The short stories in The Amateur Cracksman by E.W. Hornung definitely took some time and patience for me, while reading. I must say I did not find any of the stories interesting, and if I did, it was on the last few pages. It was a pain to read merely because I was looking for something that was not there. I kept looking for some of the common elements of detective fiction, and it was difficult to even do that. The first element I was looking for, which in my opinion is the most essential element, was the central, mysterious crime. I kept reading and re-reading trying to figuring what Raffles and Bunny were trying to detect, but it seemed like all they actually did was rob. Never mind my interest not being there; I kept trying to figure out the point of the stories. Were they supposed to be satirizing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? Or perhaps, were they satirizing an aspect of British culture? If so, then that made a little more sense.
Upon reading “The Ides of March,” it took me an hour or so to finish it because I kept stopping to do other things; anything was better than reading that particular story. It was only until the last two or three pages, after the robbery, that I kind of sort of became interested in Raffles and Bunny, and noticed more similarities between Holmes and Raffles, as well as Watson and Bunny. After reading “A Costume Piece,” which was the most interesting story to me, I found a wonderful adaptation of it which helped me to better understand the story and the rest of the readings. I definitely can see where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle takes credit for being Hornungs’s inspiration because of the narration. Dr. Watson is almost always narrating Sherlock Holmes’s stories, just like Bunny is almost always narrating Raffles’s stories. Also, another obvious example is Bunny being Raffles’s sidekick, just like Dr. Watson’s is Holmes’s sidekick.
One thing that I would argue in another paper is the excessive closeness between Bunny and Raffles in the adaptations; it is a different closeness than Holmes and Watson, and even House and Dr. Wilson. In the adaptations, the thought of the two being lovers crossed my mind several times; however, I did not think that while reading the stories. Overall, did I enjoy the stories? No. I enjoyed the adaptations though. But as Sherlock Holmes said: “. . . I think there are few finer examples of short-story writing in our language than these . . .” (Bleiler). Was this detective fiction? Ehhh, a cheap-shot answer would be yes because we are reading it in a class about British detectives. However, that is not my answer. Going strictly by the commandments, P.D. James’s characteristics of detective fiction, and other class discussions, this does not classify as detective fiction. Possibly towards the end of the class, new elements will occur that will classify The Amateur Cracksman as detective fiction. However, if not classified as detective fiction, credit must be given where it’s due, “and though Sherlock Holmes would forever remain the most popular fictional character, Raffles would rapidly become the second most popular fictional character of the time”(Bleiler).
Works Cited (with links): 2.A Costume Piece. Dir. Christopher Hodson. By Phillip Mackie. Perf. Anthony Valentine and Christopher Strauli. N.d. 2.A Costume Piece. Web. 25 June 2014. Bleiler, Richard. “Raffles: The Gentleman Thief.”http://www.strandmag.com/raffles.htm. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2014. http://<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.strandmag.com%2Fraffles.htm>.
MsStopYourCrime 
” I kept trying to figure out the point of the stories.”
I think the stories are a kind of parody of the Sherlock stories. They are similar, in that they have a main man and his sidekick as the focus, but they are different; the stories are concerned with the injustice of robbery, not the justice of solving a crime (ala Sherlock). I found myself rooting for Bunny and Raffles, hoping they would pull of another spectacular crime. I did not like Raffles’ ambivalence toward murder. I think “justice” is preserved. Bunny is caught and Raffles probably dies at sea.