Kai Lung's Golden Hours

During a time of conflict and upheavel, a wandering story teller is arrested by a perfidious bureaucrat for the crime of appearing suspicious and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (and possible violations of the Patriot Act). Imprisoned, Kai Lung does not languish. Although his enemy has the ear of the local mandarin, Kai Lung is aided by a beautiful woman who possesses the mandarin's other ear. In the tradition of "The Arabian Nights" our hero intrigues the mandarin's interest, spinning tales by turn ironic, poignant and pointed. With each tale told, the sympathy of the mandarin, the frustration of the bureaucrat and the love between Kai Lung and his ally grow accordingly and Kai Lung survives another day. This story is set in the China of long ago and related through the filter of an early twentieth century english writer. The courtly, overly flowery language is deliciously funny and displays a sly satiricism which reminds me of "Gulliver's Travels". A truly timeless gem which may be read on different levels by different ages. Will Kai Lung survive? Yes, but you really should see how...

During a time of conflict and upheavel, a wandering story teller is arrested by a perfidious bureaucrat for the crime of appearing supicious and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (and possible violations of the Patriot Act). Imprisoned, Kai Lung does not languish. Although his enemy has the ear of the local mandarin, Kai Lung is aided by a beautiful woman who possesses the mandarin's other ear. In the tradition of "The Arabian Nights" our hero intrigues the mandarin's interest, spinning tales by turn ironic, poignant and pointed. With each tale told, the sympathy of the mandarin, the frustration of the bureaucrat and the love between Kai Lung and his ally grow accordingly and Kai Lung survives another day. This story is set in the China of long ago and related through the filter of an early twentieth century english writer. The courtly, overly flowery language is deliciously funny and displays a sly satiricism which reminds me of "Gulliver's Travels". A truely timeless gem which may be read on different levels by different ages. Will Kai Lung survive? Yes, but you really should see how...

The earlier reviewers of this book have said everything there is to say (and much better than I could have said it). I am the lucky possessor of a collected volume of all the Kai Lung stories. After having read Kai Lung's golden hours and the other books in the series, there was just one thing felt : a sense of profound sadness that there isn't more of Kai Lung to read!I am adding this in 2003. I was wrong in writing that I have the entire collection of Kai Lung books. I learnt subsequently that there are a few missed out from my collection. For the records here is the complete list of the published Kai Lung stories :The Wallet of Kai LungKai Lung Unrolls His MatKai Lung's Golden HoursThe Moon of Much Gladness (novel)Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry TreeKai Lung: SixThe last apparently contains six Kai Lung stories previously published ONLY in Punch magazine; the print edition for this book ran into a mere 250 copies and was published by Tacoma: The Non-Profit Press, 1974.I have only the following :The Wallet of Kai LungKai Lung Unrolls His MatKai Lung's Golden HoursKai Lung Beneath the Mulberry TreeKai Lung: Six, unfortunately was published in a very limited number of copies and I am unable to acquire one at an affordable price. The Moon of Much Gladness I hope to get soon.My thanks to one of the persons who read this review and through his queries alerted me to the fact that - as I discovered later -my Kai Lung collection was not complete.

Delightful collection of tales and fables by one of the most wrongfully-neglected English writers of the 20th Century. The itinerant storyteller Kai Lung, with the assistance of the delectable Hwa Mei, must circumvent the evil machinations of Ming Shu by providing a tale suited to each arising occasion. I first read this book in the early 70's, when Lin Carter reissued it in his Ballantine Fantasy series, and fell in love with its sparkling wit and originality. It is a source of considerable perplexity (to me, anyway) and some chagrin that Bramah continues in obscurity--as a writer, he is non-pareil. Someone must reissue these things (4 in the series, I believe). Fortunately, any good library will retain copies, but once you have read them you'll want copies of your own (to sleep with, under your pillow). Sweet dreams.

This is one of the series of Kai Lung stories, written in a delightfully humorous style by Ernest Bramah. These pretend to be translations of an imagined classical Chinese literary style, and follow the fortunes of Kai Lung, a wandering storyteller who is able to recall a tale pertinent to any situation he finds himself in. My edition was published in Hong Kong by Oxford University Press in 1985; others in the series include Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat and Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree, all equally enjoyable. I never tire of re-reading any of them; regrettably, Bramah's works are out of print and hard to find.