conan doyle john smith

Before there was the astute detective Sherlock Holmes and his capable compatriot Watson, there was the opinionated Everyman John Smith. In 1883, when he was just twenty-three, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Narrative of John Smith while he was living in Portsmouth and struggling to establish himself as both a doctor and a writer. He had already succeeded in having a number of short stories published in leading magazines of the day, such as Blackwoodâ??s, All the Year Round, London Society, and the Boyâ??s Own Paperâ??but as was the accepted practice of literary journals of the time, his stories had been published anonymously. Thus, Conan Doyle knew that in order to truly establish his name as a writer, he would have to write a novel. That novelâ??the first he ever wrote and only now published for the first timeâ??is The Narrative of John Smith.

 

Many of the themes and stylistic tropes of his later writing, including his first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarletâ??published in 1887â??can be clearly seen. More a series of ruminations than a traditional novel, The Narrative of John Smith is of considerable biographical importance and provides an exceptional window into the mind of the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Through John Smith, a fifty-year-old man confined to his room by an attack of gout, Conan Doyle sets down his thoughts and opinions on a range of subjectsâ??including literature, science, religion, war, and educationâ??with no detectable insecurity or diffidence. His writing is full of bravado.

 

Though unfinished, The Narrative of John Smith stands as a fascinating record of the early work of a man on his way to being one of the best-known authors in the world. This book will be welcomed with enthusiasm by the numerous Conan Doyle devotees.