Fu-Manchu: The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu

This is one of the pulpiest pulp novels I have ever read. Granted, most of my previous experience with the field has been in golden age science fiction. This is a different animal. Fortunately, I still love a dip into the pulps every now and then.I was familiar with the character of Dr. Fu-Manchu and his descendants (see Ming the Merciless and “The Talons of Weng-Chiang”, for example) from TV and the movies but, until now, I had never gone back to read the novels on which the character was based. Clearly, there is a significant debt to Sherlock Holmes in its pages. Denis Nayland Smith takes on the role of a poor man’s Holmes, with his companion and chronicler Dr. Petrie, and, of course, Fu-Manchu as an exaggerated Moriarty. But this novel is exaggerated in many respects in the classic style of the pulps.Unlike a Sherlock Holmes story, which is much more sophisticated, this novel is not a mystery, it is an adventure. The same cycle of events repeats itself multiple times here—Fu-Manchu is hunted, found (usually with the help of the sexy, exotic “slave” Karamaneh who has inexplicably fallen in love with Petrie), an attempt to capture is made which fails and puts our heroes in mortal danger, but they escape (see Karamaneh again) only to hunt Fu-Manchu again. It is a repetition of thrills and danger that show its roots in serial magazine publication.Of course, a novel of this type shows the problems of its age. Casual racism abounds and the idea of the “Yellow Peril” is at the heart of this story. Still, Fu-Manchu is a great character and, during a time when the Far East was much less well-known to the West than it is today, the glimpses of a fantasy Orient must have been hugely popular. If you are not easily offended and can look past the blatant discrimination of another age to see the jewel beneath and appreciate the history, there is plenty of adventure here that is worth the time.

Sax Rohmer had great way to.keep me captivated in this first of the Dr. Fu Manchu stories .in a time when many parts of Southeast Asia and its cultures were still a mystery to Western civilizations

The racial comments make it a difficult read at times, however. Once the story really gets going (one quarter of the way through the book?), hardly a chapter goes by without mention of "the yellow peril" or the "danger to the white race". Perhaps this reader is being too soft or sensitive, but so many overt and often (implied, at least) unfavorable references to race are distracting. Even with the time of the writing to be understood as a period with different cultural and social norms, it still came off as unnecessary and sometimes abrasive.That having been said, the book is still vastly entertaining. A great thriller with incredible pacing, it is a 'page-turner' in every sense of the term. There are many scenes that fairly leap off the page and immediately inspire a clear, at times cinematic vision of the scene, thanks to lively, descriptive prose.As is also the case with good writers and great storytellers, Rohmer offers up some very quotable observations of behavior, as well. "There are few states, I suppose, which exact so severe a toll from one's nervous system as the ANTICIPATION of calamity," rings particularly true. Another that caused an entirely different kind of appreciation (and might be construed as a touch misogynistic) was, "Even in the hands of a master, a woman’s beauty is a dangerous weapon."If you are looking for an engaging, cat-and-mouse-style conspiracy thriller, this is just what the doctor ordered. Just remember you might have a lingering distaste for all the blatant East (and Everything in it is Bad) vs. West (the Shining Apex of Human Achievement) sentiments.

First of the old early 20th century Fu Manchu series of books. Fun, atmospheric and camp -- if you can look beyond the blatantly anti-Chinese (really, anti-all colonized ethnic groups) language of the "good guys." This first novel was originally a series of short stories for magazine publication, loosely laced together into a single narrative, and it shows.

Good detective story for it's time. Worth reading for Rohmer's style. With what is going on in the world in 2020, it brings Fu Manchu into our time period.There is some bigotry but that was the Zeitgeist for Rohmer's time. It took me how many years to use that phrase.Look at Dame Agatha Christie's original title of Ten Little Indians.Yes, I think it is wrong. We should be proper no matter what time period.

This was a fun introduction to Dr. Fu-Manchu. The character came from the same mold as Holmes's nemesis, Moriarty, "evil genius".I was a bit surprised by the racist overtones though; not surprised at the depth of bigotry which existed during the time frame the story was written, but by how overt it was in print. I never came across this before unless a book or story was written with the express purpose of exposing racism. So this pulp fiction taught me somethingPrejudice aside, the story was a fun, far-fetched, fling with espionage.

This was a little hard to read. Some books written early in the 1900s use words no longer in use. I found myself using the dictionary and hoping for the best on others. The story was good, but it felt overworked.

