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Loading... Murder in Canton (1966)by Robert van Gulik
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. It's the one book from the series I don't like, because Van Gulik kills off one of the main characters. Although he is consistent, in book one of the series he foreshadows this death in the form of a retold prophecy. ( ) I loved the twins on this one, they were quite fun for characters that appeared only briefly. The blind girl was also a nice character, and on the whole the book felt like it had a slightly different pace from the other ones. This being the last book in the series, it has a very sad air about it At first, I thought the writing style was ‘old’, that it would deter me from enjoying a smooth reading experience. It wasn’t the case, and I read it pretty quickly, enjoying the plot and twists of Dee’s investigation in Cantonese politics and murders. Only drawback: I do not know if this is done on purpose for realism in fiction or if it is authorial opinion, but the Chinese characters are often given to racism and xenophobia throughout the novel, foreign communities in Canton are nothing less than ghettos and inter-community relationships are strictly forbidden. If it is done to represent a specific era, fine, but I wouldn’t like to think it is an authorial opinion. This Van Gulik was much better than The Willow Pattern, I found it more enjoyable. In The Murder of Canton we find Judge Dee and his faithful companions going to Canton to solve the mystery of the disappeared Imperial Censor. This is a complicated plot involving Arabs (Muslims), Tanka (Chinese outcasts of low blood), political intrigue, love and lust gone horribly wrong and murder. Oh, and crickets. My problem with Van Gulik continues to be with the unnecessary nudity of women and the near misogyny. No woman seems to escape bad-mouthing or being punished for some vaguely inferred "sin." And while I understand that Van Gulik is reframing Judge Dee from seventh century Chinese stories, the appearance of two completely naked 16-year-old twins seems to be a little much. As does the half Persian half Tanka prostitute who dances nearly completely naked, except for the emerald in her belly button, for a muslim host and his Chinese guests. If, as we are led to believe, Mansur is indeed a deeply devout Muslim, no such immodestly dressed woman would have been allowed in his presence. no reviews | add a review
Awards
Brought back into print in the 1990s to wide acclaim, re-designed new editions of Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee Mysteries are now available. Written by a Dutch diplomat and scholar during the 1950s and 1960s, these lively and historically accurate mysteries have entertained a devoted following for decades. Set during the T'ang dynasty, they feature Judge Dee, a brilliant and cultured Confucian magistrate disdainful of personal luxury and corruption, who cleverly selects allies to help him navigate the royal courts, politics, and ethnic tensions in imperial China. Robert van Gulik modeled Judge Dee on a magistrate of that name who lived in the seventh century, and he drew on stories and literary conventions of Chinese mystery writing dating back to the Sung dynasty to construct his ingenious plots. Murder in Canton takes place in the year 680, as Judge Dee, recently promoted to lord chief justice, is sent incognito to Canton to investigate the disappearance of a court censor. With the help of his trusted lieutenants Chiao Tai and Tao Gan, and that of a clever blind girl who collects crickets, Dee solves a complex puzzle of political intrigue and murder through the three separate subplots "the vanished censor," "the Smaragdine dancer," and "the Golden Bell." An expert on the art and erotica as well as the literature, religion, and politics of China, van Gulik also provides charming illustrations to accompany his engaging and entertaining mysteries. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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