In our studio today, we would like to welcome the English literary critic Benjamin Osborne, who has just finished his new book devoted to Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous British writer.0:07
Mr. Osborne, let's start with a bit of history.0:18
Please tell us about Conan Doyle's life.0:22
Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.0:25
His father was an artist and an architect by profession, but he worked as a clerk in an office and died fairly young.0:30
The family had a lot of financial problems after his death.0:38
How did Arthur happen to become an author?0:42
Well, his mother was a very good storyteller.0:45
I think that was the beginning.0:48
He read a lot during his school years and he often told his friends long and short and interesting stories, getting sweets and cakes for that.0:51
Did he get a special university education in literature?1:01
After leaving school, Conan Doyle became a student of the medical faculty at the University of Edinburgh.1:06
In his third year of studies, he went to the Arctic as a ship doctor.1:13
After graduating from university, he sailed to Western Africa.1:19
Later he began his medical practice in a small English town called Southsea.1:24
And in 1887 he published his first detective story.1:29
Were Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson its main characters?1:34
And very soon they became the most popular characters of his numerous stories, while Baker street in London became a well known address.1:40
So Conan Doyle had his medical practice and wrote detective stories in his free time, didn't he?1:49
At the beginning of his career he did.1:55
But then in 1891, he gave up his medical work and devoted all his time to his literary activity.1:58
He also travelled a lot, visited Europe, the USA and Egypt.2:06
Did he write only detective stories?2:12
Besides detective stories, Conan Doyle wrote historical novels and two science fiction stories, the Lost World and the Poison Belt.2:15
They were quite successful.2:25
It's a known fact that Conan Doyle was so tired of Sherlock Holmes that he decided to kill him in one of the stories.2:27
And indeed the famous detective was killed during his struggle with Professor Moriarty.2:34
In the story Holmes Last Case, how did it happen that he appeared again in Conan Doyle's books?2:39
The story Holmes Last Case was published in 1893.2:47
The writer hoped that after that he would be able to begin creating other books.2:52
But his readers didn't want to lose their favorite character.2:56
And 10 years later, the famous detective appeared again.3:00
Which of the famous stories do you consider the best one?3:04
In my view, it's the Hound of the Baskervilles, though maybe not everyone will agree with me.3:08
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