Average customer rating:
- Informative but not very thorough
- Informative but not very thorough
- Sompley Amasing!
- A well written introduction
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Manchu: A Textbook for Reading Documents
Gertraude Roth Li
Manufacturer: University of Hawaii Press
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Binding: Paperback
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China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia
ASIN: 0824822064 |
Book Description
Manchu is the most important Tungistic language, a vital resource for all scholars who work on the Altaic language family. This book is the first English-language Manchu textbook in more than a century. It offers students of Chinese history and comparative literature the means to master documentary Manchu and will prove useful for those interested in the various branches of linguistics.
Customer Reviews:
Informative but not very thorough.......2002-12-09
This is a very good text book for the Manchu language and possibly the only one in English available (correct me if I'm wrong).
The book is very professionally laid out but the discussion on the pronunciation only takes up a few paragraphs. Perhaps, it's becasue 1) this is a book mainly for learning written documents 2) no one can be sure of or authoritive over the sounds of the extinct Manchu language. Nevertheless, this book's main portion, Part II offers a large section of Manchu documents and the trasliteration in Roman alphabet. The vocabulary found after each reading section is given entirely in Roman trasliteration. The Manchu alphabet symbols and the method of trasliteration are fully discussed in Part I of the book.
This book does not give very detailed grammer points; the "quick glance" reference grammar points are crammed into a samll section in Part III. One find this book not sufficient to be the sole source for the study of Manchu because the vocabulary and readings can be daunting, without a very good background in the understanding of the Chinese culture/history/language.
Over all, this book is very organized and therefore commendable.
Informative but not very thorough.......2002-12-09
This is very good text book for the Manchu language and possibly the only one in English available (correct me if I'm wrong).
The book is very professionally laid out but the discussion on the pronunciation only takes up a few paragraphs. Perhaps, it's becasue 1) this is a book mainly for learning written documents 2) no one can be sure of or authoritive over the sounds of the extinct Manchu language. Nevertheless, this book's main portion, Part II offers a large section of Manchu documents and the trasliteration in Roman alphabet. The vocabulary found after each reading section is given entirely in Roman trasliteration. The Manchu alphabet symbols and the method of trasliteration are fully discussed in Part I of the book.
This book does not give very detailed grammer points which are crammed into a samll section in Part III. One may also find this book not sufficient to be the sole source for the study of Manchu for the vocabulary and readings can be daunting, without a very good background in the understanding of the Chinese culture/history/language.
Over all, this book is very organized and therefore commendable.
Sompley Amasing!.......2002-08-17
Whoa thery, this paperbackl rockercover tittle is AMAZSING! teaches you who to write and fread documents made from text, plus look at the titles, MANCHU! Simply amazing, legendary, that itself deserves reward for grammy or maybe even emmy!m Amazon.com keeps it real with letting people like uss get stuff like dis!
A well written introduction.......2001-11-27
I enjoyed this book very much. It is clearly aimed at a limited market but I would recommend it as a good book (actually one of the only books) to help one learn written Manchu. The book begins with an introduction to the Manchu language and this is followed by a selection of texts which the student translates and works through using this book. Romanised versions of the Machu texts are also provided as are English translations. The latter is at the end of the book to encourge the student to do the work for themselves. This book is well laid out and packed full of information on grammar and the like. It also includes some modern Sibe texts. This book is likely to become a classic text for the study of this language.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent book, covering all aspects of the life of Pu Yi.......1998-08-24
This book is a must read for anyone interested in Chinese history. The book covers practically all aspects of the life of Aisin Gioro Pu Yi from his brief period on the dragon throne to being a "reformed" man in Peking in the 1960's. A tragic figure, his story is fully told.
Book Description
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu is the first title in the famous series of "Yellow Peril" novels published by English writer Sax Rohmer, aka Henry Sarsfield Ward (1883-1959), between 1913 and 1959. The novel, like its many sequels, pits the "evil genius" of the Far East against the British Duo, Denis Nayland Smith and his sidekick Dr. Petrie.
Download Description
Sax Rohmer's novels of fabulous adventure reflect the unusual life of their creator. The sinister Fu Manchu became his most widely-read creation.
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-31
The breathless but brave and unrelenting goofball Nayland Smith and his stoic offsider and chronicler Petrie pursue the genius superman, the ultimate embodiment of the Yellow Peril, Dr Fu-Manchu.
