I missed a birthday yesterday. J. Kingston Pierce at the Rap Sheet blog points out that August 9 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Robert Van Gulik, the Netherlands-born diplomat and author responsible for the Judge Dee mysteries, set in 7th Century Imperial China.
Van Gulik began his stories of Judge Dee by translating a seventeenth-century Chinese manuscript, which was called "Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee." The translation - and the stories - followed the style and patterns set by Chinese detective stories, which differ in many ways from our Western stories. As part of his introduction to that book, Van Gulik challenged other writers to try their hand at creating new detective stories that followed those patterns. When nobody took him up on the challenge, Van Gulik wrote his own - sixteen books, all featuring fictional adventures of Judge Dee, a real Chinese magistrate who lived during the 7th Century in T'ang Dynasty China.
I've reviewed several of the Judge Dee mysteries in earlier podcasts - you'll find links to them here. I also had an earlier posting on Judge Dee and Imperial China. I do plan to review more of these wonderful books in the coming months. But if you haven't met Judge Dee, I recommend him very highly. I believe all the Judge Dee books are in print and readily available through your favorite mystery book seller or via Amazon.
Comments