Scan barcode
A review by meeners
Ellery Queen's Japanese Golden Dozen: The Detective Story World in Japan by Tōru Miyoshi, Seiichi Morimura, Masako Togawa, Yo Sano, Tadao Sōno, Saho Sasazawa, Takao Tsuchiya, Eitaro Ishizawa, Ellery Queen, Seichō Matsumoto, Kyōtarō Nishimura, Shizuko Natsuki, Yasutaka Tsutsui
2.0
i feel like this book just randomly materialized on my bookshelves one day, because i have no memory of buying or borrowing it, but i must have gotten it at a used bookstore somewhere, sometime, because there's a handwritten inscription on the title page which i have come to rather adore:
Tokyo, Aug 28, 1985
Some good stories in here, Mommy, though at times the translation's a bit clunky. The only story I'd give a pass on is "The Vampire"; it's on the revolting side. But the other stories in this collection more than make up for it, particularly "Perfectly Lovely Ladies."
Love,
[illegible signature]
i agree with this mystery reader about the translating and "the vampire," but i found the majority of the stories more-or-less forgettable (except for "perfectly lovely ladies," which is indeed quite wonderful). more memorable, but also in a revolting kind of way, is the orientalist trash that constitutes the book blurb (worst sentence: "Here we have crimes provoked by shame or pride, by an avenging or sacrificial spirit, by fierce loyalty or fear or betrayal - exactly those states of mind that have dominated and marked the Japanese psyche since the days of the samurai" - which is not only drivel but also wildly off the mark in accurately reflecting the actual contents of the collection).
Tokyo, Aug 28, 1985
Some good stories in here, Mommy, though at times the translation's a bit clunky. The only story I'd give a pass on is "The Vampire"; it's on the revolting side. But the other stories in this collection more than make up for it, particularly "Perfectly Lovely Ladies."
Love,
[illegible signature]
i agree with this mystery reader about the translating and "the vampire," but i found the majority of the stories more-or-less forgettable (except for "perfectly lovely ladies," which is indeed quite wonderful). more memorable, but also in a revolting kind of way, is the orientalist trash that constitutes the book blurb (worst sentence: "Here we have crimes provoked by shame or pride, by an avenging or sacrificial spirit, by fierce loyalty or fear or betrayal - exactly those states of mind that have dominated and marked the Japanese psyche since the days of the samurai" - which is not only drivel but also wildly off the mark in accurately reflecting the actual contents of the collection).