Helped along the way by his beautiful but unwilling servant Kâramanèh is a game of capture and escape and disguise around London.
You have to give the good doctor credit for trying to kill 'em with poison gas stashed in a mummy's tomb.
The guy can't be all bad. He has a monkey.
Very entertaining.
The Wiles of the Devil Doctor, Fu-Manchu........2006-07-03
_The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu_, republished by Dover Publications, is an American edition of the first book of Sax Rohmer (a pseudonym for the author Arthur Sarsfield Ward (1883-1959)), published in America as _The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu_ (1913) and in England as _The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu_. Sax Rohmer (a pseudonym meaning "blade roamer") published these stories of a Chinese criminal mastermind in magazines in America and England before cobbling them together into book form as they appear here. These stories detail the exploits of the devil doctor, Dr. Fu-Manchu, a criminal mastermind of Chinese extraction, and part of the Young China movement, seeking to destroy the white race. Fu-Manchu is described as "Imagine a person, tall, lean, and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect. . . . Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man." In the book, Fu-Manchu heads a Chinese criminal organization and operates behind the front of opium dens and uses dacoits as henchmen. The story is based upon many of the stereotypes about the Chinese people popular at the time, regarding them as cunning and nefarious, and the imminent threat of the "Yellow Peril" against the white race and is certainly unlikely to please the politically correct. Fu-Manchu makes use of many secret means to attack his foes, including the Zayat kiss, the call of Siva, and deadly elixirs which enable him to control life and death, as well as fungal extractions which allow for him to cause madness. Fu-Manchu also makes use of a beautiful Arabian (Oriental) slave girl, Karamaneh, who serves him so as to prevent him from harming her helpless brother Aziz. The heroes of the story include the narrator Dr. Petrie and Nayland Smith, recently returned from Burma and an active servant of king and country. The story mostly takes place in and around London and the Thames river, while the heroes try to capture the mad doctor and prevent him from doing further harm. However, the doctor always escapes their grasp. Dr. Petrie ends up falling under the spell of the beautiful Karamaneh and will attempt to aid her so she can finally free herself and her brother from the devil doctor. As the heroes track the doctor as he murders and causes mayhem, they must fear for their lives as he follows them closely with his evil dacoit henchmen. This story is a fairly interesting one which shows us a picture of the Orientals as seen by an Englishman of the late Nineteenth Century. The character of Dr. Fu-Manchu and the mystery surrounding him will appear again and again in all the writings of Sax Rohmer. He remains a classic villain and his exploits provide an entertaining yarn for those who read of them.
Well written time capsule of early 20th century views of east/west relationships.......2006-07-03
Dr. Petrie is visited by long-time friend Nayland Smith and hurled into adventure. Smith, recently returned from British Burma, is on the trail of mysterious and evil Chinese scientist/political leader Dr. Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu and his fellows will stop at nothing to prevent Europe's leading students of the orient from revealing his secrets, and the plot to overturn the game of Empire as it was played in the early 20th Century to put China at the top of the world.
Fu Manchu has limited resources--a few practicers of Thuggee and Dacoits, but his scientific skills make up for this lack. He has access to rare poisons, secret gasses, trained monkies, and control of a beautiful woman willing to lead men to their doom. This woman, however, turns out to be a key to Smith's investigation when she falls for Petrie, saving him--and Smith--from certain death at the hands of Fu Manchu.
The opening novel in the long-running Fu Manchu series (Rohmer wrote approximately 14) is well constructed and fast-moving with Smith and Petrie always a step behind the brilliant Fu Manchu, yet willing to continue with plucky British spirit. Author Sax Rohmer shows a grudging respect for the evil Fu Manchu, but reflects the fears of his time--that the 'yellow peril' is fearsome indeed, and that a clash of civilization between the west and the inscrutible east is under weigh. That Fu Manchu's nation was largely occupied by western armies, forced to admit the Opium that poisoned some of China's finest minds, and that much of the rest of the east was a part of the British Empire added only the slightest tinge of sympathy for the evil Fu Manchu.
