Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, translated by Robert van Gulik #1949Club

 

💛 Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, or Dee Goong An, was Robert van Gulik's first attempt to bring an 18th century Chinese detective novel by Anonymous writer, to Western canon. The main character in the detective novel (Judge Dee) was actually inspired by a real Dynasty Tang's statesman and detective in 7th century called Di Renjie. Why did van Gulik chose this novel in particular to be translated, while there were a lot of other Chinese detective novels? It's because, unlike Western detective novel readers, who loved fast-paced mystery while keep wondering whodunnit until near the end, ancient Chinese readers liked their detective novels to be long and full of detailed facts and technical procedure of the laws and detection. Moreover, they also devoured the gruesome details of the brutal punishment to the criminal - something that we won't have stomach to read through. These would result in a boring and distasteful read when translated. Judge Dee, meanwhile, was the shortest and most nicely-paced that van Gulik had found. He would, later on, continue writing his own historical mysteries about Judge Dee in a series (which I plan to read through).

💛 Celebrated Cases opened with Judge Dee starting his duty as new magistrate in a small town. He was always accompanied by his four faithful and trusted assistants. The magistrate was like a father of the people in a district, thus Judge Dee's duty stretched to not only solving lawful cases, but also imparting justice to the wronged. On his first court, an innkeeper reported the accusation from his rival that he had murdered two silk merchants who had been staying at his inn. This was the first case in this book, which is called "The Double Murder at Dawn". There were three cases in total; however, interestingly, the investigations were running simultaneously by Judge Dee. Thus, when Judge Dee, during investigation of the Double Murder, put a disguise as a doctor, his first "patient" was an old woman who sought medicine for her dumb granddaughter - the case of which happened after the rather mysterious death of her husband (no foul play detected; no blood, no injury, but for his bulging eyes). Judge Dee's suspicion made it a case number two: "The Strange Corpse". During court session for the second case (or was it the first? I forgot), another case was brought in front the judge: a bride who had been poisoned on her wedding day; hence the case was titled "The Poisoned Bride". 

💛 I won't go into details of each case, but only want to highlight the different approach of investigation and detection in Celebrated Cases from the usual detective novels of Western canon. First of all, we (the Judge and us readers) know or highly suspected the murderers from quite early stage (at least for the first and third cases - the second was the most puzzling, though the solution was ingeniously simple); therefore, Judge Dee's main tasks were to, a) force a confession from the criminals, and b) deduct how the murder had been committed. The first he achieved by either threat, or persuasion, or - and here is an aspect we never find in Western canon detective novels, but highly liked by Chinese readers - physical tortures. The latter provides gruesome aspect to the book.
💛 The second feature that we might never find in Western detective novels, is the punishment of the criminals. The crime novels we read are mostly ended when the crime was solved - a few might mention that the criminal is about to be hanged, or imprisoned. For us, justice has been administrated. But Chinese readers at that time liked to "watch" - albeit from reading the story - how the punishment was performed in detail, and how the criminal suffered from it; as if that was the climax - the avenging of the crime - rather than the solving of a mystery. The third aspect is maybe typical of Asian culture (and literature) - and we have found the same in 18th century Western crime novels - the involvement of supernatural element during the investigation. What annoyed me most about the first case, The Double Murder at Dawn, is the way Judge Dee "consulted" with supernatural beings in solving the murder - he even "ask" the deceased's ghost to help or lighten him about his unnatural death. And that made this case to be my least favorite.

💛 The best mystery in this book is undoubtedly The Strange Corpse; that is a brilliantly plotted murder that would baffles many inferior investigators. Although that's also the case with most gruesome torture of the stories. The Poisoned Bride, however, is my favorite. It is simple, but with genius solution that will reminded you to one of Agatha Christie's short stories - you know, when she's playfully pulling your leg. All in all, this was an interesting, rather than entertaining, read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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The 1949 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

Fearless and Free: A Memoir by Josephine Baker #1949Club

✨ My knowledge of Josephine Baker had been hitherto, that she was a famous dancer in the Roaring Twenties era. In Midnight in Paris movie - which I have watched at least three times), she was portrayed (though in a glimpse) sensuously and glamorously dancing in a club. But the real Josephine Baker was not only that sensuous dancer; she was much more than that. And thanks to the #1949Club, I have found this memoir of hers, where I learned much about the really talented artist, an ardent supporter of France Resisttance, and a wonderful human being.

