Did Jack read Sherlock Holmes stories?

[Sherlock Holmes]

How may one be sure of that?

One can not be sure

regards
Sherlock Holmes

[Ginger]

In the case of the Whitechapel murders, there are No built-in clues; NO anagrams; no cunningly hidden errors that only the "great detective" can reveal.

How may one be sure of that?

[Robert]

"Great heavens, Holmes! He's removed everything from her mouth to her anus."

"Alimentary, my dear Watson."

[Sally]

Given the mutilations suffered by the victims...could the hound of the Baskervilles have been involved?

Excellent point! Your surname isn't Watson by any chance, is it?

[andy1867]

Given the mutilations suffered by the victims...could the hound of the Baskervilles have been involved?

[Phil H]

No - because the answer did not lie in deduction.

Conan-Doyle created situations with clues which could then be unravelled.

In the case of the Whitechapel murders, there are No built-in clues; NO anagrams; no cunningly hidden errors that only the "great detective" can reveal.

Note that in the films which pit Holmes against the Ripper, both Christopher Plummer and Johnny Depp go up against the "royal conspiracy", so have something to unravel. John Neville had a somewhat different task, but the film distorts events.

Phil H

[Sherlock Holmes]

could Sherlock have solved this case?

[Phil H]

your grandmother was mrs Hundson? was she a landlady?

With that name she certainly didn't live at 221B Baker St.

On the theme of the thread - no, I doubt whether "Jack" (assuming only one killer for a moment) was of a class or in a financial position to read fashionable magazines.

If he wasn't dead or incarcerated by 1991, moreover, he would have missed most of the canon.

Phil H

Oh and Sherlock was an creation of Arthur Conan-Doyle. Sorry to be a spoil-sport.

[Sherlock Holmes]

your grandmother was mrs Hundson? was she a landlady?

[Steven Russell]

do you think he (sherlock) existed

Odd you should ask that. My great great grandmother's name was Hudson and I have recently come into possession of a remarkable diary contained in a tin box said to have belonged to her...

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Steven Russell]

What would a real felon have thought about a fictional detective?

Good question!

I would imagine that Jack would have had a rather low opinion of the real police and would have rejoiced in what he saw as his ability to outwit them. Still, he may have given them some grudging respect as his profile rose (no killings in October and MJK indoors). But it seems to me that a person capable of doing what Jack did would have been so utterly self-absorbed, and so completely lacking in empathy, that he would have considered himself to have almost superhuman powers. And therefore be beyond the grasp of the police.

As for Sherlock Holmes, while he did make his debut in 1887, he was not widely known until 1891. So it is unlikely that Jack had heard of him during the crimes. Of course, there were other fictional detectives before Holmes and no doubt our man was aware at least of the type if not specific examples. It would not surprise me to learn that Jack was even more contemptuous of these literary creations that he was of their flesh and blood counterparts.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Sherlock Holmes]

do you think he (sherlock) existed

[K-453]

As an agnostic, I'm NEVER sure.

[Sherlock Holmes]

what makes you so sure Sherlock was fictional?

[K-453]

What would a real felon have thought about a fictional detective?