Of its time and period

The story/stories is very much a typical Judge Dee classic. It might be helpful if readers/listeners understand that the setting of the story is several hundred years ago and that the Chinese legal system of that period generally required confessions and put little or no restrictions on how confessions were obtained. The stories are not detective stories as we have become accustomed, nor are they whodunnits, they are more about tactics.

I read a lot of these stories many years ago but this is my first audio version. The accents and voices in this example are not great and the performances were wooden and lacking any nuance or subtlety.

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Great book great narration.

judge dee books are a great read. They capture a China echoes of which can still be seen today.

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Excellent study of Judge Dee. recommended

Definitely worth a listen. This collection on intertwined stories is well read and very entertaining

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judge Dee

extremely profound and amazing. loved it. characters are not balnd and tasteless as they are in agatha Christie or Doyle. this is a glimpse into a culture where science and mystical is intermingled to astonishing extent. great voice too.

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Excellent

Very clever, and an accurate depiction of traditional Chinese social, legal and judicial practices. All bound up in three intriguing cases.

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Great story

Lots of detail, Glimpse into another culture. Interesting characters and crimes. Engaging to listen to.

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Very entertaining

I really enjoyed the novel. The laboured exposition and introduction and epilogue I can happily live without. But the actual novel sandwiched between all the waffle at each end? Excellent!

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tremble and obey

a really fascinating book as it takes you out of your comfort zone into an entirely different culture. this had the effect of making me take a look at our own traditions and also the literary conventions of our own detective fiction. this book does not conform in any way.

the narration was a little irritating at first but perfect for the content as many audios are 'performed' which would not be appropriate in this case, bear with it, the book itself takes over very quickly.

the three cases are all worked at the same time but are separate and Judge Dee has to face many challenges both from his superiors and of public opinion. the three plots are quite different yet combined in the time-frame give the book it's strength.

the cherry on the cake is the commentary at the end which had so much information that I would have preferred it to have been at the start.

I paid full price for this book and it was worth every penny. so, for those with open minds, go ahead you won't regret it. shame this is the only one.

tremble and obey!

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A Case study into Chinese detective writing

The charm of the book comes from the way it gently introduces a western reader for the old Chinese tradition of detective writing. The end contains a long epilogue by van Gulik which describes the genre as a whole and the ancient Chinese penal code. Therefore a certain level of interest to the subject is necessary in order for the book be entertaining.

I stumbled across this book having read van Gulik’s own fictional adventures of judge Dee. This book, being actually +200 years old text, gives a nice reference point to van Gulik’s own stories.

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Misleadingly described reading of an integrating and entertaining book

The first thing to say is that the book itself is interesting and entertaining. The text I would give four stars. Regarding the audiobook, the description "Read by Mark Bramhall and a full cast" is completely misleading. Bramhall (I assume it is he) reads basically the entire text of the novel. It is a straightforward reading of the novel, and he uses various vocal characterisations when it comes to the various characters' speech. Some are more successful than others. On the whole the reading is adequate. Some odd mispronouncations jar a little, some of the voices seem too close to stereotypes for comfort; but it's adequate. I found his voice a little soporific, so that at times concentrating on the narrative was difficult (and this is a book I know well and like), but that may just be a personal thing.

This is a translation of an 18th Century Chinese novel, so in the middle there is a brief interlude in which some unnamed characters act out a scene as if in a play, elliptically alluding to the events of the novel and giving some insight into what's happening. This is where the "full cast" comes in, just for this one short passage alone. It really doesn't justify the description given.

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2 people found this helpful