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I've recently started reading the whole collection. I'm at "the adventure of the speckled band" and I was wondering if any of you have read them/what you think.

Personally I've found that it takes some getting used to the fact, that I'm not supposed to have the clues to guess the solution. Also, ejaculations all over the place.

"Watson ran into the room, ejaculating wildly," and other such quotes.

Yeah, Conan Doyle isn't a fairplay author- you're just supposed to be like "wow, Holmes is pretty damn awesome, isn't he?"

The other thing I think is interesting (assuming you're familiar with the recent revivals?) is that Watson has absolutely none of that exasperation/frustration with Holmes that every modern incarnation seems to possess.  Conan Doyle's Holmes isn't portrayed as anti-social or difficult to get along with. 

I think Holmes was supposed to be hard to get along with in the first story. That stuff about having very specific knowledge, and criticizing other fictional detectives. But that seems to have gone in the rest of the stories.

I started reading the stories because I got really into watching Sherlock and figured I should give the original a go. 

Well yeah, it's not about you solving the mysteries, it's about you watching them get solved.

Also - how else are they going to squeeze in that guaranteed $$$ buddy cop dynamic? Make Holmes a somewhat normal person? Make Watson reasonable? HA!

It was good at first, but after a while, about the third or fourth story in, I realized that you'd have to be good enough to contend with a Victorian Jeopardy champion to get to Holmes' pacing.  On top of that, Holmes only makes his speculations on key pieces of evidence right after they're shown, so the only room I get for "thinking" alongside Holmes is for the piles and piles of red herrings.  It's more like being dragged along for the ride as Watson #2 than anything.

Love me some Doyle. Sherlock is one of Literature's best creations. 

 nate