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Title: Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee = Dee Goong an: An Authentic Eighteenth-Century Chinese Detective Novel (Detective Stories) by Robert Hans Van Gulik, Robert Hans Van Gulik ISBN: 0-486-23337-5 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 August, 1976 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A different approach to Judge Dee
Comment: Was this the first of the Robert Van Gulik Judge Dee mysteries? It reads like a first novel. Or perhaps the sinologist wanted to present something closer to a real Chinese mystery. In this book the Judge's assistants seem one-dimensional; they do not work well together and there is no camaraderie; and the Judge himself is a bit stiff compared to other Judge Dee books.
An aspect of this book that suggests it predates others is the inclusion of unecessary accounts of travelling when nothing much happens. Similar to cheap TV westerns that consume time by showing the hero riding left and then right across the screen this book wastes pages reporting on journeying from one town to another. In other books the author omits such detail unless some incident occurs during the travel.
The author was fascinated by the traditional Chinese mystery story, but worried that western and contemporary sensibilities would not understand when characters began long discourses in arts or philosophy that thrilled the original scholarly audiences. However, perhaps to give a taste of the real thing, in this book the author interrupts the story midway with an "Interlude" or divertisement in which three actors perform in a traditional skit.
The story is set in the 7th Century when the monarchy had absolute and divine power. However the punishment meted out in this book seems more severe and horrifying than in other Judge Dee stories. Interrogating suspects by such torture is not usually encountered by western readers. The ones in this book are extreme and gruesome. Other Judge Dee stories do not depict such vindictiveness.
Despite its many awkward aspects this book contains the usual brilliant, bizarre and fascinating solutions to the featured mysteries that are the hallmark of the Judge Dee series. Perhaps this ought to be recommended for reading AFTER all the rest.
Rating: 4
Summary: Different type of mystery novel
Comment: This is a reprint of a detective novel written in the 18th century that is set in 7th century China. Written by someone well versed in Chinese law, it outs three of Judge Dee's most famous cases together into one novel. Judge Dee was a district Magistrate, a combination prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner (if necessary). Magistrates had pretty wide authority to interrogate anyone, and use any method to get a confession, including beatings and torture. But, if a Magistrate executed someone who was later found to be innocent (for instance), the Magistrate was executed.
In the first case, a pair of silk merchants spend the night at a hostel in a certain town. The next morning, just outside of town, one of them is found dead. The local Warden (the town policeman) immediately accuses the hostel owner of killing, then robbing, the merchant, something the hostel owner vigorously denies. The second case involves a young bride who is poisoned on her wedding night. In the third case, a young widow and her mother live alone. The widow's husband died a year previously under less than clear circumstances. Not only does the young widow lock herself in her room for half a day every day, she also gets very angry and belligerent toward her mother whenever any men come around; not just potential suitors, but any men. As Judge Dee investigates, and interroagtes both women, the circumstances of the husband's death get more and more mysterious.
Chinese detective novels are very different than their western counterparts. The culprit is introduced in the beginning of the story, and the interest is in seeing how the crime is solved. They tend to get very detailed, especially concerning the method of torture and execution, so a length of several hundred pages is common. This novel is one of the shorter ones that are available.
For mystery lovers who want to read a very different type of novel, this is worth checking out. Agatha Christie has little to fear from Chinese detective novels regarding competition, but it is still worth the reader's time.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great fun for mystery fans
Comment: This book is a novel based on an actual character, Judge Dee, a Chinese magistrate who lived around 700 A.D. and whose job responsibilities involved solving local crimes. The Chinese detective story is different from what we are used to in that we know right off the bat whodunit; the fun is in watching the criminal be tracked down and caught. The three crimes in this novel, none of which are connected to each other, include a hardened criminal who robs and kills two merchants; an adulterous woman who murders her husband to live with her young lover, and a young student suspected of killing his bride on their wedding night. Aided by four trusty henchmen -- two reformed highwaymen, an old family servant, and an erstwhile con-man, Judge Dee unravels the tangled clues until he brings all the perpetrators to justice. Van Gulik shows us, in his excellent translation, that the ancient Chinese justice system, although harsh, was fair to all, and that no one was exempt from deserved punishment whatever their age, rank or gender. This book is a lot of fun for anyone who is interested in things Chinese, or who just enjoys a good, well-written detective story.
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Title: The Chinese Maze Murders: A Chinese Detective Story Suggested by Tree Original Ancient Chinese Plots (Gulik, Robert Hans, Judge Dee Mystery.) by Robert Hans Van Gulik, Robert Van Gulik ISBN: 0226848787 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Chinese Nail Murders (Judge Dee Mysteries) by Robert Hans Van Gulik ISBN: 0226848639 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1977 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
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Title: Chinese Bell Murders (Judge Dee Mysteries) by Robert Hans Van Gulik ISBN: 0226848620 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1977 List Price(USD): $8.94 |
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Title: The Chinese Gold Murders (Judge Dee Mysteries) by Robert Hans Van Gulik, Robert Hans Van Gulik ISBN: 0226848647 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1979 List Price(USD): $7.60 |
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Title: The Phantom of the Temple: A Judge Dee Mystery (Judge Dee Mystery) by Robert Hans Van Gulik ISBN: 0226848779 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
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