✨ Josephine Baker (née McDonald) was an American girl, born in 1886 in the poverty-stricken home at St. Louis, Missouri - a mixed race of black (from her mother) and white - presumably- from her biological father). She also revealed that her aunt was in fact an Indian. Little Josephine loved to dance and perform, and at the age of thirteen she had started career as street-corner dancing. Her stars started shining when she performed in revues until she joined the Folies Bergère. Her breakthrough happened when Josephine was only 19, dancing in a feather skirt in La Revue Nègre at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. She was further more mostly famous as banana dancer - dancing in her iconic banana skirt.

✨ By 1925, Josephine Baker had been a household name, not only in France, but from aother European countries to Middle East. She was famous with her erotic dance, but more than that, by her free and passionate dance style, coupled with lively expression of her face; she loved doing silly faces during dances, which made her unique and original. Her memoir, wrote by a French journalist Marcel Sauvage, was written in her characteristic of fearless and free. It was told just as Josephine told her own story to Sauvage; you would find a lot of sentence-openings like: "You know Monsieur Sauvage...." And that gave us a glimpse to Josephine Baker's genuine personality: warm, spontaneous, cheerful, passionate. Maybe these quotes would give you an idea of who or what kind of person Josephine Baker was:

About her love of Paris:

"Have we said enough about Paris's place in the world and life in Paris? Paris is elegance, mayhem, love, champagne and pretty trinkets, the Eiffel Tower. Spirit, and heart, wouldn't you say? And thousands of other adjectives. [...] Paris is women, sun, midnight sun. The Bois, tea, dance halls, shopping, cabaret. [...] I love Paris, how it moves, how it sounds, its mystery - its mysteries - all its mysteries. [...] Night-time, champagne, joy, frenzy, more dancing, flowers, women. Never horrid, never stupid, never ordinary... Vive Paris!"

Josephine's view of performing v. money:

"I don't ever want to dance, sing, perform or shoot just because of my name."

✨ Josephine Baker's passion stretched out not only to dancing - and later on also singing and acting - but also to people, especially children (she adopted not less than twelve during her lifetime), and the poor and afflicted. Josephine also adored animals; she kept exotic pets, gifted by her many admirers around the world. But maybe, the most interesting aspect of Josephine Baker which not many people realized, is her love of France - the country that had adopted her into her bosom. Josephine volunteered to be a secret agent during World War II due to her international fame, and thus had heard many hush-hush information from many influential people first hand. Later on, she became the Second Lieutenant during the French Resistant movement, and did acted in several dangerous situation (not only in the comfort of cabarets or boudoirs). ✨ After being entertained with Josephine's early career - with dances, performance on the stages, her tour around the world, describing each country from her point of views; the tone of the memoir was shifting to a darker tone when she criticized the racial injustice the Black people received after World War II. She was aghast that during the war everyone mixed happily together despite of different races, but why was it that after war, they hated each other? She was furious especially to how the Jews and the mixed race (half white and half black) treated Black people with even more severe racial discrimination than the pure White. An irony, indeed. And that later part of the memoir was enough for me to change my view on Josephine Baker. She's now, to me, not only a sensuous dancer who performed with funny-silly faces (which I disliked); Josephine Baker was a tremendously generous and affectionate human being who, during her lifetime, truly and actively practiced Christianity, despite what many Christians (and the Church) had accused her of. What a remarkable way of starting the #1949Club week! Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

The 1949 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

Miss Plum and Miss Penny (1959) by Dorothy Evelyn Smith #SpinsterSeptember

 

🟣 This would be my second and last book for the 2026 edition of #SpinsterSeptember. I have wanted to read one more, but just couldn't manage to, due to many things happening concerning my mother's health lately. Anyway, I enjoyed very much the two I have finished (the previous one is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day). Now, the heroine of this one is the titular Miss Penny, a middle-aged spinster who lives quietly and contentedly in an English village with her also-contentedly-living housekeeper: Ada. Miss Alison Penny's life, which is filled with charity works, Women's Institute meetings, or annual bazaars - the usual activities in any English villages at that time - was disrupted when she rescued a young woman from attempting suicide by "drowning" herself in a duck pond. A very hilarious idea, indeed, drowning one self in a duck pond! But Miss Penny didn't see it that way; it was her conscientious duty to save another human being.

