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    A Slight Trick of the Mind
    A Slight Trick of the Mind
    A Slight Trick of the Mind
    Audiobook7 hours

    A Slight Trick of the Mind

    Written by Mitch Cullin

    Narrated by Simon Jones

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    This beautiful literary novel imagines Sherlock Holmes at age ninety-three.

    His phenomenal mental acuity diminishing and the emotional life he had always resisted pushing its way to the surface, the world's greatest detective is forced to confront the most baffling mystery of his career, that of the meaning and significance of his own inner life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateApr 21, 2005
    ISBN9781598871968
    A Slight Trick of the Mind

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    Reviews for A Slight Trick of the Mind

    3.5/5

    156 ratings19 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Either I'm missing something, or this is the saddest book I've ever read, which went nowhere.
    • 4/5
      This is the novel the recent movie Mr. Holmes was based on. I haven't seen that yet; I wanted to catch it while it was in theaters, but for one reason and another I never got to it. So, while I'm waiting to watch it on DVD, I figured I'd read the book.It centers on an extremely elderly Sherlock Holmes, whose once-unparalleled mind now suffers from lapses of focus and memory. He makes a visit to post-WWII Japan, becomes a sort of paternal or mentor figure to a young boy with a talent for beekeeping, and relates the story of a case he investigated decades earlier, but none of it is really about any sort of plot. Instead it's about the character, and about themes of memory, loss, and the irrational mysteries of human life.And I am so very torn about it. Because all of that sounds good, and it is good, really. The basic concept is a powerful one, Holmes and his cognitive issues are handled sensitively and well, the themes are rich, and there are some genuinely poignant moments. And yet, I can't help the feeling that I expected it to do more for me, somehow, to make me feel more. Instead, it's a mostly well-crafted thing that I appreciated intellectually, but that never quite engaged me the way I wanted it to. I find I keep thinking about this sketch Mitchell and Webb did about an elderly Holmes suffering from dementia. That thing existed solely as the punchline to a running joke about comedy shows dropping the jokes and getting all serious and emotional at the end, and yet, embarrassing as it is to admit, it made me want to cry. I think I wanted this to make me want to cry. And it never quite did.Nevertheless, I do still very much want to see the movie. I'm very curious to see what Ian McKellan will make of it. Who knows, maybe he'll make me want to cry.
    • 2/5
      Started out well enough and then got very combobulated!
    • 5/5
      Yes, this is a book about Sherlock Holmes, but it is not a mystery novel; it is a melancholy meditation on age, death, loneliness, and love. How sad it is to watch a great mind such as Holmes's fading. His few friends are gone; after two devastating world wars, his world itself is gone; and yet he survives. He studies, writes, keeps his bees, and even makes the occasional human connection. The book is beautifully written, displaying a deep love for the character and the stories. The portrait of the 93-year-old Holmes is interwoven with his own recounting of a case from many years earlier, one that brought little to solve except for the mysteries of the human mind and heart. His journey to postwar Japan is not as well-integrated with the rest of the novel as it might have been, but it does show us a Holmes who, at last, has begun to understand the psychology of love and loss, as well as why the truth is not always what is most important. I see that some reviewers are disappointed, perhaps having expected more detection. However, those of us who love Sherlock—especially if we ourselves have been dealing with the decline of body, senses, and mind that comes with age—can find in this novel, despite its sadness, some understanding of Holmes and ourselves.
    • 3/5
      It is 1947, and the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, now 93, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse with his housekeeper and her young son. He tends to his bees, writes in his journal, and grapples with the diminishing powers of his mind. That is the premise that this book is based on. In reality it could be any old man and indeed it may have been better if it was because using the name Sherlock Holmes leads to a certain expectation No?

