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Post by pulphack on Apr 16, 2015 4:45:17 GMT
Forgot to add there that I must admit to liking those rather restrained Corgi covers more than some of the more exotic work that has graced Fu Manchu paperbacks. There's an economy to them that does nothing to prepare you for some of the delirious action within, and I like the use of space around the figures to highlight them. Can see how they would get lost on book shop shelves at the time, though.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 16, 2015 9:52:34 GMT
W. T. Benda, Colliers, March 8, 1930: Cover from Unz.Org Rohmer was as "modern" as he could, but if you consider that in the pre-war time the concept of the heroine – or should I say ass-kicking villianess - was not a thing I guess he never got the idea to make more of his creation. I think his whiny portrayal of women who NEED a strong man at her side is harder to swallow today than Fu Manchu's evil plans. His BROOD OF THE WITCH QUEEN is one of my novels for the island, but every time I read about the simpering love interest of its hero I just want to wake her up. But Rohmer at least tried to go with the times. His Sumuru series was published after WWII. He never gave up. Leaving that aside, it must have been hard to try and write a strong female heroine or villianess in that period between the wars: suffragettes and emancipation had started but hadn't really had a wide-spread effect on social attitudes, so where can you go with that? It's to his credit that Rohmer tried to tackle this. Stating the obvious as per, but that's quite some fantasy sex-life Rohmer dreamed up for Shan. All nicely drugged up so the deadly, voracious Fah Lo Suee can have her wicked way with him AGAINST HIS WILL, while nice, frightfully proper Rima anxiously awaits his returns. Rima is "pretty" and likable, Fah Lo Suee is beautiful and dangerous. It's the best of both worlds for Shan Greville. When our friends at Wordsworth conducted their poll, Which Authors Would You Most Like To See Published In The Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural Series?, there was support for Rohmer reprints but "from our initial research it seems that unfortunately he would be beyond our budget."
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Post by dem bones on Apr 26, 2015 10:46:39 GMT
Sax Rohmer - The Devil Doctor (Corgi, 1967; originally Methuen, 1913) "Defeated, Petrie!" said Smith bitterly. "The Yellow Devil is loosed in London again!"I liked the Daughter Of Fu-Manchu well enough, but this is already looking better on account of the Devil Doctor is conspicuously involved from the start. By Chapter five "that accursed Chinaman!" has already subjected an adversary, the Reverend J. D. 'The fighting missionary' Eltham, to the torture of the wire jacket, before murdering a hapless bystander who just happened to resemble Sir Denis Nayland Smith in his latest entirely pointless, completely rubbish disguise. By contrast, it took Fah Lo Suee an age to get around to anything remotely nasty in Daughter .... Two years have elapsed since whatever happened beneath the burnt-out cottage in Dulwich village at close of the first novel. Just as the Rev. Eltham feared, Dr. Fu-Manchu is alive, well, and bent as ever on entire world domination, but at least the jackal knows better than to again show his wrinkled, yellow face in our fair city ....
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Post by dem bones on Apr 27, 2015 11:40:40 GMT
"Why do you question me if you think that everything I say is a lie?" It was a lesson in logic - from a woman! I changed the subject.I've met some despicable villains in my time but this yellow fellow and his menagerie of venomous things are way beyond the pale. Would you believe the fiend has taken to dropping cats from trees onto the heads of unwary ramblers? Cats - with poisoned claws! In other news, our narrator, Dr. Petrie's on-off romance with the enigmatic beauty Kâramanèh has hit a rocky patch. Whatever they may or may not have got up to in the previous book, Kâramanèh denies ever having set eyes on the besotted medic before he and Wayland Smith rescued Rev. Eltham from his torturer. Such is the fiendish spell Fu-Manchu casts over his chosen minions! Petrie won't have it that Kâramanèh is an unwilling pawn even when she pulls aside her dress to show the scars of the lash across her back. That said, he makes only the most half-hearted attempt at preventing her escape, earning him a stern rebuke from the gung ho Wayland Smith ("He was ... vested with powers which rendered him a law unto himself, who had the British Government behind him in all he might choose to do."). This really is great fun, even more-so than Daughter of .... It says much that, in the 'twenties, the Fu-Manchu novels were considered suitable for serialisation in a boy's paper.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 27, 2015 13:29:18 GMT
