Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie

   Murder on the Links was published at around 1923. At the time, Agatha Christie was an up-and-comer. Wikipedia writes that a review of the time compared Agatha Christie's Poirot to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
   Poirot is asked by Paul Renauld to save him from some kind of plot. But ultimately, it is too late. When he arrives, Renauld is already the victim of a murder. Renauld is a rich man. Surely if he was worried about being murdered, why wouldn't he hire some security? I guess then we wouldn't have a murder mystery novel then, would we?
   Christie creates another detective to act as a kind of foil to Poirot. He is comically illustrated as being arrogant. Sometimes, at the scene of a crime, he is on his hands and knees looking for evidence. While doing so, he discovers an unburnt match and a cigarette butt. They are of South American origin. All of this plays along the idea of some foreign interests being behind Renauld's murder. Meanwhile, he ignores a pipe which Poirot finds to be noteworthy. Poirot mentions that any evidence, big or small, is important. They jostle with each other, but in reality, Detective Geraud is quite dedicated to doing his detective work. Later on, he is discovered disguised as a bush so that he can overhear conversations.
   Ultimately, he identifies Jack Renauld, Paul's son, as the murderer. Certainly, it seems likely. Jack even confesses to the crime. But while all of this is enough for Geraud, it is not enough for Poirot who sees that the confession is false. Jack wants to cover up for the person whom he loves and believes to be responsible for the death.
   Ultimately, it is his other love interest who murders his father in a case of mistaken identity. The intended target was Jack, who was losing interest in the beautiful French girl, Marthe.
   I enjoyed this book.

When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong

   This is the third novel in a series about Chief Police Inspector Chen. Chen is on holiday for most of this book, and only marginally involved with it as he's on a holiday. He leaves the case mostly to his sidekick, Sergeant Yu.
   The takeaway for me from this book is the fact that Mao had a way of betraying his most ardent followers. The Red Guard which is created by him becomes politically incorrect. So, all those people that the Red Guard identified as being anti-Mao, or something to that effect, themselves become persecuted.
   Another issue that becomes apparent is that an honest policeman in the 90s quickly got left behind the economic boom which came after the government, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, decided to open up the country to capitalism. He was a victim of that Reagonomics trickle down theory whereby if people are allowed to become very rich, the money that they make will trickle down to the poor and everyone gets richer. I think that's BS now. Clearly that's not what's happening today. But, millions of people were able to live themselves above poverty. But I think that this is the result of opportunity rather than trickle down effects.
   What I really like about Qiu Xiaolong's books is reading a lot of the backstories that build up the present who-dun-nit. The meeting of the murdered woman and a poet in a reeducation facility makes these politically black people into greater astigmatism. For refusing to end the relationship, half of her head is shaved, and she has to wear an old shoe around her neck. While he is forced to wear a tiny chalkboard around his neck.
   Publisher's Weekly writes, "Only a banal solution to the mystery spoils an otherwise engrossing read." I agree that the ending is a bit banal. But I don't think that's a problem. The ending is a bit simplistic and a bit of an oddball, nothing fancy. But I don't think that that's really a problem with my reading of the novel. The more important story is how major historical events which become little more than notes on timelines create an endless tapestry of events which lead to an unfortunate end for an unfortunate victim.
   I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the next in the series.

A Loyal Character Dancer, Qiu Xiaolong

   This is the second in a series of novels about Chief Inspector Chen by Qiu Xiaolong. I was very pleased with the first novel in this series. Qiu Xiaolong is a remarkable writer. Consider that he did not spend the first 40 years of his life in the US. Further, he teaches English in the US. These novels of his were written in English, not translated from his native Mandarin into English. That is quite respectable alone. But it is not enough to make me want to read these stories. Yet, here I am, fascinated and addicted to the characters, the setting, the romance built into these.
    This book surrounds a murder and a disappearance. One man is mysteriously murdered and his corpse left in a park. The woman who has disappeared, the loyal character dancer, is of intense interest by both the underground mafia, and the American government, who has sent a special marshal, Catherine Rohn, to retrieve the woman, Wen Liping, who has disappeared.
   The Americans want her because she is a part of an agreement which is contingent for a man, her husband, in the US, to testify against some major mafia figures. But the whole affair is much more complex than it appears.
   The book is set in the late 80s, but it is affected by events that had happened in the 60s. In the 60s, Mao sent China's educated youth to the countryside to learn how to work like peasants. Wen, being a young woman in this period, is particularly beautiful, and becomes a victim to a local magistrate's influence. He wants her, so he takes her against her will. He marries her. He beats her. He cheats on her. She is subjected to debilitating work. Her life was one of misery. So, when the call came for her to go to the US to rejoin him, she could hardly be blamed for not wanting to go to him. But, the politics of the situation is too great for her to ignore.
   She had managed to find a place to hide. But, eventually Chen is able to unravel her whereabouts. He eventually convinces her that the mafia has connections everywhere, and that eventually they will find his report which identifies where she is located. When she is located, her benefactor will suffer the consequences for having harbored her. So, eventually she agrees, though Catherine is able to promise to her that she will not be forced to stay with her husband.
   Chen is very wary. Despite being romantic, he is also quite paranoid. He pays attention and is savvy. He knows he is being watched, and that he has enemies. He doesn't really trust anyone except his trusty sidekick and his sidekick's father, referred to as Old Hunter.
   I really enjoyed this novel. I recommend it. I will be reading the third in this series probably within a month.