      Well written but disappointing.
    • 5/5
      I was quite captivated with the movie, “Mr. Holmes’. The story lines, the characters, the acting, the gorgeous scenery - the word ‘captivated’ aptly describes my feeling for this film. As I read more about the film, I discovered that the film was based on the book, ‘A slight trick of the mind’ by Mitch Cullin. Of course, I had to read the book. The book and the film diverge in some areas, but the book also fascinated me.Several threads move in and out of this spider web of a story: Mr. Holmes’s frequent lapses of memory and his growing, panicked awareness of his waning mental abilities; his writing of two very important last works - his ‘Whole art of detection’ and a last/ultimate treatise on bee-keeping; his hives and bees; his relationship with his housekeeper’s son, Roger; a visit to post-Hiroshima Japan; and a mystery from his past, The glass armonica.There is a great sense of the time period in this story; a great sense of character; and an insightful writing of the aging process and its emotional effect on a person’s mind.The book is very ‘atmospheric’, in that I felt I was actually observing Mr. Holmes in past and present activities, not just reading about him.I would highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      A sad story about an ancient Sherlock Holmes who has lost almost everything.

      Typically not the type of book I read. Very sentimental and subtle. However, as a sherlockian, I enjoyed it. Very plausible and fitting description of what the twilight days of Sherlock Holmes might be.

      A film version is in the works staring Ian mckellen.
    • 3/5
      I decided to read “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin in order to get a sense of the new Sherlock Holmes movie (2015 release) titled “Mr. Holmes” which is based on the book.The main story is set in post WW2 Britain (and Japan) finding Holmes retired and bee keeping on Sussex Downs. The chapters jump around from one reminiscence to another and then back to Holmes’ present. Sherlock is losing his memory, and the confusion he experiences may well be experienced somewhat by the reader due to the layout of chapters.Many previous reviews point out that this isn’t a typical Sherlock Holmes mystery and that those wanting one should look elsewhere. This is true. I was hoping, really hoping, for a good, interesting mystery, that isn’t there. However, I found myself not really minding. WHY?The book was rich in details and Holmes was spot on character wise. I could picture the characters in their settings and didn’t find anything objectionable about the portrayal of Sherlock. While not at all what I was expecting, I read the book cover to cover in a day, getting very emotional at times as the book's themes were familiar to me. Holmes' loss of memory is not the only focus. Through the aged Sherlock, the author explores fear, abandonment, suicide, and death. Loss is a mystery we all experience, that not even Holmes can solve. If that isn’t something you want to spend time thinking about, skip it.As far as the movie, I will see it. I am still hoping they write a little bit more of a mystery in it.
    • 4/5
      Sherlock Holmes is in his nineties, his beloved friends are all dead, and he lives alone with his housekeeper and her son in the country. He is vaguely aware that he is suffering from dementia. His favorite pastime in his old age is beekeeping, and he teaches his housekeeper's son, Roger, about bees as well. This book, with a somewhat muddled timeline, follows Holmes's musings upon return from a trip to Japan, where he visited Hiroshima, among other sites. His Japanese host invited him to Japan in the hopes that Sherlock might be able to shed light on his host's father, who died in Britain after a visit to Holmes. Interspersed with this story are sections from a manuscript Holmes is writing about a case he took many years ago, where he was smitten by a woman he was investigating.The major themes of this book are aging and the nature of memory, as well as the nature of love. Holmes' memory is fading and muddled. He reflects on the nature of love, and on several loving relationships he has been involved in or missed out on: Holmes is not known for being an affectionate man, and in his last days this haunts him.Not surprisingly, this is a really depressing book. There are several different threads to the story, and I don't think they come together very well. Pretty much the only common theme to them is regret. I think you could take out any one of the story lines and it wouldn't have much of an effect on the overall novel.
    • 3/5
      This is a story of Sherlock Holmes, although not one that most readers would probably immediately recognize, but of a 93-year-old Sherlock in 1947. My immediate disclaimer is that I've never previously read any Sherlock Holmes stories. I obtained a copy of this book (audiobook) because somewhere I'd seen a good review & had added it to my wishlist.This particular novel is a layered one, with three seemingly very different storylines, although all three centering on Holmes: one in the present-day 1947 with Holmes as an aging man, and the other two as flashbacks to previous Holmes adventures. I suspect that this probably is a well-written book with fairly deep meaning. The problem is that I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate it as such. Without having a real background for the Holmes character as created by Arthur Conan Doyle, I didn't have a good reference point for comparison, so I had to judge the character as presented solely in this novel. I found the 93-year-old Holmes an unpleasant, crotchety old man, with his characterization not much improved when comparing it to his younger self. I was mildly interested in the separate story lines, but I couldn't really see how they fit together as a whole, and even by the end of the novel, I wasn't much enlightened. The basic problem is that I just never really became engaged in this novel. There were lots of rambling paragraphs and I felt my mind often wandering when listening, waiting for it to end. Alas, I did at least learn something about two items that I previously knew nothing about, or had even heard of. I had to Google both "royal jelly" and "armonica", but I do now feel at least a little smarter than I did before.
    • 5/5
      I was expecting a faux Sherlock Holmes mystery, this was a great surprise. It’s Sherlock when he’s very old, declining mentally and physically, and thinking back on his life in the recent and not so recent past. There are three interweaving narratives that all come together in the end, but none of them the mystery story I was expecting. Extremely well written, melancholy, and full of heart.
    • 5/5

