Joe Barone's Blog
A blog written by someone who loves mystery stories.
The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers . . .
This is the first Charlie Chan book
I've ever read.
I found it easy to read and surprisingly ahead of its time.
It was ahead of its time
(1926) in a civil rights way. The legal authorities look down upon the smartest man in the novel, Charlie Chan. They see him
as a dumb oriental.
When the criminals murder an oriental servant, the sheriff's department simply dismisses
the murder because the man is of a different race. Even more than that, he suspects Chan (who is disguised as another
house servant) because (to paraphrase) orientals are known to kill each other.
On the back cover of the book, Rex Stout
says, "I would put Charlie Chan among the ten best fictional detectives."
I don't know if I'd go that far, but who
am I to argue with Rex Stout? I see him as one of the geniuses of the genre.
When Chan solves the murder of a
Chinese parrot who has witnessed a crime and then of the oriental house servant, Chan shows how smart and patient he is.
Patience
is his forte. A wealthy woman who has come on hard times hires him to deliver a valuable string of pearls to an impatient
buyer.
When Chan does so, he comes upon a scheme to defraud the woman and the buyer of the pearls.
His patience and intelligence lead him to the truth.
I have to admit. I read this book for two reasons.
I thought I should read at least one classic Charlie Chan book before I part this earth. And I liked the cover.
I
probably saw the cover on one of the blogs I look at which feature book covers.
In any case, I found the
story clearly written, readable, and worth the read. I will probably read the other five Charlie Chan books.
Posted by Joe Barone at 10:57 AM
Labels: Charlie Chan, Earl Derr Biggers, The Chinese Parrot
6 comments:
Naomi Johnson said...
That is a stunningly beautiful cover.
Is that the original?
January 28, 2010 12:39 PM
Joe Barone said...
Naomi,
I don't think so. It is
just a cover I saw on someone's blog and thought, "I'll read that book."
As I understand it, the Charlie Chan stories
were originally published serially in Saturday Evening Post in the 1920's and perhaps beyond.
January 28, 2010 4:51 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...
I've seen the movies but never read
the books. Didn't even know there were books.
January 29, 2010 3:43 PM
Joe Barone said...
I hate to tell you, but the books
came first (actually, from what I've just learned, the Saturday Evening Post serials which then became books).
Reading
the book was an education for me. It reminded me that back in the 1920's the radio and magazines like Saturday Evening Post
were the entertainment, probably especially for more rural folks like I have been all my life.
You could tell a leisurely
story like the Chan stories are, and people would look forward to every episode.
January 30, 2010 7:16 AM
Richard Robinson said...
I read the first one in the series,
The House Without A Key a few years ago and liked it a lot. Based on my reading of this one book, and having seen a half-dozen
of the films, the books may be better. The next one in the omnibus volume I have os this one, Chinese Parrot, and I'll be
reading it soon.
February 26, 2010 3:53 PM
Joe Barone said...
Richard,
I now have the omnibus
volume too. I'm looking forward to tackling the first one soon.
February 27, 2010 8:55 AM
