Hughart, Barry Books

Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was

Barry Hughart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 169 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

It's called Fantasy for a reason 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I first read this book about 20 years ago. I read the two reviews that gave it only one star because I was curious why their reaction was so different from mine. After reading the two reviews, I believe I understand the problem.

It's called Fantasy for a reason.

It's not Literature, and it's not a History of ancient china.

Barry Hughart taught me that ancient wise men don't see themselves as "Ancient Wise Men". They see themselves as the little boys they once were (as do we all). They pass gas like the rest of us, sometimes they drink too much like the rest of us, and sometimes they are immoral like the rest of us.

Number Ten Ox may not have been the perfect foil for Kao Li, but he wasn't too far off the mark. His awe at Kao's "wisdom" (more often than not just common sense) and his willingness (and almost desire) to be proved to be less intelligent than Kao tells us a great deal about human nature.

By the end of the book I had reached the conclusion that there was little difference between Number Ten Ox and Kao Li, and that they, of all, knew that best. They each had their roles in a highly structured society and they played them to the hilt, trying their best to do good despite society's nonsense.

I loved this book 20 years ago and I love it still. I don't always want High Brow Literture. Sometimes I want a good, fun, frolic in the pool. The Number Ten Ox stories are the later.

Editorial Review:

When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox found master Li Kao. Together they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure, and together they discover adventure and legend, and the power of belief....

Eight Skilled Gentlemen

Barry Hughart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Another Hughart Winner 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

No surprise, another entertaining and delightful Li Kao and Number Ten Ox fantasy-adventure. The grisly murder of a prominent mandarin by a mysterious ghoul provides the catalyst for this duo to go delving into China's ancient mythology searching for the answers. Along the way, author Barry Hughart creates some of the most curious and imaginative heroes and villains you will ever encounter. Just superb.

Sadly, as noted by previous reviewers, this is the third and last book that the author has written in this series. On the bright side, the books he did write were all sparkling 5-star reads. Eight Skilled Gentlemen is a winner - just read it.

A plethora of demons 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

How easily Chinese history (that never was) segues into mythology. "Eight Skilled Gentlemen" is the third book in the 'Master Li and Number Ten Ox' trilogy, and these books should be near the top of everyone's favorite fantasies list.

The execrable villain, Sixth Degree Hosteler Tu is on the execution block at the beginning of "Eight Skilled Gentlemen." The executioner, who is going for the record in cleanly-performed beheadings by sword, botches this particular job for a very peculiar reason--a vampire ghoul crashes into the crowd around the execution block in pursuit of a band of frightened band of soldiers.

This is just the beginning of a bizarre monster-fest (in case you were wondering who the eight skilled gentlemen were.) These are demons like you've never seen before. For instance, the first demon-deity "resembles a three-year-old child with red eyes, long ears, and beautiful hair, and it kills by forcing its victims to strangle themselves."

Luckily Master Li happens upon Number Ten Ox before he finishes choking himself to death.

The plot is quite complicated, but the exotic settings and oddball characters kept this reader mightily entertained. In addition to the 'Eight Skilled Gentlemen,' there is a very old, partially deaf Celestial Master and saint who has some of the best lines in the book: at the funeral of a demon-slain high muckety-muck minister of state, he glares at a row of tight-lipped mandarins, and shouts, "Damn fools!...If you'd given Ma's corpse an enema you could have buried what remained in a walnut shell!"

Chinese saints seem to be much more opinionated and interesting than their European counterparts.

Master Li and Number Ten Ox join up with a puppeteer and his beautiful daughter to break up a ring of mandarin smugglers who are using mysterious cages to communicate with one another. The story finally resolves itself in a wild end-of-the-world dragon boat race that pits our two heroes against the gods.

I only wish Barry Hughart had continued on with this eccentric and wonderful myth of old China.

Editorial Review:

In the heart of the Forbidden City, Master Li and Number Ten Ox, accompanied by a scarred puppeteer and his shamanka daughter, investigate the murder of respected mandarins. By the author of Bridge of Birds. Reprint. PW. AB.

Story of the Stone, The

Barry Hughart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Second Best Book You've Never Read 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.

This is Hughart's second book, and the second Master Li and Number Ten Ox adventure. And while this book doesn't have quite the sheer delight of the first, "Bridge of Birds," it is still a wonderful adventure set in the same mythical China. And this novel confirms what you suspected after "Bridge of Birds" - Hughart is no fluke.

Chinese peasant Number Ten Ox, Master Li's client in the first book, is his assistant now, and troubled because it appears ancient Master Li may drop dead before another worthwhile mystery comes along. Ox need not have worried. The Abbot of the monastery in the Valley of Sorrows arrives with a tale of murder, terror and the return of the Laughing Prince, the lunatic despot who ruled the Valley of Sorrows 750 years earlier. How can Master Li resist the temptation? How can we resist?

Once again Master Li and Number Ten Ox must solve a mystery, and once again the mystery is fringed with the supernatural, homicide and genuine, laugh out loud developments. Along the way they meet some truly memorable characters, including Grief of Dawn, a young lady with a deeply mysterious past, and Moon Boy, a sound master and an entirely marvellous creation.

Perhaps the best invention is the characters' mind trip through the Chinese Hell, which makes the efforts of Orpheus and Dante look pretty pitiful in comparison. The ending is less of a stunner than "Bridge of Birds," but this story is a little more mature and tightly crafted than "Bridge."

The only fair criticism of "Stone" is that Hughart only wrote one more book, "Eight Skilled Gentlemen." There have to be Master Li stories not yet told; I wish Mr. Hughart would write them.

A wonderful story, amusing and moving, that exposes the reader to parts of Chinese mythology in the nicest possible way. Exceptionally well written. Highly recommended.