There are some timeless characters in the history of English literature who not only stood the test time but became even more radiant over the centuries. The list of such magnificent characters includes detective Sherlock Holmes’ name, crafted by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle. Sir Conan Doyle belonged to a Scottish family. Professionally he was a physician who later turned into a writer.
Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 22, 1859. He was raised in an austere and affluent Scottish household. The credit for developing Doyle’s creativity and vivid imagination goes to his mother as he professed once in his biography. His father was an alcoholic who couldn’t earn as much praise for his work of art as his son, though made a name for himself. It was his mother who took immense pleasure in recounting bizarre stories. Doyle spent a huge chunk of his childhood hearing these stories from his mother with great enthusiasm mutually shared.
For educational purpose Doyle was sent to England where was enrolled in Hodder Place, Stonyhurst and later at Stonyhurst College. The boarding-school experience was harsh and unpleasant for him. Eventually, he found a way to deal with the rough treatment and immersed himself in the art of storytelling. Despite having a flare for storytelling Doyle went to University of Edinburgh to study medicine, astonishing his parents. At the same university Doyle also happened to meet eminent future writers Robert Louis Stevenson and James Barrie.
While pursuing his degree he made his writing debut with a short story named, The Mystery of Sasassa Valley. Later he wrote Captain of the Pole Star inspired by his adventurous journey on a ship as a surgeon. On his return Doyle relinquished his Catholic faith as he found himself immensely invested in Spiritualism. He practiced medicine as an oculist but as it did not work out for him, he found refuge in writing. It was his studies that facilitated him to emerge as a remarkable writer.
One of his mystery novels, A Tangled Skein, was published in 1886 after his marriage. Doyle’s other works include A Duet with an Occasional Chorus (1899), Beyond the City (1893) and The Stark Munro Letters (1895). These works were deemed highly autobiographical by the critics. Other genres like the historical fiction were not left untouched by him as he wrote about Napoleonic Era in The Great Shadow. Moreover, he explored his experience of conversion to Spiritualism in his letters published in a weekly periodical. In fact, he worked hard to share his learning of spiritualism in his works, History of Spiritualism, The Land of Mist and The Wanderings of a Spiritualist.
He finally got the much awaited break with the release of A Study in Scarlet, introducing the phenomenal detective Sherlock Holmes. Doyle drew inspiration for this exceptional character from his professor Dr. Joseph Bell. Dr. Bell was a surgeon with an eccentric attribute of reading people by deducing telltale signs in their appearance. Doyle penned down over 50 stories based on the character of Sherlock. Late 19th and early 20th century marked as the height of his writing career as he continued to write Sherlock novels. In order to concentrate on his Spiritual writings he abandoned Sherlock Holmes series by killing off the character. However, later he was made to bring back the character by popular demand.
A prolific writer like Arthur Conan Doyle proved in himself in multifarious genres of writings. His genius was highlighted in his literary works which ranged from poetry, historical fiction, spiritual works, non-fictional writings to sci-fi and fantasy short stories.