At a time when China is set to become the world's leading economy, fears of the 'yellow peril' are increasingly common and I felt it worthwhile to give THE INSIDIOUS DR. FU MANCHU another look. I thought Rohmer's writing held up well and that this story, unlike some of his later works which rely much too extensively on coincidence and luck. All in all, FU MANCHU makes for interesting reading an serves as a bit of a time machine into the mind of the British man-in-the-streets who saw the British Empire at its greatest extent, yet felt ever-threatened by the mysterious east.
An Exciting, Action-packed, and Chilling Romp of Pulpiness .......2006-01-17
When Nayland Smith, late of Burma, arrives on the London door-step of his friend (and our narrator) Dr. Petrie (no first name given), he reveals that he is in pursuit of a singularly evil man, "tall, lean, and feline, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan," who has come to spearhead the Yellow Peril conspiracy against the White race: the insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu.
Thus begins "The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu" (known as "The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu" in its native England) the first of a series of famous and infamous tales of one of the most famous super-villains in pulp fiction. Sax Rohmer's Fu-Manchu is evil personified: brilliant, ruthless, with a variety of weapons in his arsenal, murdering without a second thought. He is also a fictional face on an irrational, ambiguous prejudice, the Asian hordes waiting to enslave Europe and the United States. And through a series of events, Smith and Petrie (characters deliberately reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson) thwart this sinister villain, with mixed success.
As other reviewers have noted, Rohmer's work incorporates the racism prevalent in the society of the days. Taken from that prospective, "The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu" is really nothing more than a curious artifact of a less enlightened time. The modern reader has to accept that reality, or they will never be able to appreciate the book beyond that level.
And that would be a shame, for setting aside the racism, Rohmer is a good storyteller. In particular, Rohmer has a knack for atmosphere. There's a creepiness that hangs over the novel, as Fu-Manchu employs various bits of weirdness to carry out murders, including insects, poison gases, and spooky men who climb walls and howl in the night. Rohmer knows exactly what adjective use to describe Smith and Petrie's mounting horror at each new gimmick Fu-Manchu employs, creating some legitimate tension. A scene where Smith tells Petrie to run for his life is quite gripping, perhaps because it is so easy to imagine oneself in that position. Rohmer also has a strong sense for action, as our heroes find themselves in various physical fights, gun battles, and explosions. This aspect of Rohmer's writing certainly helps, since his dialogue is of the overwrought Victorian dime novel variety (naturally), and the character development is enough to make the plot work, but no more than that. Also, while the plot is entertaining, it's episodic, so don't expect too many twists or turns, or any real sophistication in the narrative. It's simply Smith and Petrie running to this event and that event, trying to thwart Fu-Manchu.
It's hard to be objective about this book and this character. On the one hand, Fu-Manchu is a great and scary villain. On the other hand, Fu-Manchu represents the ability to be completely racist without rationality. Ultimately, I think simply enjoying the ride while acknowledging the realities of this series is the pragmatic approach. For, the first novel is an exciting, action-packed, and chilling romp of pulpiness that is completely enjoyable.
Unbelievable.......2005-12-02
I got this book at a used book sale and it was rather startling. It would be hilarious if it wasn't for the fact that books such as these express beliefs accepted by the scientific and literary mainstream at the time they were written. In other words, the book contains countless musings on the "Yellow Peril" facing "White" civilization, the supposedly sneaky, deceptive, crafty nature of all "Orientals", and so on.
The main characters of the book are white male British imperialists at war with an "insidious Oriental". Yet they cannot help being attracted to an Asian woman, who is apparently not herself "racially" capable of returning the "hero's" love in a genuine fashion. It was cartoonish and I actually think this book could be useful for scholarly research as evidence of how bad it really was...and unfortunately is, as the positive reviews by those not "infected" with "political correctness" attest.
Product Description
Since 1913, Sax Rohmer's tales of the sinister Dr. Fu-Manchu have delighted readers and moviegoers alike. For nearly a quarter of a century, they have been out of print, but Allison & Busby is reissuing them all in omnibus editions.
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-31
This contains the first three Fu-Manchu books.
The titles they give them are:
The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu
The Devil Doctor
The Si-Fan Mysteries
The breathless but brave and unrelenting goofball Nayland Smith and his stoic offsider and chronicler Petrie pursue the genius superman, the ultimate embodiment of the Yellow Peril, Dr Fu-Manchu.
Helped along the way by his beautiful but unwilling servant Kâramanèh is a game of capture and escape and disguise around London.
You have to give the good doctor credit for trying to kill 'em with poison gas stashed in a mummy's tomb.
