this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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Are all Sherlock Holmes books like 'A Study in Scarlet'? (literature.cafe)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Karl@literature.cafe to c/books@lemmy.world
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I read that one and thought it was only mildly amusing because of the setting. The mystery itself wasn't that interesting. Is the first book the runt of the litter or are all of them like that?

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[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

There is a name for this but I forget.

When a novel cultural element becomes so iconic that it establishes new norms, it appears to later generations as derivative, predictable, and unoriginal. Think of Sugalhill Gang, Die Hard, or Superman. Before Sherlock Holmes, there's no such thing as a detective novel or a crime procedural or a hero of deductive reasoning.

By now, we've seen mystery stories derived from Sherlock Holmes, remixed and refiltered thousands of times. But imagine how astonishing it would have been.