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Oh, this looks like so much fun! Thanks for this review.
It was! I'm really impressed by how much fun it was. It's on Project Gutenberg, btw. [Reposted to retract link] Actually, I'm not sure it is. I can't find it on Gutenberg.org and though I did find it on something called http://ebooks.gutenberg.us/WorldeBookLibrary.com, I don't know what that actually is. It was in my library via Overdrive, though.
One of my favorite series! (The Judge Dee mysteries that van Gulik himself wrote after he had translated the original story, that is.)
van Gulik seems like a really interesting guy. I was trying to figure out how good his translation is considered to be, but couldn't find any info on it. They just seem so very modern--the ending of the Weeping Widow one is almost TV-style. Nice that he continued the Judge Dee stories well. I think I might try some Judge Bao ones next...they're actually even a little bit earlier.
Though van Gulik himself was apologetic about not having strictly adhered to T'ang (or, for that matter, Ming) era stylistic patterns in a effort to make the story accessible to 20th century readers, his htranslation of the original Chinese story is fairly renowned -- he was, in addition to being a diplomat, an acknowledged Sinologist and expert on Chinese history, which incidentally also comes through very nicely (in a good way, that is) in his own Judge Dee mysteries. You learn a lot about T'ang era Chinese society, philosophy, justice system etc. "in passing", without him ever talking down to you. He also illustrated his own stories in true "period style" ink drawings; he was a gifted artist to boot ... (Can you tell I'm a fan? :) )
I really like his afterward. He makes it very clear just how much he venerates the system and culture, and the research he's done really comes through--like the fact he read the original penal code to compare Dee's actions against it. I'll have to hunt down his continuations....nothing better than well-researched historical mysteries!!
Agree -- that's what I like about them as well! :)
Well, thanks, Carly. Another one for the TBR pile. Sounds very interesting.
Payback :) I'm reading Bridge of Birds right now and really enjoying it. In comparing the two, I also think Bridge of Birds does a really nice job capturing the style. I really need to read more non-Anglo books.
Wow, I had no idea these were so well-known! Films, huh? I'm a stubbornly book-oriented person, but it's nice that they're getting increased recognition.
They're not very faithful -- neither to the storylines nor, for all I can see (which isn't any deeper than the surface level), do they seem to be tremendously accurate historically; basically it's Judge Dee goes Jackie Chan. But I agree, it's nice to see there are movie adaptations at all!
I haven't seen the Sherlock Holmes movies--errors and changes make me foam at the mouth, so I've been warned to stay away--but in some ways, I think they might be recapturing something lost in the early adaptations. Book-Holmes is something of an action hero; "Have you your revolver, Watson?" is probably one of his catch phrases, and the dude can unbend a bent iron poker (Speckled Band) and quite often ends up subduing criminals by force. My absolute favourite adaptations of Holmes are the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison as Holmes. I think they really manage to capture both his depressive, introspective side and his manic wackiness.
ordered from the library. :) thanks!
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