"Why do you question me if you think that everything I say is a lie?" It was a lesson in logic - from a woman! I changed the subject.I've met some despicable villains in my time but this yellow fellow and his menagerie of venomous things are way beyond the pale. Would you believe the fiend has taken to dropping cats from trees onto the heads of unwary ramblers? Cats - with poisoned claws! In other news, our narrator, Dr. Petrie's on-off romance with the enigmatic beauty Kâramanèh has hit a rocky patch. Whatever they may or may not have got up to in the previous book, Kâramanèh denies ever having set eyes on the besotted medic before he and Wayland Smith rescued Rev. Eltham from his torturer. Such is the fiendish spell Fu-Manchu casts over his chosen minions! Petrie won't have it that Kâramanèh is an unwilling pawn even when she pulls aside her dress to show the scars of the lash across her back. That said, he makes only the most half-hearted attempt at preventing her escape, earning him a stern rebuke from the gung ho Wayland Smith ("He was ... vested with powers which rendered him a law unto himself, who had the British Government behind him in all he might choose to do."). This really is great fun, even more-so than Daughter of .... It says much that, in the 'twenties, the Fu-Manchu novels were considered suitable for serialisation in a boy's paper. I've not read a joy by Rohmer. The mention of repetitious plots, almost interchangeable novels and stereotyped views about women is suggesting I redress this immediately
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 27, 2015 14:39:59 GMT
"Why do you question me if you think that everything I say is a lie?" It was a lesson in logic - from a woman! I changed the subject.I've met some despicable villains in my time but this yellow fellow and his menagerie of venomous things are way beyond the pale. Would you believe the fiend has taken to dropping cats from trees onto the heads of unwary ramblers? Cats - with poisoned claws! In other news, our narrator, Dr. Petrie's on-off romance with the enigmatic beauty Kâramanèh has hit a rocky patch. Whatever they may or may not have got up to in the previous book, Kâramanèh denies ever having set eyes on the besotted medic before he and Wayland Smith rescued Rev. Eltham from his torturer. Such is the fiendish spell Fu-Manchu casts over his chosen minions! Petrie won't have it that Kâramanèh is an unwilling pawn even when she pulls aside her dress to show the scars of the lash across her back. That said, he makes only the most half-hearted attempt at preventing her escape, earning him a stern rebuke from the gung ho Wayland Smith ("He was ... vested with powers which rendered him a law unto himself, who had the British Government behind him in all he might choose to do."). This really is great fun, even more-so than Daughter of .... It says much that, in the 'twenties, the Fu-Manchu novels were considered suitable for serialisation in a boy's paper. It is probably too early to tell, but is this the one involving Karamaneh's brother?
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Post by dem bones on Apr 28, 2015 9:36:52 GMT
It is probably too early to tell, but is this the one involving Karamaneh's brother? No sign of him yet but will keep you informed. A brother under dire threat from our "Chinese Nero!" (© Sir Denis Nayland Smith) would go a long way towards explaining Kâramanèh's switching sides. Last night's bedtime reading was the chapters involving money-grabbing, disgraced Police Lieutenant Abel Slattin whose betrayal of a British spy leads to the man's assassination. His purpose served, Fu Manchu arranges for "the Semite" to receive a something extra he'd not bargained for, and serves him right. While this episode reminds us that these novels are somewhat infamous for their xenophobic content, Rohmer's has yet to assume Wheatleyesque proportion, though it's still early days. It's approximately fifteen pages since Nayland Smith last indulged his fancy dress fetish which likely accounts for his increasing hysteria. Fu-Manchu, implacable as ever - except when he's torturing someone - is playing his hand well. For this reader (if no other), Return's ... magazine serial roots (originally Collier's 1915?) work in its favour, as you can take an instalment or two at a time, go away, read something else, and no worry of losing track of what little plot there is.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 30, 2015 9:33:04 GMT
"Sometimes a yellow face showed close to one of the streaming windows; sometimes a black-eyed, pallid face, but never a face wholly sane and healthy. This was an underworld where squalor and vice went hand in hand through the beautiless streets, a melting-pot of the world's outcasts; this was the shadowland, which last night had swallowed up Nayland Smith....".
- Dr. Petrie's Rough Guide to Whitechapel High Street.
It's possible that chapters XI-XIII were conceived as a comedy interlude, albeit one interspersed with an off page torture murder. For services rendered to the new China, the Devil Doctor has been admitted to the Sacred Order of the White Peacock, an honour so singular that the Mandarin himself has travelled to Limehouse to present the award in person. And then - humiliation! Prior the the ceremony, the peacock escapes! The shame is too much to bear. Fu-Manchu must forfeit his life. To make good the sacrilege, his final act on earth will be to dispose of Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie. Alas, once again, the bungling pair have fallen into his clutches, and this time there can be no escape; bound and gagged with choking cork-board, they've been cast into a makeshift prison surrounded on all sides by bloodthirsty armed dacoits. Even Kâramanèh's cautious intervention - at great personal risk - is foiled (on this showing, the future wife of Petrie is a far better example of a strong female character than Fah Lo Suee in The Daughter Of Fu-Manchu). But Petrie has an ace up his sleeve. It was he caught the peacock when it fell squawking from the window, and the bird is now being attended by his driver. Informed of this fortuitous development, an overjoyed Fu Manchu is only too ready to strike a deal - their lives in return for the divine fowl. Everyone shakes hands and parts the best of enemies. Such are the "childish trifles" which sway the lives of even the most ruthless of China's criminal masterminds!