The Executioner #1: Mafia Wars, Don Pendleton

   I remember a long time ago, my mom bought or was given a box filled with books from a couple of series: The Executioner and The Destroyer. I probably read every one of the Destroyer series that the box contained. Maybe there were 60 or so in the box. I really enjoyed them. The other series was The Executioner. I may have read one or two, I cannot really remember. But I never took to it. For whatever reason, I wanted to give it a shot. So, I got this one and gave it a read.
   Joe Kenney classifies it as "glorious trash." I think he's being a bit generous, myself. These books are trash. They probably translate to TV movies or episodes very well. It's so kitsch. For Kenney, the book is a monument against political correctness. It might not be politically correct in today's climate, but it wasn't in its own day. Quite frankly, I don't find it to be politically reckless at all. It just doesn't fit today's climate.
   The hero is getting revenge against the mafia for killing his father over a trivial debt. That's how it all gets started. He goes on a planned rampage that brings the entire mafia down in his area. My problem with it is that, though the mafia is certainly involved in bad affairs, there is a certain kind of peace because of their ability to monopolize their trade. There are no turf wars. But, once they are removed, there will be a kind of power vacuum which means a kind of war. I guess that is a fairly serious look at how Bolan's actions would have long lasting impact on the area when it's just a cheap thrills type of book. Such thinking isn't really important. Bolan's father took a loan he couldn't pay back, and he paid with his life. But was it worth killing dozens of people over it? Perhaps those soldiers who fought for the profit lines of the mafia aren't worth anything. It's just a story, right?
   The other thing that I found so kitsch was the 'romance'. The porno scenes inside are so cheesy as he gets into these sort of semi-grotesque sounding women who welcome him with open legs like the cheesy sluts they're portrayed to be. I love sluts. But I prefer my sluts to have something between their ears as well as their legs. They don't have to be smart, but they ought to have more personality than a cardboard box or an inflatable doll.
   Books like this are good because they give me a contrast to the high quality fiction which I am generally fond of reading. I think Stephen King, among others, mentions that it's a good habit to read everything good or bad. I would have to say the chances of me reading The Executioner #2 are slim to none.

The Underdwelling, Tim Curran

To be perfectly honest, I don't know where I picked up this novella. I probably got it for free from somewhere, but I'm not sure where. In any case, it's a relatively new story (2012) by Tim Curran.

It's a well told story from top to bottom, I would say. The writing style is easy to follow. The story follows a debutante miner on his first day of the job. He dreads going into the mine, but chalks it up to typical nervousness for the first day of the job. But it turns out that his premonitions were nothing to sneeze at.

The miners go into a deep pocket that has been buried for about 250,000,000 years. They discover an entire world that has petrified. Everything from dinosaurs to gigantic trees, all preserved in this underworld. But beyond the memorial of a primeval period of time that goes back to the beginning of the dinosaur age, there is an immortal resident.

The immortal resident is described as a super intelligent spider like creature. It is able to tap-tap communicate. It is powerful enough to rip full grown, powerful men into pieces for devouring. It does not eat like a spider, but rather chooses to eat men more like those around a turkey for Thanksgiving: ripping it to pieces and eating limbs and lapping up the blood of its victims. The protagonist, on the other hand, she preserves. She has been lonely for 250,000,000 years, and chooses him as a companion. She feeds him in the darkness. She helps him overcome a serious illness. Then, she gives birth to creatures. Eventually, the rescue team gets into the chamber, but this is where the story ends.

The story reminded me somewhat of H. P. Lovecraft. I am not alone in this vein. It was entertaining. It was short. It was an easy and pleasant enough read. If you like the short horrors of long ago, you will probably appreciate Curran's effort.

