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thereaderred's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first standalone Sax Rohmer book. I have been heavily acquainted with his Fu Manchu series but I thought it would be interesting to read something different,. Although when I say different The Yellow Claw doesn’t actually stray too far from his usual writing standard.
Essentially the same story as Fu Manchu, but with an Agatha Christie skin grafted on it, the protagonists are average people and government agents who are trying to solve a murder which leads them to the trail of a powerful Eastern criminal mastermind, in this case the elusive Mr. King. The main detectives are also reminiscent of Christie’s characters too,including the mysterious French detective Gaston Max. In the same way that Nayland Smith is Rohmer’s idealised depiction of Sherlock Holmes, the portrayal of M. Max is evocative of an equally famous Belgian sleuth - although Gaston Max predates Hercule Poirot about a year before Agatha Christie started drafting the character - the same hallmarks are there: plays mind games with his suspects, uses native dialects in his speech, fancy dresser etc.
There’s some decent coverage from each of the characters but there were a few times where I felt like it was stalling, some scenes are told in 3-4 chapters when I think it could have been told in one. The mystery is set up well enough but it drags occasionally and doesn’t feel like it amounts to much when the action gets cranked up a gear, aside from one or two important facts.
It’s taken me a while but I am slowly reading through the back catalogue, but at the same time they are guilty pleasures. So on to the next one, whenever that may be.
Essentially the same story as Fu Manchu, but with an Agatha Christie skin grafted on it, the protagonists are average people and government agents who are trying to solve a murder which leads them to the trail of a powerful Eastern criminal mastermind, in this case the elusive Mr. King. The main detectives are also reminiscent of Christie’s characters too,including the mysterious French detective Gaston Max. In the same way that Nayland Smith is Rohmer’s idealised depiction of Sherlock Holmes, the portrayal of M. Max is evocative of an equally famous Belgian sleuth - although Gaston Max predates Hercule Poirot about a year before Agatha Christie started drafting the character - the same hallmarks are there: plays mind games with his suspects, uses native dialects in his speech, fancy dresser etc.
There’s some decent coverage from each of the characters but there were a few times where I felt like it was stalling, some scenes are told in 3-4 chapters when I think it could have been told in one. The mystery is set up well enough but it drags occasionally and doesn’t feel like it amounts to much when the action gets cranked up a gear, aside from one or two important facts.
It’s taken me a while but I am slowly reading through the back catalogue, but at the same time they are guilty pleasures. So on to the next one, whenever that may be.
bhalpin's review
1.0
If you're interested in pulp fiction (not the movie, but the actual, um, fiction), this is probably of decent historical interest, as it's got mysterious underground chambers, opium addicts, and a French detective who seems like a clear model for Hercule Poirot (whom I know was Beligan), though Gaston Max is much more two-fisted.
Having said that, it's not a decent enough mystery adventure to outweigh the really amazing racism and sexism that are in this book's DNA. It's really fundamentally about the fear of the evil Chinese corrupting white women.
Like I said, it's of historical interest, and it's got some things to recommend it (I enjoyed the character of Soames) but if you're just looking for pulp action, you can find something worthwhile without wading into the foetid swamp of hatred and fear that was Rohmer's imagination.
Having said that, it's not a decent enough mystery adventure to outweigh the really amazing racism and sexism that are in this book's DNA. It's really fundamentally about the fear of the evil Chinese corrupting white women.
Like I said, it's of historical interest, and it's got some things to recommend it (I enjoyed the character of Soames) but if you're just looking for pulp action, you can find something worthwhile without wading into the foetid swamp of hatred and fear that was Rohmer's imagination.
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