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What do P G Wodehouse, Damon Runyon and Ernest Bramah have in common? First, they were all extraordinary comic writers with an astonishing ability to choose exactly the right words, and the knack of perfectly matching style to plot. Second, they each manipulated language to give their characters and narrators a unique voice, entirely artificial and self-contained (Bertie Wooster's Knutspeak, Runyon's overarticulate historic-present mobsters, Bramah's wondefully elegant circumlocutions). Third, they created pocket universes for their characters to live and play in.
It's wonderful to see Bramah back in print after too many years in the wilderness. If you only buy one book this year, make it this one
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:4.1 out of 5 stars 8 reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsThis humble reviewer can not possibly do this book justice..21 Feb 2003
By David C. Johnson - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Bramah sure can spin a phrase. The book is a collection of stories told by Kai Lung, and as such is excellent. You are transported back into this fictional China, where introductions can take hours as the two people flatter each other & humble themselves endlessly. The stories are very amusing, but be forewarned; the language takes some time to read through & comprehend. Not a book to breeze through (but oh so rewarding when you do read it!)
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read25 May 2009
By B. Wilson - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love the over-the-top pseudo-chinese-classical style of Bramah's writing: "It is indeed unlikely that you could condescend to stop and listen to the foolish words of such an insignificant and altogether deformed person as myself. Nevertheless, if you could retard your elegant footsteps for a few moments, this exeedingly unprepossessing individual will endeavor to entertain you."
If you don't like that style, you'll find it difficult to get past it to the entertaining and humorous stories of Kai Lung.
The formatting could use some improvement (uneven margins on my iPhone, double line breaks for paragraphs), but it's not too bad.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsTruely great book30 Oct 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
The Kai Lung books have a nice dry humour, a beautifully way of turning a phrase and a concoluted way of using the english language. It is a China that never was but really ought to have been.