      A Slight Trick of the Mind is yet another retelling of the Sherlock Holmes mythology. As a younger person, I loved all of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, so I suppose it's no surprise that I've been drawn to some of the retellings that are floating around the fiction shelves from this century. Last year, I read a bunch of the Laurie King mysteries that feature an aging Sherlock Holmes partnered with Mary Russell. I thought that A Slight Trick of the Mind would be in a similar vein. I was totally incorrect, but in a good way.

      A Slight Trick of the Mind takes place when Sherlock Holmes is in the twilight of his life. Mitch Cullin paints a picture of the detective that the reader has never seen before: an aging and forgetful Holmes whose mind is still sharp, yet softened by the ravages of age. He walks with two canes and writes down incisive comments only to forget what they mean minutes later. This book weaves together three slightly disperate narratives. The first is the present day, where Sherlock Holmes has befriended Roger, his housekeeper's son. Roger shares his passion for bees, and Holmes has been semi-tutoring the boy. The second is the recent past, where Holmes went on a trip to post-WWII Japan to locate the origin of the prickly bush, from which royal jelly is made. The third is a story that he is writing about a case he worked on and an ephemeral woman who touched his life. The three stories intersect obliquely, as they all deal with love, loss and learning. Through the lenses of three different people (Roger, Matsuda, and Mrs. Keller), we see a softer, gentler side of Sherlock Holmes.