🟣 But that was not the only disruption in Miss Penny's life. The annual birthday card she receives from her old flame George, did not arrive for the first time in twenty years. It has been Miss Penny's only romantic touch to her otherwise loveless (yet cheerful) existence. George had been her first (and only) love twenty years ago, but her parents forbid her to marry him. Anyway, receiving Miss Victoria Plum (that was the young woman who's committed suicide) into Miss Penny's hitherto orderly and quite home, soon proved to be a havoc, not only for Miss Penny and Ada, but also for the other villagers too. Miss Plum's weepy and forlorn disposition soon steals everyone's heart, including the vicar and another outstanding middle-aged man called Stanley - both had hitherto been considering marrying Miss Penny for comfort. However, Miss Plum's welcome in Miss Penny's home soon wears thin, although Miss Penny is still in dilemma between getting rid of her soon, and not wanting to ruin her Christmas. Things weren't improved either when out of nowhere, George - the old Miss Penny's flame - arrived at the village, proposing to marry her!

🟣 On the whole, Miss Plum and Miss Penny is a perfect story about spinsters of that era - the 1950-1960s. And Dorothy Evelyn Smith gave the novel a rather dark comedic aspect, although not the crude one like Nancy Mitford's, no... hers is more subtle. It's interesting to watch how the villagers; especially the three main characters: Miss Penny, Hubert the vicar, and Stanley, were all trying to be generous and affectionate towards the needy (Miss Plum - who has neither money, home, nor relatives), although at some point they were also aware of Miss Plum's tendency of manipulating people using her weaknesses. We can see that from the start ("suicide" attempt at a duck pond; staying in bed in appearances, while in fact has been snooping around Miss Penny's house). Only Ada, Miss Penny's housekeeper, who wasn't deceived from the start. While this novel seems to be a light reading, there are many things that left you pondering about human kind. A certainly interesting read!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Mrs. McGinty's Dead (1952) by Agatha Christie: A Reread

 

'Mrs. McGinty's dead!'
'How did she die?'
'Down on one knee, just like I!'

🔹 Agatha Christie's readers must have been familiar with her delight in old children's rhymes. There are many of her novels were titled or even inspired by these; And Then There Were None is one of the most famous of them. Mrs. McGinty's Dead was inspired by an old children's game - what a terrible game for children, isn't it? Anyway, the real Mrs. McGinty was an old charwoman who 'did' for some houses in a small village of Broadhinny. She was a quiet woman, but, like the type, she also likes to snoop around the houses she 'did'. One day she was found murdered, with a blow at the back of her head; and her meagre savings missing. Her only lodger, a James Bentley was accused, and then convicted, of murdering his landlady.

🔹 Superintendent Spence, however, doubted that Bentley was the murderer; he asked Hercule Poirot's help to investigate. Funny scenes came from Poirot, who was 'forced' to stay at the Summerhayes' guest house, which was a far cry from his ideal level of comfort; and also from the appearance of Mrs. Ariadne Oliver - the famous mystery novelist - who we all know for her untidiness and love of apples. And right enough, Poirot first saw her coming to Broadhinny after being hit by an apple core! LOL!! Anyway, Mrs. Oliver only served as humorous touch in this mystery; she lent almost no hand in the investigation, although she stays at the house of one of the suspects. Poirot soon learns the motive of Mrs. McGinty's murder - it has something to do with a past crime; someone who, either committed murder but not convicted, or was related to the murderer. That someone currently lives in Broadhinny, and is one of Mrs. McGinty's clienteles. 🔹 On the whole, it is one of Christie's mediocre works. It has some plot twists and red-herring; it has a humorous quality, especially whenever we have Poirot and Ariadne Oliver in one scene; it has the usual Poirot's denouement in the end; and Poirot once again acted as a love matchmaker for two young people of the characters. However, the plot and the characters didn't stand out from the rest of her works, and one can easily forget what had happened, and who's who in the end. A very entertaining one, but certainly unmemorable. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Suzanne (2026) by Michael Saxton

 

