Also Shop International: (Not all items available internationally)
The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson Editorial Review:
While employed as a violinist by the Paris Opera in 1891, Sherlock Holmes discovers many surprises: the reappearance of his great love and a series of bizarre accidents allegedly arranged by the "Opera Ghost", an opponent more than equal to Holmes in cunning.
Customer Reviews:
Entirely Satisfying.
Having read all of Meyer's Sherlockian novels, I found this to be at least as good as The Seven Per Cent solution, probably better. These two novels pair Holmes with characters who are at the very least equal to the task of dealing with or against him. Anyone who has read The Phantom of the Opera must be intrigued by the character of the Persian, and Meyer treats us to the alternative possibility that it was none other than Holmes who followed Erik to his underground home. Wonderful stuff!
I, on the contrary, enjoyed it. . .
Having now read all three Nicholas Meyer pastiches based on the Conan Doyle series, I must say that "The Canary Trainer" is the least satisfying of the three--however, middling Meyer is better than no Meyer at all. In the by now familiar device of having Holmes come into contact with famous real or fictionalized characters, Sherlock meets Gaston Leroux, Christine, his longtime affair d'amour Irene Adler, and the Phantom of the Opera himself. While I enjoyed the novel, I still hold out hope for Holmes to tackle "Red Jack" and the Whitechapel Murders--the Jack the Ripper case for which Holmes was originally invented.
"Canary Trainer" for the birds as far as Phantom concerned
Depending on how rabid a Holmes fan you are you may or may not enjoy this book. I happened to have been listening to the audio book of "The Sign Of Four" (the second Sherlock Holmes book) immediately before sitting down to read "Canary Trainer". So I can tell you that Nicolas Meyers does an excellent job of copying Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tone and writing style. If I hadn't known better in switching from one book to the other, I would have guessed that they had the same author. However, having read some, but not all Sherlock Holmes stories, I can't vouch anymore than that for Meyer's accuracy.
However as a POTO story I have to say The Canary Trainer really leaves a lot to be desired. Now I realize that any author that tries to believably squeeze Sherlock Holmes into POTO is going to have to make some changes to the basic Phantom storyline. However, Meyers makes a number of small changes to POTO canon for seemingly no reason that only serve to alienate Phantom fans(such as merging Carlotta and Sorelli into the same character, or giving the opera ghost elegant handwriting).
These small changes could be overlooked had the rest of the story been strong. However Meyers removes all sympathy we have for this almost-Erik (oh yes, did I mention that the Phantom isn't called Erik? He's given an entirely different name). He's just your average, run of the mill psycho. We feel no sympathy for him and he is given no moment of redemption. Christine is presented as being almost mentally challenged and Raoul is barely present. And the poor Persian - well he may actually be glad for once of being entirely left out of this story.
So although I felt "The Canary Trainer" had good potential initially by the end I was severely disapointed. And kind of annoyed. Because although Meyers has obviously done meticulous research and taken great care to make sure his Holmes is as close to the original as possible, he seems to have no qualms about being as inaccurate as he wants with Phantom Of The Opera - even when the changes he makes seem to be for no reason. And it amazes me that although Meyers has high praise for Leroux in the acknowledgements, he completely misses the core of Erik's character.
Phantom Of The Opera fans stay away.
A Satisfying Tale for the Holmes Fan.
I really enjoyed this book, perhaps more so than other reviewers because I've never seen "The Phantom of the Opera" and if I read the book, it's decades ago, so I came to this with an open mind. And I'm reading it because it's a Sherlock Holmes story. I've read and re-read the originals and enjoy the pastiches if they capture the voice or essence of Doyle's work.
I read Meyer's first two Holmes books but missed this one somehow for over a decade. It's as good as the earlier ones, I think. Holmes is telling the story and it sounds like him and what we have of Watson is very Watson-like. Holmes as an orchestra violinist is believable. And what fun it is! What a villanous villain Nobody is. And what an attractive bunch of characters, the innocent Christine, helpful, friendly Ponelle. Holmes is not a man who cultivates friends. Even "that woman" turns up wearing her masculine disguise. And that labyrinth of basements beneath the Opera House. I haven't a clue if the really exist or if they figured in "Phantom", but they made a fine setting for this story.
I recommend that you read it for all these reasons.
A dissenting opinion
I've read all three of Nicholas Meyer's Sherlockian pastiches, and oddly enough, this one's my favorite. Yes, it lacks Watson, yes, everyone already knows the story of the Phantom of the Opera, and yes, Meyer stupidly describes a real-life character as dead when he was actually very much alive - but the plot is fast-paced, and Holmes makes a good enough narrator that Watson's absence doesn't hurt as much as it might. Although it has Irene Adler in it, Meyer knows better than to turn the book into a romance. In fact, Holmes' reaction to Adler's presence is nicely ambiguous; while he's clearly attracted/fascinated by "the woman," he just as clearly wishes she'd go away and leave him alone! Get it from the library and see if it appeals to you before you buy it.
Related Categories:
>> >>Books >>Subjects >>Literature & Fiction >>General >>General
Closer Look