      If you are looking for a book that has a lot of excitement and a quick paced plot, you can leave this one in the shelf. However, if you are interested in reading a beautiful book that explores concepts of memory and love and the human psyche, then by all means start reading. I highly recommend this.
    • 4/5
      I feel very melancholy, having read this book. It's so quietly sad all throughout. The story weaves a long-past exploit of Sherlock Holmes into the story of a tired, sad, almost doddering Holmes who is nearing the end of both his physical and mental strength. It felt lonely.
    • 3/5
      Not as good as it sounded. I was really disappointed. It just seemed very disjointed. I am a huge Holmes fan, but this one did not do it for me.
    • 4/5
      Certainly this was a challenging novel to write both because it is much longer than a typical Sherlock Holmes story, which if sticking to the actual works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are all much shorter, and because it attempts to imagine what Sherlock would be like many many years ahead of they young vibrant Sherlock we have come to love and admire. I thought I would find I disliked a portrait of Holmes as an elderly man, especial one that is senile and forgetful, but this was not the case. Understanding that this is Cullin's own take on a well known character and excepting this fact, so that I cleared away false expectations of how the character should be written, once submersed in the story it became quite a believable reality. What struck me most was how effectively Cullin portrayed the mental state of an elderly person struggling to maintain his dignity and composure whilst his mind lapsed between reality and memory - the margin blurred between the two. I felt enriched by the experience of sympathizing with this man whose shoes anybody might find themselves in. This underscores the false belief we have in the enduring nature of our mental faculty. Any of us fortunate enough to live to the ripe old age of 93 would be quiet lucky to still have their wits still with them.Although it wasn't a nail-biting, can't put it down book, I fully enjoyed listening to it (audio-book with very good narration). I think it's good to mix in these slower paced stories along with the far flung and fast action ones for a balanced literary diet. And if you need another reason to read this book, you can learn a few things as well, especially about bees, glass harmonica's, post war Japan, prickly ash, and the health benefits of royal jelly. :)
    • 5/5
      Mitch Cullin takes the very familiar literary character of Sherlock Holmes and puts him in the seemingly unlikely setting of 1947 post-war England. The aged Holmes is long-retired from detective work, tending to bees, writing his memoirs, and beginning to lose his mental faculties. His only companions are his housekeeper and her bright son Roger of whom Holmes begins to take on as a protegé with even some paternal feelings. Three stories are intertwined - Holmes life at his rural cottage and growing mentor ship to Roger, flashbacks to a recent trip to Japan after the atomic bomb attacks where he went to collect botanical specimens, and a his own written account of a case and a woman who continue to haunt him. This is a very different Holmes than ever presented by Conan Doyle yet fitting seamlessly into the oeuvre. It's a sad account of a very human side of Sherlock Holmes that is reminiscent of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.
    • 3/5
      Set a couple of years after the end of World War II, this book takes a new look at that famed detective, Sherlock Holmes. Now 93 years old, Holmes is physically frail, walking with the aid of two canes and frequently napping. Moreover, while his wit is still sharp as ever, his memory is not. He is constantly struggling with trying to remember events which has just occurred, although his memory of long past events is fairly intact. No longer a detective, Holmes busies himself studying honeybees and homeopathic remedies. Interspersed in this narrative of the elderly Holmes struggling to fight off the effects of aging are two flashback narratives. The first is Holmes recalling a recent trip to Japan, where on search for prickly ash - a plant he believes is a homeopathic remedy, he discovers a long-lost mystery. His host's father went to England many years ago on business and never returned. The last his family ever heard of him was in a letter he sent, noting that Holmes advised him to stay on in England permanently. But Holmes cannot remember the man, despite the insistent prodding of his host. The second narrative is a case Holmes has decided to write about, despite it being about 40 years after the fact. The case involves a young couple, a glass armonica, and possible witchcraft. Holmes finds himself entranced by the young wife, an infatuation that is still with him as an elderly man. I'm a bit ambivalent on this book. I liked the structure of the book, and I think the author did a fine job of moving from narrative to narrative. However, many questions raised are never fully or satisfactorily answered. In addition, some bits of the narrative, particularly the "present" narrative, were a bit dull with the excessive level of detail given on the mundane. I most enjoyed the narrative of the old case of the glass armonica, but although Holmes states he knows the mystery's conclusion toward the beginning of the case, the reader is still left with unanswered questions. Overall, the book's themes and events are rather depressing, so definitely do not read it if you are looking for something light. However, if reading something somewhat dark does not bother you, you might enjoy this title.
    • 3/5
      Finished this on December 3, 2007. It took a long time for me to read, mainly because it was one of five or so books on my bedside table, and also had to compete with O and Cooking Light.I did like the book. It was a little obtuse at times, but I need to get over needing everything whacked over my head. It was a different perspective on Holmes, Holmes The Aged.
    • 4/5
      This is, in a way, a homage to the Sherlock Holmes books the way Tilting at Windmills was an homage to Don Quixote. But this one goes further beyond the character's original portrayal while still remaining recognizably the same one. Holmes is, in 1947, 92 years old, caring for his bees, as he is cared for by his housekeeper & admired by her son, who has, almost against Holmes's will, become something of a beekeeping apprentice for whom Holmes has come to care deeply. Holmes has also recently returned from a visit to a correspondent in Japan and sees there the devastation caused by the war. He is repeatedly asked to answer why deeply troubling things happen & to come to grips with the reealization that the meaning of human tragedy is much more elusive, much more difficult to solve than the mystery solving that made him famous. I'm sure this book was asking me as a reader to make far more connections than I was able to make, but I never felt that it was pretentious or that my failure as a reader diminished by appreciation for the author's ability to plumb the depths of a human soul who by his nature tended to resist such probing questions.