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View Poll Results: September 2011 Mobile Read Book Club Vote | |||
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 in the Series) by Alexander McCall Smith | 5 | 6.41% | |
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | 7 | 8.97% | |
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson | 12 | 15.38% | |
The Chinese Maze Murders by Robert van Gulik (1st Judge Dee mystery by van Gulik) | 21 | 26.92% | |
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins | 6 | 7.69% | |
The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer | 3 | 3.85% | |
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie | 7 | 8.97% | |
Bruno, Chief of Police: A Novel Of The French Countryside by Martin Walker | 3 | 3.85% | |
Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files (The Dresden Files, Book #13) by Jim Butcher | 0 | 0% | |
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book #1) by Jim Butcher | 14 | 17.95% | |
Voters: 78. You may not vote on this poll |
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08-29-2011, 10:48 PM | #181 |
Wizard
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08-29-2011, 11:48 PM | #182 |
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08-30-2011, 12:05 AM | #183 |
Wizard
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Yes I was I am aware that publishers seem to hold all the cards. However I do not believe Sony even tried our market was too small for them to bother with so they just alinged themselves with Borders and Angus & Robertson it was easier that way for them.
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08-30-2011, 09:08 AM | #184 |
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Woohoo! Just requested an interlibrary loan of The Chinese Maze Murders. Should be arriving shortly. Just enough time to finish up one of the books I'm currently reading.
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08-30-2011, 11:44 AM | #185 | |
Nameless Being
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Yes I can understand the other reservations expressed by some for The Chinese Maze Murders, but not cost. I prefer ebooks, but will always go with the cheapest and most convenient alternative, especially for a book that is to be a one time read. In this case I just requested the paperback from my library. Convenient and free. |
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08-30-2011, 01:06 PM | #186 |
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It's difficult for everyone. I've got myself on a strict book allowance so I evaluate all my purchases a lot. It gets even more difficult when it's a $10 (half my monthly allowance). So I need to do the budget thing. There's usually options for most books from the library, although I've got a couple on my reading list next year that aren't even available at my library or through interlibrary loan. I really like reading on the e-reader so paper library books is third on the list of choices for me. As others have said, sometimes the book club is about getting a few items for the WTR list.
How goes The No. 1? |
09-03-2011, 04:25 PM | #187 |
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The Chinese Maze Murders is not #1 in the series in either written or chronological order.
Yes, it is the second book written of Judge Dee stories. But as far as chronological order, it's quite far down the list and it does reference at least one other book that's before it in chronological order. 01. The Chinese Gold Murders 02. Five Auspicious Clouds 03. The Red Tape Murder 04. He Came With the Rain 05. The Lacquer Screen 06. The Chinese Lake Murders 07. The Morning of the Monkey 08. The Haunted Monastery 09. The Murder on the Lotus Pond 10. The Chinese Bell Murders 11. Necklace and Calabash 12. The Two Beggars 13. The Wrong Sword 14. The Red Pavilion 15. The Emperors' Pearl 16. Poets and Murder 17. The Chinese Maze Murders 18. The Phantom of the Temple 19. The Coffins of the Emperor 20. Murder on New Year's Eve 21. The Chinese Nail Murders 22. The Night of the Tiger 23. The Willow Pattern 24. Murder in Canton I'm going to read it. In fact, I started it last night. But, can whoever nominates a book in a series, please take some time and make sure it is either the first book or all the books in front have been read for the book club? It would be better if we didn't skip around in a series. I know I thirded Ghost Story, but I know it wasn't going to win and I wanted to get to the vote. |
09-04-2011, 08:24 AM | #188 | |
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09-04-2011, 09:42 AM | #189 | |
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So please everyone don't do this again. Research what you are nominating if it is part of a series. Make sure it's #1 or we've read all that go in front. This series is probably best read in chronological order and that puts this book way too far down the list to start with. |
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09-04-2011, 09:58 AM | #190 |
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Interesting: Amazon has The Chinese Gold Murders listed as book #2.
Does anyone know the true order of these books... |
09-04-2011, 10:04 AM | #191 | |
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That seems to be the proper order to read these and that makes this one way down the list. |
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09-04-2011, 10:27 AM | #192 | |
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I was looking up The Chinese Gold Murders to see if I'd be interested. Unfortunately, it is not currently available as an e-book; at least not on Amazon. |
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09-04-2011, 10:54 AM | #193 |
o saeclum infacetum
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I found the explanation for the reference to Chinese Bell Murders in the earlier Chinese Maze Murders here.
His first effort in that direction was to translate and publish in 1949 one of the old stories, the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee or the Dee Goong An. <snip> The publication of the Dee Goong An did not have quite the effect van Gulik wished, since it did not inspire a revival of the literature. So, he decided to revive the literature himself, by writing the The Chinese Maze Murders. This was published in Japanese in 1951 and in Chinese in 1953. These books were successful, and van Gulik wrote two more, The Chinese Bell Murders and The Chinese Lake Murders. <snip> Van Gulik had actually written his stories first in English, and he soon decided to proceed with their publication in that language also. The English preface of The Chinese Maze Murders is dated 1956 -- after the 1951 Japanese and the 1953 Chinese editions. Van Gulik evidently rewrote the three books slightly for the editions in English, since there is a reference in the Maze Murders to the Bell Murders and a reference in the Bell Murders to the Lake Murders, even though the latter books were written subsequent, not prior, to the former ones. In the chronology of Judge Dee's life, van Gulik at first wrote books from his later life and then moved forward. Proper? Oy. Written chronology or character chronology? That seems an everyone for herself/himself kind of decision. Me, I wouldn't think of reading The Magician's Nephew before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And if you opt for written order, everyone (but one) agrees that Chinese Maze Murders was, as the University of Chicago Press puts it, "Robert van Gulik’s first venture into writing suspense novels." Or as the quote from Wikipedia cited above by Tom has it, "Van Gulik's novels and stories made no direct reference to the original Chinese work and so Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is not considered to be part of the Judge Dee series. " |
09-04-2011, 11:09 AM | #194 |
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Published order (or written order, in the event those two conflict, as in this case) is always the way to read a series (IMO) unless the author(s) expressly indicates otherwise. Internal series chronology is of relatively little importance. Otherwise, the term prequel would have no meaning.
Think about what order someone would have read them in had they started reading them before they were all published. So, since this is the 2nd book written in the series, there's a valid concern that some important background may be missing from the first written book (I just happen to think it's a very small concern since it was van Gulik's first). But I think it would be silly to expect someone to verify that a book is the very first according to the series' own internal chronology before nominating it for the book club. |
09-04-2011, 11:27 AM | #195 | ||
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