A doctor enjoys Sherlock Holmes by Edward J. Van Liere
“A doctor enjoys Sherlock Holmes” by Edward J. Van Liere is a collection of essays written in the mid-20th century. The book presents an insightful and often lighthearted exploration of the Sherlock Holmes stories from both a medical and literary perspective. Its main topic is the intersection of medicine, science, and detective fiction, as Van Liere, himself a physician, analyzes the medical references, scientific accuracies, and character portrayals within the Sherlock Holmes
canon. At the start of the book, Van Liere introduces his work with acknowledgments and a table of contents that signal a wide range of essays connecting Holmes' adventures to topics like anatomy, weather, poisons, and nervous maladies. The opening essay, “Doctor Watson and the Weather,” meticulously surveys how Dr. Watson frequently uses weather as an atmospheric and narrative device in the Holmes stories, offering numerous specific examples and discussing their function both as storytelling elements and as realistic details stemming from Watson's (and perhaps Conan Doyle’s) sensibilities as a medically trained observer. Subsequent sections in the opening continue this analytical and conversational style, breaking down instances of anatomical references, period medical terminology such as “brain fever,” and the depiction of poisons and psychological states within the stories. Throughout these essays, Van Liere not only shares medical facts and context but also displays a deep appreciation for the literary craft of Conan Doyle and Dr. Watson, blending medical insight with a reader’s enthusiasm for Holmesian mysteries. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
| How to read | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.html.images | 288 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.epub3.images | 304 kB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.epub.images | 302 kB | |||
| EPUB (no images, older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.epub.noimages | 230 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.kf8.images | 329 kB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.kindle.images | 299 kB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75869.txt.utf-8 | 260 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/75869/pg75869-h.zip | 264 kB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
About this eBook
| Author | Van Liere, Edward J. (Edward Jerald), 1895-1979 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 59014293 |
| Title | A doctor enjoys Sherlock Holmes |
| Edition | First edition |
| Original Publication | New York: Vantage Press, 1959. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 61.4 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. |
| Contents | Doctor Watson and the weather -- The anatomical Sherlock Holmes -- "Brain fever" and Sherlock Holmes -- Curare and Sherlock Holmes -- Sherlock Holmes and the Portuguese man-of-war -- Doctor Watson and nervous maladies -- Dogs and Sherlock Holmes -- The botanical Doctor Watson -- The surgical Doctor Watson -- Sherlock Holmes, the chemist -- Doctor Watson's universal specific -- Doctor Watson, endocrinologist -- Genetics and Sherlock Holmes -- The zoological Doctor Watson -- Doctor Watson, cardiologist -- The physiologic Doctor Watson -- Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, perennial athletes -- The therapeutic Doctor Watson -- Doctor Watson, general practitioner. |
| Credits | Tim Lindell, Laura Natal and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | American essays -- 20th century |
| Subject | Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1859-1930 -- Characters |
| Subject | Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character) |
| Subject | Detective and mystery stories, English -- History and criticism |
| Subject | Private investigators in literature |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 75869 |
| Release Date | Apr 15, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 2207 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
