Charlie Chan Carries On

Jók ezek a békebeli detektívtörténetek. Megnyugtatóak. Itt a rendőrség még nem a korrupció melegágya, hanem tiszteletre méltó testület*, a társadalom pedig nincs jóvátehetetlenül elcseszve, a gonosztett kivétel, nem szabály, a nyomozó pedig ezért van, hogy izolálja azt, kimetssze a testből, a beteg pedig gyógyultan távozik.

Az ügy maga izgalmas. Egy kupac amerikai elindul világkörüli útra, hogy aztán Londonban egyikük botor módon meggyilkolódjon. A szimpatikus és ügyes Duff felügyelő rámakkan a témára, követi is a turistacsoportot Franciaországig, ahol újabb gonosztettek követődnek el az ismeretlen tettes ismeretlenségéből kifolyólag. Szegény Duff tehetetlen (bár mint mondottam volt, show more szimpatikus és ügyes, mi több, még elszánt és mérges is), szerencsére ott van neki jó barája, Charlie Chan, aki épp Honoluluban unatkozik (de szívesen unatkoznék Honoluluban! mint egy kevésbé szőrös és kevésbé bajszos Thomas Magnum!). Aki a kötet felénél méltóztatik is megjelenni a cselekményben.



És akkor most ejtsünk pár szót Charlie Chanról. Mert ugye a detektívtörténetek alfája és omegája a zseniális detektív. Hogy mennyire zseniális, no és persze: hogy mennyire érdekes figura. No most ez a Charlie nekem nagyon bejött. Egy nagy kövér Buddha a szentem, ajkán mosoly, szemében évezredek bölcsessége, szájától pedig illatos szóvirágokkal teletűzdelt mondatgirlandok tekerednek elő. Lótuszülésben üldögél az információk, tények és félrevezetések zűrzavarában, és addig meditál (ommmmm, ommmmm), amíg ki nem bogozza a szálakat. És kibogozza! Azt a kutyafáját!

Kellemes történet, bájos humorral, mindazonáltal kellően komolyan vesz egy olyan megbocsáthatatlan dolgot, mint amilyen a gyilkosság. Chan figurája ugyan kissé sztereotip, cukin az - és legalább nem kung-fuzik.

* Konkrétan ebben a kötetben a hivatalos szerv még csak nem is jó szándékú debilek gyülekezőhelye, mint Holmes vagy Poirot esetében, hanem profi gárda. Legalábbis a Scottland Yard, mert a kontinentális kollégák kissé komolytalan bagázs. show less

Charlie Chan Carries On is the penultimate Charlie Chan mystery written by Biggers. Chan does not even appear until the last quarter of the book. I found the build up to his appearance, even with homicides galore, to be boring. When the explanations finally come, it is oddly haphazard. As if Biggers did not know how to tie everything together and tacked on an ending inspired by one of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I honestly never know what to make of these Charlie Chan mysteries. On one hand, given that these were written between the 1920’s and 30’s, these are progressive. That is worth something as it is nearly miraculous to find a foreigner portrayed as an “intelligent” person during that period. On the other hand, it is show more racist in its portrayal of Chan as the stereotypical “oriental” man. This book doubles down on stereotypes as everyone from American gangsters to the French and Italian police come off as bad caricatures rather than fleshed out characters. Overall, this was an unsatisfying experience. show less

This particular Charlie Chan mystery got a bit stuffy towards the end. Needed a bit of airing out. But still it made for a good extension of the series. And, yes, there is a payoff to reading these Charlie Chan novels in the order they were published. It's possible, of course, to read them independently in any way or fashion. But there is an extra appreciation that comes from reading them in order, especially with Charlie Chan Carries On.

Earl Derr Biggers made a bit of an experiment in this book, bringing back the Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Duff, who featured so prominently in Behind That Curtain and allowing him to dominate the first half of the mystery. Only in the second half does Charlie reassert himself. But when he does show more so, Chan arrives as a dominant force.

By this time, in the series, there is no doubt. Charlie will get his man. It's just a matter of time. Charlie has left the somewhat hesitant Sgt. Chan of the early novels far behind. And while the earlier formula for Biggers' fiction is still at work--with the romance between high society lawyer Mark Kennaway and a beautiful young woman--that formula has seen its proportions severely changed. Kenneway is at this point in the series mere window dressing, an ornament through which only a few threads of the plot are processed. Those earlier novels, where Charlie worked hand in hand or even depended upon the high society White aristocrat are long gone. In fact, at the end of Charlie Chan Carries On, the Boston Brahmin, Kenneway, has agreed to abdicate his throne, so to speak, unlike, say, John Quincy Winterslip of The House Without a Key, who proves himself worthy of his inheritance in that book.

Still, things don't really work out as well in this book as the dedicated reader of Chan fiction might hope. So interesting had Duff's tale become that you regret his disappearance into the background during the mystery's second half. And Charlie himself operates in a more methodical workmanlike manner than in the earlier novels. The conclusion, as a result, did just that, conclude. There is not nearly the excitement of the solving of the case as in the four earlier books.

One thing of note: the mention of the Great Depression for the first time makes its way into the pages of a Charlie Chan mystery. It hovers in the background of the novel. Perhaps that is why some of the twinkle and glitter of the earlier books seem to have disappeared. show less

Not one of my favorites. Charlie Chan doesn't really even enter the picture until quite late in the book, but that's not the worst of it. I can usually suspend disbelief quite easily, but the fact that the first murder victim's daughter and granddaughter continued on their round the world journey for months after he died just seemed so weird! Where did they send the body? No funeral until a year later? These two women seemed like nice enough individuals, but they mourned for him for about five seconds and that was it. Harsh! I just couldn't get past that.

Although this is a Charlie Chan book, Charlie doesn't actually show up until the second-half of the book. Rather, Inspector Duff of Scotland Yard, whom we met in Charlie's third adventure in San Francisco, is the major protagonist in the first-half of the book.

A member of a party on a round-the-world tour is murdered in a London hotel. Inspector Duff investigates, but can't pin the crime on any of the members of the party and eventually has to let them continue on with the trip. Duff gets leave to join them and continues around the world with the tour through the middle east, India and south east Asia. He's still with them by the time they get to Hawaii, by which time several more murders have happened. While consulting with Charlie, show more Duff himself is shot (not fatally) and Charlie takes over the investigation. Charlie, of course, figures things out on the 6-day voyage from Hawaii to San Francisco.

I dunno, this was a decent enough book, but I don't think it was as good as the first few books in the series, nor the last one for that matter. show less

It's chapter 13, nearly half way through the book, before Charlie puts in an appearance, but this is one of the best of the Charlie Chan mysteries so far.

This story is set during a world tour with crimes in London, the Riviera, Calcutta, San Remo, and Yokohama, culminating with the murder of Inspector Duff of Scotland Yard in Chan's office in Hawaii. I prefer Chan cases set entirely in Hawaii, but at least the second half (roughly) of this one is set there. This is the second time Chan completes an investigation for a murdered Scotland Yard detective, the first being Behind That Curtain.