The guy can't be all bad. He has a monkey.
Very entertaining.
4 out of 5
Fu-Manchu is back, and he has added to his collection of marauding monkey-like miscreants, and obtained a baboon killer.
Not to mention a cane that hides an Australian death adder.
Kâramanèh is still running around prominently, and very enigmatically. If she is trying to be sneaky, she definitely needs to lay off the perfume, according to Petrie's nose, anyway.
Hound of the Baskervilles scenarios with writers of Chinese descent, haunted houses and more.
Although Nayland Smith shows a few more signs of cleverness here, he still falls for a trap, and is about to be a rather nasty form of rat dinner.
Cue Egyptian babe, resplendent in harem gear and packing heat.
At the end, they could have even used a big old great dane, as a mummy-man is running around the ship they are travelling on to finish with.
3.5 out of 5
Not as good as the first two Fu-Manchu books, perhaps partly due to a fair lack of Fu-Manchu.
He does have some excuse though, being shot in the head at the end of the last book, and hence assumed dead by our ertswhile heroes.
It seems he is not, though, just in a bad way, and as such, abducts a top surgeon, and Petrie to assist. Or, at least his crew does, he is having problems just sitting up and talking with a bullet in his head.
They set their sights on the Si-Fan organisation, the overlords of the good Doctor, and perhaps a mystery woman in charge.
Fu-Manchu is in a bit of trouble with them himself, it seems.
3 out of 5
Silly, Silly, Silly!.......2007-07-05
When these stories were written they were in the horror genre, but now they are in the hilarity-horror subgenre, like the movie The Gremlins. Dr. Fu Manchu is found in a Chinese opium den in London, complete with a trapdoor that drops all unwelcome policemen into the Thames. This opium den is festooned with - Yiddish theatrical posters! Apparently to Sax Rohmer, anything east of Greece is "Oriental". Oh, how we wish al-Quaida were just like Dr. Fu Manchu, limiting themselves to weapons such as red centipedes and poisonous Burmese snakes.
Do not overlook these classics.......2005-05-23
I wish someone had told me earlier how good these books are. I picked up a used paperback of "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu" and, even before I had reached page 50, I knew that I had to have more. I therefore rushed out to find these omnibus editions. Sax Rohmer wrote the Fu Manchu stories between 1912 and the late 1950s. From a chronological standpoint, then, but also thematically, Rohmer serves as a literary bridge between Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and Ian Fleming's James Bond.
Put the political considerations aside, and enjoy these tales as a reflection of the times. They are worthy of a wider, modern audience.
Book Description
In classical Chinese, The Great Enterprise means winning The Mandate of heaven to rule over China, the Central Kingdom.
This first of a two-volume work on The Great Enterprise of the Manchus is the first scholarly narrative in any language relating their conquest of China during the seventeenth century.
(This book was originally published as a boxed two-volume set. It is now available as separate volumes with a plain hardcover. The page numbering continues from the first volume to the second.)
Average customer rating:
- They just don't write them like this any more
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The Mask Of Fu Manchu
Sax Rohmer
Manufacturer: Pyramid
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GSGQ5Y |
Customer Reviews:
They just don't write them like this any more.......2006-08-06
The story starts after Van Berg, Greville, The Chief and their party have excavated the artifacts of long-gone and heretical Islamic sect. Once they located the wonderful works in gold and jewels - the only things that an archaeologist would care about, y'know - they pack them up to take back their civilized country. The silly wogs around there wouldn't really appreciate them the way a British orientalist would, so it's only proper. Oh, and they dynamite the reliquary on their way out. Once the gold's gone, the shrine is of no further interest, right? At least, not to anyone who matters. All in a day's work.
(Yes, little one, people used to write books like this. Not just books, but whole series of books. And people used to read them - and not squirm while they read.)
But that shadowy sect isn't as gone as Greville and the others might have hoped. That explosion at the tomb is taken to be the heresiarch's second coming, and all of the near East is rumbling with unrest. In mysterious and dangerous ferment, an even more mysterious and dangerous force appears: the invidious Dr. Fu Manchu. Implacably evil, but strictly moral according to his own dark code, he siezes upon this chance to bring the East back into world prominence. "The East," for current purposes, is a uniform blob including China, the parts of Turkey that don't wear neckties, the Muslim world, and just about anything else outside of Europe. Except Africa, of course, which doesn't really count for much no matter how you look at it.