I started reading Sax Rohmer's Fu-manchu series while in my early to mid twenties after learning that Ian Fleming read them and that they influenced his fictional character Dr. No in the book of the same name. I realize that this series is considered by some to be politically incorrect. I would point out that Dr. Fu-Manchu is portrayed as being extremely intelligent and capable. I find them to be very entertaining when I want some lighter reading. This is my third time to begin reading all of this series in order. My advice is to try one of the books before you judge them.

Fu Manchu is an iconic figure of novels, radio, TV (I don't recommend the long ago US series, Fu Manchu looks like Benny Hill's Chinese character) and film with Boris Karloff & Christopher Lee. So I was interested to go to the source.The man charged with bringing Fu Manchu to justice; Commissioner Nayland Smith has a Holmes/Watson relationship with his friend Dr Petrie (the early Holmes stories would have been something Sax Rohmer grew up with). I think it would be overstating it to call this rip off, more homage. They discuss clues etc. and they smoke a lot but enjoy a much better relationship with the police than old Sherlock did. Inspector Weymouth is even allowed a far more heroic role than Conan Doyle's Lestrade ever got.There is a good deal of atmosphere and ingenius methods of injury or death (these are alleged to have inspired Ian Fleming's Bond villains) e.g.The Zayat Kiss, perfume on paper which attracts a lethal insectdeadly fungi, lethal to the touchFu Manvchu has a bit of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis , Professor Moriarty although considerably more fleshed out. He is the genius, misusing his gifts and witha wealth of deadly knowledge to exert control over politics and all sorts. I think though there's also a touch of Dracula too, in particular with his influence over women etc and his saturnine appearance.The style is a pulpy but enjoyble read still entertaining enough to compensate for the dated aspectsCheif amongst these is of course the racist tone that is present in some of the book. Nayland Smith and Petrie seem to hate the Chinese, view them as a cruel race and make no allowance for how unfair it is to judge all of them by Fu Manchu and his dacoits.There are plenty of yellow skin/yellow peril references. This is undoubtedly due to the time is was written and published-1912- the boxer rebellion 1898-1901 was in living memory then & I'm afraid Rohmer was riding the wave of anti-Chinese feeling which was very strong then.The stories are put into context in a bonus essay with this edition; "Appreciating Fu Manchu" by Leslie S Klinger, a short biography of Sax Rohmer and chapter 1 of the next novel "The Return of.." complete the package.Recommended for lovers of pulp fiction but be aware some of the tone may offend

Evil genius Dr Fu-Manchu sets in motion his plans for the conquest of China and the downfall of Western civilisation. But he must first deal with doggedly-determined hero of the Empire, Commissioner Nayland Smith and his pal Dr Petrie, who pursue him through the opium dens of Limehouse and several large country houses.Penned by English novelist Sax Rohmer (real name Arthur Ward), this is the first of the Fu-Manchu books and introduces typically Sherlockian-type investigator Nayland Smith and his sidekick Dr Petrie. The resemblance to Arthur Conan Doyle’s creations gives the impression that Rohmer simply copied the latter’s ideas but without the ingenuity and detection methods attributed to ACD’s hero. This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong the joint abilities of Smith and Petrie, and there’s a cleverness to Fu-Manchu’s murderous devices that is completely different to anything in the Sherlock Holmes canon, but Smith does tend to jump to conclusions rather than figuring out how crimes were committed through good old-fashioned detective cleverness.The narrative (told by Dr Petrie) gets a little bogged-down in detail at times and I felt the book could do with some thoughtful editing. There’s also many unconcealed references to the threat of China somehow taking over the world, which may reflect something of the anti-Chinese atmosphere that was around at the time of writing (1912). On top of that, there’s a fair bit of racial stereotyping that some readers may find upsetting, but if you’re the sort of person to be offended by books like this, you’re probably not going to read it anyway.This is very much a novel of its time and to be fair, it was extraordinarily popular with British readers. However, as we all know, ‘popular’ doesn’t necessarily equate to admirable. Tongue in cheek highly recommended.

Of it's time, there is much use of what now are racist terms, but to me not overly concerning as they are not used in any offensive way.A great story teller, it's the sheer pace of the book and the multiplicity of setting, situation and characters that make it a simple but exciting read.

I used to read Sax Rohmer books when i was still at shool, and they still hold the same magic for me today.

first in the great series