Death of a Red Heroine, Qiu Xiaolong

   I have been wanting to read some Chinese fiction for awhile. I wanted something a bit seedy and underground. Maybe something a bit spicy. Qiu Xiaolong came up as a candidate on a list somewhere about a year ago. So, I got some of his books and they have been on my Kindle idling for a bit. At last, I started reading this first in a series of detective fiction novels.
   Qiu Xiaolong, I had originally thought, would be a Chinese writer whose works are translated into English. That thought was only half correct. He is Chinese, but he moved to the US and continues to live there since the early 90s. For his work, Death of a Red Heroine, he was awarded "the 2001 Anthony Award for Best First Novel by a mystery writer and The Wall Street Journal ranked it as the third best political novel of all time. It was based in part on an actual sex and drug scandal from the early 1990s." (from Wikipedia.org)
   It's been awhile since I have been gripped so tightly by a great narrative. There are many aspects that make this book endearing to me.
   First, the setting. I work in China these days. It's 2018 and I've been in China since 2016. I don't really have a solid picture of what China was like in the past aside from what my ex-girlfriend used to tell me. I can certainly see elements of similarity between her memories and the descriptions rendered by Xiaolong. So, in a lot of ways, I feel like Xiaolong is really putting me in touch with the country that has tolerated me to work at a second tier public university.
   Second, I really love his main character, Chen. Chen and I have a few things in common: our love for poetry and a bachelor's degree in English literature. I will say that my love for poetry has mostly gone to sleep for quite some time. I appreciate to an extent, but consider it a bit of an anachronism these days. Perhaps a part of the problem is mine. Perhaps it's the quality of the work. Once upon a time, the greatest writers wrought their full wit on metered, rhythmic, and otherworldly poetry. Today, it is largely left in the laps of those who either like to feel sorry for themselves in some kind of sloppy prose or splatter words on the page much like certain abstract painters abuse canvas. Whatever the case, I love how poetry often helps Chen visualize the world, his interactions with others, and how he ultimately defines himself.
   The plot is fairly simple: a man kills a Chinese model. Chen, the lead detective, is sent to find out who killed her. Eventually he discovers that the killer was a child of a high ranking inner party member. As he gets close to unraveling the case, and the killer, Wu, becomes aware that he's being investigated, Chen very nearly loses his ability to pursue Wu. Through some help from high places, he manages to finish the case. In the end, Wu is tried and executed through the late hours of the night. It's quite a brutal finish.
   Some things that are interesting and stood out for me: the victim, the model named Guan, was famous enough that many people all over China could recognize her. Yet, she lived in a shabby apartment. She is not afforded special privileges despite her fame. There was no economic benefit for what she did. In fact, she had to be the perfect person at all times. She is compromised by Wu who drugs her than photographs her in sexual poses. Yet, she could see the neighbors below her through the holes in her floor. She was treated differently by her neighbors, but not in any kind of positive way. For the entire building she lived in, there were four phones that could be used with some payment. They all had to share a common kitchen area.
   Some things Xiaolong wrote stuck out for me:
   "Political correctness was a shell. It should not, could not, spell an absence of personal life."
   On how China treated its higher education professors, "The poorest is a Ph.D., and the dumbest is a professor."
   "A room's like a woman, he reflected. It also possesses you. Besides, you have to spend a fortune to make it love you." I don't know if this is true about women, but it does seem to be true about a room.
   "It is not people that make interpretations, but interpretations that make people."

   I really enjoyed reading this book and would easily say it's among the best 3-5 novels I've read this year.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

This book has been on my to-read list for decades. I am not sure why I thought it was a long novel. I dimly recall my cousin reading it and it being a brick. Perhaps his edition contained the whole series. In any case, this version that I read was more of a novella.

Apparently it was originally a radio show. What happened to radio shows like this? Do they still do this sort of thing?

The story follows an uninteresting and unintelligent who happens to be drinking buddies with an alien who has been stranded on earth for awhile. Earth is scheduled for demolition, and the alien aware of what's about to happen, decides to bring his drinking buddy with him onboard the ship. Unfortunately, they are not appreciated by the captain and are ejected out of the airlock. Fortunately, they happen to get picked up by an improbability ship on its way to rediscover a kind of El Dorado planet.

There, the reason why earth was created is revealed: it is in fact a computer created to reveal the question that goes to the answer of life which is 42. The earth is created by a mice and humans are important in solving the riddle. When the mice discover that a human being is saved from the planet, they seek to extract his brain to see if they can discover the answer that they've been looking for. Ultimately he escapes.

This book is funny. It's like Monty Python meets science fiction. They did a movie, apparently. What a shame they didn't get Terry Gilliam to do it justice. But maybe I'm selling it short: I haven't even seen it!

My favorite quote would be, "The President is very much a figurehead - he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it." It's definitely food for thought.