🎨 First of all, many thanks to Michael Saxton, for giving me a free copy of his self-published book: Suzanne. I have first stumbled upon this book on Davida's blog (she reviewed it for #ParisinJuly2026), and I was fascinated by the story - the first French female painter of the of the Impressionism, whose works were admitted at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. I have never heard of her, and yet I was vaguely familiar with the name Utrillo, who was Valadon's son (also a painter). Hence, I was most curious about this Suzanne Valadon, who started her career in Montmartre as model for famous artists such as Berthe Morrisot, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir; but later on became "one of them" - as Edgar Degas had said at that time - the model had become the peer of the artists she had posed for. 🎨 Suzanne Valadon was born Marie-Clémentine Valadon in 1865 from an unmarried mother who was a laundress at Montmartre - her father was unknown. From childhood, Marie loved to draw, but both her mother and the Sister at the school forbade her to pursue this hobby. After being injured following a fall as trapeze acrobat in a circus, Marie began to pose as model and muse for several painters. One of these paintings, and perhaps the most famous, is Dance at Bougival (1883) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

🎨 From those hours of posing for the painters, Marie (or Maria - her chosen "professional" name as model) observed and learned their techniques. She went home often bringing some discarded papers and charcoal, and tried and trained herself to draw. It was Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who first "found" her hidden talent, and he brought her to Edgar Degas, who was at that time considered the highest authority in paintings. And the rest, as they say, is history. Marie, or Maria, has become Suzanne - the name she assumed - the painter. However, that was only the beginning. Suzanne had had a long way to go to be well respected among her contemporary (male) artists, and to be considered a professional. One of her biggest obstacle was Maurice Utrillo, her son, born out of wedlock. 🎨 Maurice was conceived when Suzanne was only eighteen years old. She never revealed the father - most probably because she herself was not certain. However, Miquel Utrillo signed a legal document acknowledging paternity, without being sure himself of the truth. Anyhow, Maurice was a restless boy from the beginning, and Suzanne's mother often gave him a small dose of alcohol into his diet to "calm" him. Either from this diet or hereditary alcoholism in his blood, Maurice grew up an alcoholic. And so, Suzanne's personal life was always in between poverty and alcoholism (and perhaps a hint of schizophrenia). Paul Mousis, a banker, was the only non-bohemian man who had ever really loved Suzanne. He provided respectability and establishment to Suzanne's life (they lived in a Paris apartment), staying away from Montmartre and bohemian influences that Suzanne believed was bad for Maurice. 🎨 Unfortunately, once a bohemian, one would always be one. Suzanne began an adulterous affair with a boy of the same age of Maurice - in fact he was Maurice's friend - called André Utter in 1909. He posed for her painting Adam et Eve. I was quite furious with Suzanne at this point. What kind of a mother who would prioritize passion on top of the wellbeing of his sensitive son? She admitted to herself that if she were to chose between her husband (Paul) and her son, she would have picked Maurice. That was quite understandable, considering her relationship with Paul was more of comfort rather than passion. But to "sacrifice" Maurice's feeling to passionate affair with a mere boy was too much for me - bohemian or not. Well, they say that genius artists (and writers) are usually selfish, so maybe that's one quality that Suzanne needed to be what she had later become. 🎨 All in all, this is a nice historical account of a self-made woman painter, at the time when the art world was dominated by men. Suzanne had always been persistent in both her art and her dealings with blood-sucker art dealer, and with people who was on the way between her and her son's happiness. Personally I prefer Maurice Utrillo's art of cityscapes than the bold-lined and crude Suzanne's feminine nudity. Well, I generally dislike feminists, so... But that didn't deter my enjoying this book. The first half is perhaps quite confusing; one chapter, for instance, Maurice was still a toddler, then apparently in the next he's already six. But the rest are more neatly paced. Though I was not quite immersed into the Paris of between the end of Impressionism era to the rising of Expressionism, this would be a perfect choice for #ParisinJuly, or if you are a Francophile like me.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fortnight in September (1931) by R.C. Sherriff

 

