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A review by acton
The Monkey and the Tiger by Robert van Gulik
4.0
Robert van Gulik was not at all a familiar name to me, I'd never heard of any of his books, but after browsing the reading list of a local library mystery book club, I became intrigued. These mysteries are based on a collection of stories van Gulik found in a used bookstore in Tokyo, written anonymously in the eighteenth century. The central character is Judge Dee, a personality based on Di Renjie, a magistrate who lived around 630-700 A.D.
Van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat and scholar who translated that original book, then invented his own Judge Dee stories, being careful to preserve the style of the story telling and to correctly depict the time period.
The Monkey and The Tiger are two novellas that I found to be charming and entertaining. I do not read many mysteries, but I've read enough that I can say that these Judge Dee stories, which were published here in the late 1950's, seem to be unique, forgotten gems.
Van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat and scholar who translated that original book, then invented his own Judge Dee stories, being careful to preserve the style of the story telling and to correctly depict the time period.
The Monkey and The Tiger are two novellas that I found to be charming and entertaining. I do not read many mysteries, but I've read enough that I can say that these Judge Dee stories, which were published here in the late 1950's, seem to be unique, forgotten gems.