(Yes, little one, people back then were just as deliberately ignorant of world geography and culture as now. Maybe, if such a thing were possible, even more so).
Only fast-thinking Nayland Smith can hope to outwit this mysterious Chinese genius, to defeat his world-spanning league of henchmen, to evade the mysterious mind-altering drugs from the Dr.'s mystical pharmacopoeia, and to face Fu Manchu's beautiful but evil daughter without acting like a moon-struck ninny.
Oh, and by the way, there's nothing personal about it. Just the way things have to be, old chap, so it comes as no real surprise when the Evil Doctor sends a very nice wedding present in the end.
(No, little one, I have no idea why people liked this stuff. Me? I read these out of a horrified fascination, like watching a train wreck in progress. For all our failings today, we really have come hundreds of years forward from the time this was written, back in the 1930s.)
//wiredweird
Book Description
1916. Rohmer (Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward) was a prolific English mystery writer, best known for the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu and his opponents Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. Petrie, named after the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, and the beautiful Karamaneh, the source of Petrie's daydreams. He also wrote under the name Michael Furey. This is the second volume of the 14 Fu Manchu books written by Rohmer. In this action-packed installment the reader will encounter a number of insidious doings including kidnappings, poisonous cats, snake murders, albino peacocks, killer apes, quicksand, a haunted house, rat torture, mummy attacks and more. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Download Description
Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie must once again stop the fiendish Dr. Fu.
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-31
Fu-Manchu is back, and he has added to his collection of marauding monkey-like miscreants, and obtained a baboon killer.
Not to mention a cane that hides an Australian death adder.
Kâramanèh is still running around prominently, and very enigmatically. If she is trying to be sneaky, she definitely needs to lay off the perfume, according to Petrie's nose, anyway.
Hound of the Baskervilles scenarios with writers of Chinese descent, haunted houses and more.
Although Nayland Smith shows a few more signs of cleverness here, he still falls for a trap, and is about to be a rather nasty form of rat dinner.
Cue Egyptian babe, resplendent in harem gear and packing heat.
At the end, they could have even used a big old great dane, as a mummy-man is running around the ship they are travelling on to finish with.
Old-fashioned adventure.......2006-10-22
There is certainly no lack of adventure or suspense fiction available nowadays - everyone from Tom Clancy to Dan Brown to Lee Child to dozens of others depending on your tastes - but, for better or for worse, these modern novels are a different animal from the classic adventure tales of the early 1900s. Perhaps best exemplified by Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Tarzan series, these stories often bordered on the fantastic but retained a distinctly pulpy sense of storytelling and often a rather Victorian sense of sex and race. Other authors working in this era include the three H's: Haggard (She, King Solomon's Mines), Hilton (Lost Horizon) and Howard (Conan). And right alongside them was Sax Rohmer, with his tales of Fu-Manchu.
These stories focus on four characters in particular: Dr. Petrie, the narrator who acts similarly to Dr. Watson for Sherlock Holmes; the superheroic character in this case is British super-spy Nayland Smith. There is the mysterious and beautiful Egyptian woman, Karamaneh whose allegiance is often ambiguous. Finally, and most importantly, there is Dr. Fu-Manchu, an evil Chinese schemer intent on conquering the British Empire for his own country. Fu-Manchu is an elusive sort of villain, only actually appearing briefly in his stories, but he is the nonetheless the center of the tales. Despite his evils, he is also the most interesting of the characters; next to him, Petrie and Smith appear particularly flat.
The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu is the second chronicle of the battles between Smith and Fu-Manchu. It is not so much a novel as a series of interconnected short stories in which Fu-Manchu's plots are typically foiled. Fu-Manchu's plots involve lethal poisons, vicious animals and murderous minions, and Smith and Petrie often are able to survive through some miraculous intervention, often by Karamaneh (whom Petrie pines for rather chastely).
Compared with authors like Burroughs, Haggard and the others from this era, Rohmer is clearly on a different level; unfortunately, it is a slightly lower one. I understand that this early pulp fiction style of writing was never intended to be great literature, but Rohmer's storytelling is often lacking. That's not to say that this doesn't have its fun moments, but this book also has its dull ones.