🏖️ The Fortnight in September is a tale about holiday. No, it's not a story that takes place in a holiday resort, or about events that happen during a holiday. No, the story is about the holiday itself, like the Holiday is one of the main characters; a central one. The Stevens is a lower middle class family lives in 22 Corunna Road, Dulwich. For the last fifteen years, their annual two-weeks summer holiday was spent regularly in the seaside resort of Bognor. Not only at the same region, they have always stayed at the same boarding house called Seaview, that belongs to a Mrs. Huggett (widowed for several years). The boarding house, the Stevens found, was always satisfactory when Mr. and Mrs. Huggett ran them together. But after Mr. Huggett died, they began to see slight decrease in the service. Nonetheless, the Stevens loyally continued to stay year after year at Seaview. 🏖️ I personally find the idea of staying at the same holiday place for fifteen years is wonderful. I can see the charm of it. Our family had had that kind of place, but for only two or three years. I remember feeling comfortable in our second stay; it felt like we were returning to an old familiar place, where we knew exactly what we could expect; the quality of the room, the food, the weather, and dozens of tiny little details that make or break the enjoyment of our holidays. Doing it for fifteen years, I imagine, felt like one is owning a summer place of one's self. 🏖️ The story unfolds with details of what ordinary family do, feel, view about their annual holiday. Mr. Stevens is always meticulous at his preparation. When to book the room at Seaview (it's just a letter to confirm to Mrs. Huggett know that the Stevens will be there this summer), how many days ahead precisely is needed to start packing or procuring the necessary paraphernalia of holiday on the seaside resort, and what time precisely they should leave home to allow enough time at the station. The family knows exactly what to bring, which shoes most comfortable to wear, the bathing suit, and don't forget the ball and the kite, and so on. They have done it for fifteen years anyway, so they had been perfecting the holiday in all aspects. But just like any other holiday, there would be one, two, or more unexpected 'complication' that would either ruin the holiday, or mark it to make it memorable. 🏖️ This book, I found, made me pondering over the philosophy of a holiday, more than I expected. The most striking aspect of a holiday will be borne into our memory for the whole year. And that's why it's important to make a holiday as perfect as possible; every choices are counted, for instance, whether you should spend more money to have little luxury. If it turns out bad, you would resent the money overspent (thus ruined the whole holiday for the rest of the work year), but if it turns out satisfactory, it would top your memory of that holiday (and cheer you up for the rest of the work year). A lot is at stake for a fortnight of a holiday - something I have never imagined. 🏖️ On the whole, this was a satisfactory reading experience. I felt like spending time with the Stevens on the seaside, and I enjoyed every stages of their holiday, every details of it. And through the reading, I was reminded of what my past holidays had been like. I had expected this a light read - which it was - but somehow it made me quite sentimental and philosophical, instead. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Much Dithering (1938) by Dorothy Lambert

🔴 Much Dithering is the name of a small, tucked-away, and peaceful village in England, where nothing has ever stirred the existence of its inhabitants. The inhabitants are mostly proud and dignified people, from its landed-gentry to the working classes. Amidst them all, the young widow Jocelyn Renshawe (our heroine) is the most unlikely to have adventure, let alone romance. She had had a loveless marriage, hence does not have any inkling about love. Her existence has been dedicated in her household, the church and charity works, and in obeying her mother-in-law (the Honorable Lady Augusta Renshawe) and her aunt. As far as Jocelyn's concern, she would grow old a penniless spinster, since the inheritance would be passed on to Lady Augusta's long lost nephew.

🔴 As usual, there should be some newcomers who would stir the peaceful existence in such a quaint village. And that roles fall on these personages; Colonel Tidmarsh - a dull retired army man; the rich family (new money) of Murchison-Bellabys whose ambition was to settled down on the village as respectable family; Ermyntrude - Jocelyn's estranged mother - who is on the lookout for a rich husband to be settled down with; and, last but not least, Gervase Blythe - a young man with unknown past, but who'd charmed everyone. Lady Augusta and Jocelyn's aunt had decided that Jocelyn should marry the dull Colonel Tidmarsh, in order to secure their darling's future. The Colonel himself is attracted by Jocelyn, who, being a typical dutiful daughter, never realizes her innocent beauty and charm, and thus, appears more attractive than women who try hard to look beautiful (heavily made-up like Ermyntrude, for instance). 🔴 The Murchison-Bellaby's son Adrian, is the second man who's instantly attracted to Jocelyn. The problem is, he's also the one for whom Ermyntrude had been 'aiming'. Then, there's Gervase Blythe, whose accidental introduction to Jocelyn left a lasting memory to the young widow. So, you see, that the central comedy of this story is how Jocelyn, believed by everyone to be the dullest woman in the village, found herself wooed by, not one, not two, but three men at the same time. And the charming job of the readers is to guest who would win her heart and how she sorted herself out from these entanglements. Oh, you would easily guess the answer, as well as to 'solve' the mystery of some jewelry theft in the hitherto very peaceful village. All in all, it was the kind of a charming, delightful, lighthearted read that I always love!  

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2