perspective. Holmes' sidekick Watson
             is a smart man, but he could not compare to the brilliance of Holmes.
             When Holmes was figuring out a mystery, he often left Watson very
             confused. Holmes would do things that, to Watson, would make no sense.
             At the end of the story, however, Watson would see the logic behind
             Holmes' actions. This quote is Watson thinking about the case he and
             Holmes were working on. "Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen
             what he had seen, and yet f...

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