Fans of the 'When animals attack!' nasties might like to know that Fu-Manchu's menagerie of evil pets have put in quite a shift ...
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Post by dem bones on May 4, 2015 19:27:05 GMT
The cessation in hostilities didn't last long. See that splendid ape-like creature on the cover? He's not just there for decoration. The cynocephalyte - for that's what he is - has already killed a cop and was making a decent job of throttling Nayland Smith until Dr. Petrie chopped some of him off with a sword.
Dr. Petrie has traced Kâramanèh to a Museum Street antique shop, proprietor 'J. Salaman' - a yellow man! Could this be Dr. Fu-Manchu's current base of operations? Petrie goes in alone, gets captured as usual, and comes face to face with his terrifying adversary! Fu-Manchu entertains him in his fantastic laboratory (he's currently engrossed in an experiment with deadly fungi). Rather than do the sensible thing and kill his prisoner on the spot, the yellow fiend in human form plans to have him shipped to China and retrained as his assistant! Poor Petrie! That treacherous baggage Kâramanèh has done him up good and proper this time! But .... who is this come to rescue him in his hour of need?
One innocent, if, doubtless, stimulating complicit bondage/ skirt-ripping session later, and Petrie is flying to safety on a wire over Museum Street.
P.S. Craig. You're on next after Fu-Manchu!
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Post by Craig Herbertson on May 5, 2015 13:16:25 GMT
Select company!
Anyone recommend an omnibus of Fu Manchu?
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Post by dem bones on May 5, 2015 14:53:28 GMT
Select company! Anyone recommend an omnibus of Fu Manchu? The Fu-Manchu Omnibus Volume 1 is perhaps the best place to start as it collects the first three novels. If you want to try before you buy, here's The Devil Doctor (aka The Return Of Fu-Manchu) in its entirety courtesy of Page By Page Books
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 16:37:23 GMT
Had a dig around - here are the ones I have:
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Post by Craig Herbertson on May 13, 2015 17:44:59 GMT
Had a dig around - here are the ones I have: Tremendous.Ii think I'm going to wait til I hit blighty and keep a smart lookout for these. Would seem a sin to buy something shiny and new
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Post by dem bones on May 14, 2015 16:15:24 GMT
"But Smith,' I cried. 'What possible reason can there be for disguise?" Finally Dr. Petrie puts the question on everyone's lips. Not that he receives a convincing explanation, and by the end of the novel the dressing up bug has infected friend and foe alike. With Fu-Manchu gone to ground, Nayland Smith invites Petrie to join him for a night in a haunted house. The Gables, Hampstead, has acquired a fearsome reputation on account of the phantom bells and fiery disembodied hand which have claimed the lives of two men in quick succession. They died of fear! Cue another raid on the wardrobe department. "The first time I have employed a disguise since the memorable episode of the false pig-tail!" Needless to say, The Gables isn't 'haunted' by any supernatural entity but an altogether deadlier menace. Kâramanèh yet again risks her life to save her friends but, as ever, Nayland Smith knows best and goes charging on regardless, straight through the false floor leading to the Yellow fiend's latest makeshift dungeon! Other than Kâramanèh, what I've enjoyed most about The Devil Doctor is Rohmer's gradual ratcheting of sadistic horrors, and he's saved a beauty for this penultimate episode. With Petrie manacled to a chair, Nayland Smith is staked out to face the torture of the Six Gates, an even ghastlier variation on 'The Copper Bowl! This is surely it for the plucky Brits as even Kâramanèh can't rescue them this time! It is probably too early to tell, but is this the one involving Karamaneh's brother? Yes, his name is Aziz, but he doesn't join us until p. 157 (of 190) and it's likely he had a more significant role in the previous novel. He doesn't do a lot here beyond smile and attract admiring glances from all who meet him, including a kindly old Bishop, cruelly deformed by typhoid ... With the awful adventure behind them, Petrie, Kâramanèh, Aziz and the fancy dress fetishist take a ship bound for Port Said, but they have reckoned without Fu-Manchu's thirst for vengeance. First our heroine is attacked by what she takes to be a reanimated mummy come crawling through her porthole, and then - "The Tragedy" Nayland Smith is lost overboard presumed drowned! Really must get hold of more of these.
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Post by andydecker on May 14, 2015 19:43:53 GMT
Had a dig around - here are the ones I have: Tremendous.Ii think I'm going to wait til I hit blighty and keep a smart lookout for these. Would seem a sin to buy something shiny and new The current edition by Titan Books is quite nice. I was tempted to buy them. A small marvel that they did a re-issue considering how bad-mouthed Rohmer as a writer is in some circles.
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