A review by ladynerd
The Narrative of John Smith by Jon Lellenberg, Arthur Conan Doyle

4.0

Reading this gave me the feeling that I was listening to my grandpa talk- except instead of stories of his youth, I got opinions of the man who would later write the Sherlock Holmes stories. It was quite a fascinating read, actually, even though this isn’t your typical novel- there aren’t any “characters” or even much of a plot, but the writing is very smooth and fun to read. It’s humorous at times, and I found myself agreeing with him on many accounts. It was a cozy read all in all.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“We may rouse our souls to some supreme effort, but we cannot steel them against the slow sapping of a sordid commonplace existence.”

Or this:

“Of what practical value is a faith which is so delicate that it must be screened off from every gust of controversy?”

And of course:

“There’s nothing I hate so much as idleness- except perhaps labour.”