The violence is tame by today's standards, any drug use is implied rather than seen and sex is nonexistent, but this is not a book for young readers. Rohmer, sadly, is a product of his time (and he is not alone among these writers); his views on race are antiquated, to be kind. An adult reader should be sophisticated enough to look past Rohmer's descriptions of "the yellow peril" that threatens the white race. Ironically, Fu-Manchu's intellect and his patriotic motives (sinister as he is, he merely acts to serve his country) make him almost the hero of the stories; doubtless, this was not Rohmer's intent. While I cannot give this a whole-hearted recommendation, it can be entertaining and it does give a glimpse at one of the classic villains of fiction.
Mystery-Adventure at its Finest.......2005-10-20
In the first half of the 20th century, Sax Rohmer was one of the most widely read and highest paid popular fiction writers in the world. In the Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu, he shows why.
Professor John Michael does a fine job putting the novel in historical context in his introduction. He describes Fu-Manchu as an embodiment of England's "King Fear" - that violence practiced by the West in the East will come back to haunt the West, and that a global insurgency will arise, intent on violently upsetting the balance of world power. No one in the US cannot presently identify with these terrific fears.
As for the novel itself - no, it is not Literature, but the stories are superbly crafted and always ingenious; you are constantly immersed in an ominous London mist where consciousness is as tenuous as a spider's web, Death lingers at every turn, and the Hydra-like organization you're up against has every intent in destroying Western civilization and you along with it. The stakes are high, and the enemy is always one step ahead... the novel is filled with so much shadow and fog, so many surprises and so much intrigue, and it is so masterfully drawn, so present, that it can be read repeatedly with delight. Or you can proceed to plow through the entire Fu-Manchu series, which I just may have to do. Come, Petrie!
Death by insect, ghost, cat...........2004-12-01
The plot follows Petrie, a doctor who has dealt with Fu Manchu before. After a mysterious death he is contacted by inspector Nayland Smith, who warns him that Fu Manchu is about. Together they investigate and try to prevent a string of exotic murders The Return of Dr Fu Manchu was written as a serial and it feels that way. The driving force in the story is wierd twisted things that Fu Manchu does to kill people. The characters and plot, which doesn't say much about Fu Manchu's ultimate motives, are just ways of describing this or that exotic death and how it was pulled off. As a serial this would work because the murder happened - cliffhanger. Then in the next installment the murder would be solved. As a novel it didn't work for me because it is so homogenous.
I had heard prior to reading this that Fu Manchu is sooo racist, but I hadn't taken it seriously because so much gets labeled racist by the PC people that I tend to ignore it. Having read this I do think the novel is racist. Fu Manchu's lack of motive is a major point. Basically he goes around killing people with exotic animals, and Smith and Petrie's only explanation for his actions are that he is a, "yellow devil bent on the destruction of the white race" So that was a little blatant for me.
I didn't like this novel because it was built around the gimics that Fu Manchu uses to murder his victims. Character driven is a term I would never ever apply to this book. Fans of Sax Rohmer will want to read this because they know the style and will like it. Fans of the adventure genre should move along.
MORE OF THE "GOOD" DOCTOR.......2002-02-02
This is the second of the 14 Fu Manchu books that Sax Rohmer gave us. Like the first, it is very episodic in nature, revealing its origin as a series of short magazine stories. A reading of the previous book WOULD be helpful for a full enjoyment of this volume, but is not absolutely necessary. Like the first book, this one is jam-packed with fast-moving action and bizarre adventure. It is surprisingly well written; sometimes even elegantly written. Just note the description of the seedy East End in Chapter 11 and you may want to upgrade your assessment of Rohmer as a wordsmith. Anyway, this particular installment of Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie's war against the evil genius Fu Manchu includes kidnappings, wire-jacket torture, poisonous cats, snake murders, albino peacocks, killer apes, quicksand, a haunted house, rat torture, mummy attacks and on and on. It's really remarkable how much stuff Rohmer packs into one short book. You won't be bored, that's for sure!
Average customer rating:
- A very basic introduction...
- Limited Coverage
- Insights Galore
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Mandarin Squares: Mandarins and their Insignia (Images of Asia)
Valery M. Garrett
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
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Ladder to the Clouds
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Ruling From the Dragon Throne: Costumes of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
ASIN: 0195852397 |
Book Description
Mandarin squares, the embroidered insignia sewn on to the robes of the ruling mandarin classes in China's Qing dynasty (1644-1911) are prized collectors' pieces. This fully illustrated introduction begins with an account of the Chinese system of government and the selection of mandarins. The second half traces the origin and development of mandarin squares and describes the symbolism and embroidery techniques of the insignia.
