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The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes' best-known case narrated on your choice of:
- five standard audio CDs; or
- one MP3 CD; or
- an MP3 download.
The lord of the Baskerville estate, Sir Charles Baskerville, has died of a heart attack, apparently terrified, while running away from something outside the family's ancestral home at Dartmoor. Now the young Henry Baskerville, who has returned from Canada to claim his inheritance, is being followed in London, and has received an anonymous warning to stay away from the moor.
Listen, as Dr Watson takes you from Sherlock Holmes' rooms in London's Baker Street, to the brooding and barren Dartmoor. Listen, as Holmes and Watson investigate stories of an ancient Baskerville curse and reports that a strange, bloodcurdling call has been echoing over the desolate windswept landscape and dangerous boggy mire.
The Hound of The Baskervilles is one of the jewels in the Sherlock Holmes "canon". It showcases the world's most famous fictional detective at the height of his (and his author's) powers. Wikipedia says it "is considered to be one of Conan Doyle's best works as an author for its fantastic descriptive writing."
It was inspired by Conan Doyle's own personal research at Dartmoor, and regional mythology of British hell-hounds.
The story is narrated on your choice of either:
- five standard-audio CDs; or
(total running time 5 hours 55 minutes).
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LISTEN!
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Watson and Sir Henry hear the hound baying on the moor - CLICK TO LISTEN |
2 mins 11 secs (1.25 Mb) |
1 mins 55 secs (1.10 Mb) |
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Holmes questions the clerk at the Northumberland Hotel - CLICK TO LISTEN |
1 mins 56 secs (1.10 Mb) |
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Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed in movies more often than any other fictional character, and The Hound of the Baskervilles has proven, over time, to be the most popular Holmes story with movie-makers. Wikipedia lists 24 movie versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles, beginning in 1914. The best-known are:
This audio version is not associated with any of the movie versions. It is a faithful and independent narration of the original novel, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. |
About the author Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859, in Edinburgh, to Irish parents. He attended a Jesuit preparatory school, then, from the age of 17, studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After graduating he served as a ship's doctor on a voyage to West Africa, and then in 1882 set up a practice in Plymouth.
Over the course of forty years (1887-1927) Conan Doyle wrote a total of 56 short stories and four novels featuring Sherlock Holmes. His other published works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction. In 1885 Conan Doyle married Louisa (or Louise) Hawkins, with whom he had two children. She suffered from tuberculosis and eventually died in 1906. With his second wife, Jean Leckie, whom he married in 1907, Sir Arthur had a further three children. At the turn of the 20th century Conan Doyle was a notable campaigner in support of England's role in the Boer war. Soon after, in 1902, he was knighted. He was also a fervent advocate of justice, a first class cricketer, a war correspondent, historian, whaler, and twice unsuccessfully stood for election to Parliament as a Liberal Unionist. After the death of his first wife, Conan Doyle found solace supporting spiritualism and in attempts to prove the existence of life after death. By the 1920's he had also become, apparently, convinced of the existence of fairies, and published a book on the subject, including purported photographs. His beliefs in the supernatural prompted a bitter, public falling-out with his one-time friend, the American magician Harry Houdini. Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930. |
