The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes

The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes

  - Jamyang Norbu

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somewhere between 2.5 to 3 stars for this one, most of which are contributed by my biased interest in this topic. The gap years, which Conan Doyle left unexplained (except the cursory statement that Holmes spent most of the time in India and Tibet), are a source of great interest to any Sherlockian. And yet, though I have read quite a few Pastiche works, and know of many more, I am not aware of any other work that attempts to tell the story of this time. And so, being an Indian, an admirer of Tibetan culture and a sympathizer of Tibetan cause, this book held a great appeal for me.

I felt that thus uniquely positioned, it had a great potential, and the first half fulfills it. I enjoyed reading about the Bombay of those times, the train journey, and the journey through the hills to Tibet. I liked even more, reading about the Tibetan cultural and political context, glimpse into their religious and spiritual beliefs. Overall, it recreates the period very well, and I did learn a few things about the history of the region.

Although I haven't read Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim', I was amused to note that the author weaved in the setting from it so well into the story, specially positioning the character of Hurree Chander as Holmes's sidekick (one who is much more effective than Dr Watson). Even though I didn't appreciate the obsequious attitude of Hurree towards any Englishman or his being a great proponent of the British system (no admirer of the Raj myself), I liked the fact that the author gave him a dignity and intelligence that earned him regard even from his commanding officers.

A few incidents in the story borrow inspiration from the canon rather heavily, and I was both amused and a bit annoyed by these - when Holmes infers Hurree's chain of thoughts, burglary of an important paper followed by fire, being the most striking ones.

However, it was the last 40% that killed it for me (and also for many others, as I see from the reviews). It is heavy on occult and supernatural, combined with thrilling chase sequences. There is no deductive reasoning by Holmes - which is his USP, that makes him the most famous fictional detective of all times, or possibly even the most famous character. Holmes is more of an action hero, more of a James Bond, but with psychic abilities. Within this context, the author managed to bring in one really quirky twist (no spoilers!). There are two more twists, but one is what you could call 'too much of a good thing' and the other one could be seen miles ahead.

I so wish that the author had kept the story line within the scope of rationale thought and logical reasoning, because it had so much going for it.