Customer Reviews:
A very basic introduction..........2005-02-15
This book gives only a very basic introduction to Mandarin Squares. The number of photos is limited, and the book itself is very thin. For a much better book on the subject, check out Ladder to the Clouds by Beverly Jackson & David Hugus.
Limited Coverage.......2000-07-26
This is a useful book if you are just getting started learning about mandarin squares. However, this slim volume does not go into any depth. The limited pictures of mandarin squares do not give any indication of how the designs changed over time. The time spent discussing embroidery techniques do not add much to the understanding of the things that were being embroidered. I found Ladder to the Clouds much more informative.
Insights Galore.......2000-06-20
Although Mandarin Squares might seem to be a narrowly esoteric subject, author Valerie M. Garrett helps us to realize that a facet can be a portal to understanding an entire era. One walks away with a fuller appreciation of just how a 12-inch-square silk weaving can determine how a person was regarded in Dynastic China. Garrett helps us understand how these rank badges of the ruling Mandarin class helped dictate the amount of respect show by others. We also gain understanding of the meanings of various emblems, as well as a great appreciation for the painstaking and artistic work that went into the weaving of these official marks of status.
Product Description
Volume Four includes: The Drums of Fu Manchu: The sound of the drums carries a warning to fourteen world leaders who stand in the way of Fu Manchu s desire for world domination: surrender to his schemes, or die at the hands of his secret army. Even Nayland Smith has been marked for death by the beating of the drums... Shadow of Fu Manchu: The devil doctor plots to control the greatest weapon ever created a weapon which dwarfs the power of the atomic bomb and which Nayland Smith must, at all costs, keep from falling into the hands of the most dangerous man in the world. Emperor Fu Manchu: No one in the Western world could be sure what lay behind the Bamboo Curtain, in the remote province of Szechuan. Only Nayland Smith suspects that the mysterious Master whom it hides, the true power behind Communist China, is in fact his old enemy, in a new disguise. His young undercover agent, Tony McKay, must enter Fu Manchu s domain to penetrate the veil of secrecy.
Customer Reviews:
The evil doctor lives again........2007-08-09
I was thrilled to death to find these titles in print--although I regret I didn't get the entire series while they were still available. Wonderful, wonderful books, many of which haven't been printed in years; now I want the rest of them!
I should mention that my copy had an AWFUL typo in it--about 3 paragraphs of the first book, inserted incorrectly into the second book. But considering these titles are virtually unavailable anywhere else, I was still happy with my purchase.
Fu Manchu for President!!.......2007-05-31
Volume 4 contains The Drums of Fu Manchu, Shadow of Fu Manchu and Emporor Fu Manchu. It's been so long since these were in print so grab them while you can. The news is that Allison & Busby don't plan on reprinting them soon. These Books are racist, politically incorrect and loads of fun! Miss them at your peril!
Book Description
China's 1911-12 Revolution, which overthrew a 2000-year succession of dynasties, is thought of primarily as a change in governmental style, from imperial to republican, traditional to modern. But given that the dynasty that was overthrown—the Qing—was that of a minority ethnic group that had ruled China's Han majority for nearly three centuries, and that the revolutionaries were overwhelmingly Han, to what extent was the revolution not only anti-monarchical, but also anti-Manchu?
Edward Rhoads explores this provocative and complicated question in Manchus and Han, analyzing the evolution of the Manchus from a hereditary military caste (the "banner people") to a distinct ethnic group and then detailing the interplay and dialogue between the Manchu court and Han reformers that culminated in the dramatic changes of the early 20th century.
Until now, many scholars have assumed that the Manchus had been assimilated into Han culture long before the 1911 Revolution and were no longer separate and distinguishable. But Rhoads demonstrates that in many ways Manchus remained an alien, privileged, and distinct group. Manchus and Han is a pathbreaking study that will forever change the way historians of China view the events leading to the fall of the Qing dynasty. Likewise, it will clarify for ethnologists the unique origin of the Manchus as an occupational caste and their shifting relationship with the Han, from border people to rulers to ruled.
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