SHORT STORY SERIES - The Mystery Of Sasassa Valley by A. Conan Doyle

With the recent quality of short stories I have been coming across, I think I might just become a full-blown short story fan and abandon modern literature, haha. No, I am kidding, but seriously; short stories are quite fascinating. I know it sounds convenient and somewhat odd, but I do enjoy going for bestsellers and classics. I do also read new authors, randos and all, but I'd look out for a bestseller first or a classic. I feel like I have some catching up to do.

In my search for 'the best', I stumbled on a collection of short stories by Americans. Then I saw Conan Doyle's work and that was it. If you don't know who he is then you must be taking a p*ss. "THE SHERLOCK HOLMES GUY". This piece is Conan Doyle's first published short story.

The story starts off with two young Englishmen who lament their ill luck and decides to travel away from their country to another in search of greener pastures. On getting to the foreign country, things didn't seem to make any turn for the better until one night, when a friend and neighbor of theirs came over to narrate a story of a ghost. Little did they know of what adventure awaited them and the turn their life was about to take.

Everything about this story satisfies me. Conan Doyle was a well-established author and this story only proved testament to that. I will try and isolate some noteworthy things about the story so you would understand my take. First off, he narrates the story in the first person. He takes the character of 'Jack Turnbull' and tells the story with every detail. This makes you have a more deep and enjoyable experience while reading it. The details are factual and accentuate his overall style and lexicon. He makes his story real. For example, at the end of the story, he tells the reader to actually travel to South Africa and ask of him (the character). That was a great piece of comic relief, albeit I can't ascertain anything. As someone that enjoys details and a thorough description of scenes, Conan Doyle does that finely in this story. Something controversial though was the use of some ethnic slur. I honestly do not know what to make of them, but they do not alter the primary purpose of the story. This is a wonderful piece of literature I'd recommend to everyone. I will also rate it 4.5/5.