Surprised...

[liralen]

I was very surprised to find Judge Dee taking justice pretty much into his own hands, once he was convinced of the guilt of a guy he would never, for political reasons, be able to get in court. Wow. Not even a shred of the Western "you have to trust the system and use it even if you know it's not going to work" kind of thing one sees in all the police dramas.

He just tricks the bad guy into a room with an angry bear and says, "It's in a higher court than mine. I'll let Heaven judge you."

This is in The Haunted Monastery, and wow... I really enjoyed it. There's something very different about the stories, and a lot of it is the whole set of assumptions, from his three wives to his constables and the whole basis and crux of his authority. It's pretty intriguing.

I also got to watch two of the three Mushi Shi disks that amberley sent, and they're utterly gorgeous, lush, intriguing, and while all the bit players look nearly identical, each of the stories, themselves, are wonderful and so different and haunting in many ways. I'm looking forward to the last one quite happily.

I've also gotten to watch a few more episodes of Bleach and now understand why they want to go to Soul Society. *grin* It's going to be interesting.

Comments

[rephetibel.livejournal.com]

I remember a story where Judge Dee accepts a bribe and then goes ahead and gets the bad guy anyway. He felt that it was perfectly okay to accept the bribe as long as he didn't allow it to influence his actions.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Wow.

That's really different.

I'm going to have to think this through a bit, as I was thinking of the girl Dee from Benjamin's story as being a type of Judge Dee and wow... it could make for some really interesting stories if she thought so differently than the conventional methods of present day law stories...

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

is that from the first batch or the second batch? Van Gulik says in the first stories he stuck as close as he could to traditional form, no opinion, strict retelling, no personal views and so on; when he came back to the character for the second set of books he wanted to write much more freely and I don't know if he modernised or westernised or interpreted what was already intrinsic. I enjoy both sets though - and if you don't know Laura Joh Rowland you might like her books too.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I don't know, actually, though it has the Maze Murders which really sound like they're probably from the "first batch" of stories. Though I'm not at all sure.

It's interseting.

I shall have to peer at Laura Joh Rowland, now. :-) Thank you!

[incandescens]

Ohh yes. I remember that one. I love Judge Dee. Read it while young, still reread it now. (My mother had it on her bookshelf.)

And yes, that is why they are going to Soul Society. Isn't it nice that they have such a reliable, totally trustworthy, utterly truthful local shopkeeper?

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... I like your Mom's bookshelf. *grin*

Oh, man, what you've just said makes my hair stand on end. Yeesh.... and given one Death God's reaction at the name of said shopkeeper, it's going to be very, very interesting indeed.

I don't think I'm well endowed enough, in front, to play most of the women in the darned series. *laughter* Especially the bombfireworks expert... but I do love her style. Whew...

[incandescens]

Wait till you find out which Division said shopkeeper used to belong to. :)

As to the woman I'd cast you as -- well, I can't say who it is for fear of spoilers, but I suspect you'll twig to it when she reveals herself.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I love the different divisions.

His personality fits Division Eight's... *laughter*

But I suspect that with that arsenal of strange stuff that he's actually from twelfth... of course this is just guessing from before knowing. I wanted to try that. *laughter*

[incandescens]

I can certainly see Urahara hanging out with Shunsui (from Eighth) and getting drunk with him, and Nanao scolding the pair of them and then doing their paperwork. ;)

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Absolutely!! *laughter*

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I also really like the lieutenant from eighth. *grin* Glasses and all and having to deal with the lush of a boss who seems like a pretty good guy after all...

[incandescens]

Those two (Nanao (VC) and Shunsui (said Lush) are two of my all-time favourite Bleach characters. I have written far too much fanfic about them. :)

(And with the Captain of 13th added, though you may not have seen him yet. Of course he and Shunsui are just old friends. Really.)

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Rukia's captain, yet. I don't think...

So much to look forward to! Hee.

[incandescens]

Rukia's captain is a sweetie.

Even if his hair is wildly implausible. :)