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The Green Eyes of Bast
Psychic investigator Dr. Damar Greefe is strolling home. It's been a tough day, assisting the police. During this stroll, he feels someone or something watching him -- but when he turns to see who it is, he faces only emptiness. Then he sees a cat staring at him, eyes as green as jade. But when he goes to investigate, the cat has disappears!
Then the body of Sir Marcus Coverly is found in a crate headed out to sea. The ensuing investigation leads Dr. Greefe deeper into Egypt's mysteries. And into -- the Green Eyes of Bast!
Sax Rohmer was a prolific author of early science fiction and fantasy. He was perhaps best known for creating the super-villian, Dr. Fu Manchu -- a character who went on the become the subject of many films and, in fact, much plundering. (Think about it for a moment: how many evil Chinese Mandarin masterminds have you heard tell of? Remember Ian Fleming's Dr. No? Remember Lo-Pan, from Big Trouble in Little China? Be careful. They're everywhere.)
311 pages, Harcover
First published June 1, 1920
44 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Sax Rohmer
494 books125 followersAKA Arthur Sarsfield Ward (real name); Michael Furey.
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.
He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.
Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.
His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.
He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.
After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").
There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.
His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.
He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.
Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.
His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.
He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.
After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").
There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.
His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 2, 2013
Jeez, how wrong can a plot synopsis be? The one here at Goodreads begins "Psychic investigator Dr. Damar Greefe is strolling home. It's been a tough day, assisting the police."
That's wrong on three counts. The protagonist's name is actually Jack Addison. (Dr. Damar Greefe is, in fact, "Eurasian" evil genius in this juicy tale.) Jack Addison is a journalist, not a psychic investigator -- though arguably he has reported on sensational cases (we've little to go on regarding his career), and, finally, he is not coming home from assisting the police. He's simply walking home -- there's no mention of what he was doing beforehand.
But quibbles with the erroneous plot summary given here aside, this is classic Sax Rohmer, taut and atmospheric, with not one but two mysteries to unfurl, and so many chestnuts in the proverbial narrative fire that the reader is presented with a pulp fiction feast.
Evil genius? Check. Bizarre and seemingly insolvable murder? Check. Mysterious oriental curse? Check. Stout-hearted English hero and stolid policemen? 'Natch. Damsel in distress? You betcha. Oh, and throw in the byzantine legacy of a noble family, an assortment of exotic minor characters, including a Nubian mute, a gypsy woman, several lunk-headed lotharios, and a sterling manservant/former batman (no, not the Bruce Wayne sort... the military servant kind), and it's clear that Christmas has come early for lovers of pulp fiction.
It's not that this tale is without fault, mind you. The hero and the police detective in charge are prone to long stretches of theorizing and ruminating over the Facts of the Case. There is far too little of the tantalizing "green eyes" of title. And the murder methodologies, while ingenious, are almost laughably Rube Goldberg-esque. Still, these are mere cavils, for ultimately there is the great mystery behind the murder mystery that draws the reader along, and that one, my friends, is a hum-dinger.
January 15, 2024
Written by Sax Rohmer in 1920, this book is a good yarn. It's a compelling story where you more or less know whodunit early on in the story, but it's a question of why they did it and how they did it. There's also an important character in the story who escapes at the end, but I can't say who because that would count as a spoiler.
Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward, better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He was born in Birmingham and is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu.
Jack Addison is a journalist who loved a girl called Isobel but never told her so. He went abroad without divulging his feelings and when he came back, she was betrothed to someone called Eric Coverly. However, members of Eric's family have started dying in unusual circumstances. Cue the entrance of Inspector Gatton of Scotland Yard who seems a clever sort of policeman. Addison and Gatton move the story along at a pace in both London and the Home Counties before the denouement is provided by the mastermind of the deaths in one of those long statements that some writers like as a way of explaining the motivation for the plot. Does Addison get the girl in the end? To whom does the title refer to? Questions that can only be answered by reading the book!
The book is over a hundred years old now, so there are some references and attitudes that will seem dated, but not enough to spoil the story, at least for me.
Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward, better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He was born in Birmingham and is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu.
Jack Addison is a journalist who loved a girl called Isobel but never told her so. He went abroad without divulging his feelings and when he came back, she was betrothed to someone called Eric Coverly. However, members of Eric's family have started dying in unusual circumstances. Cue the entrance of Inspector Gatton of Scotland Yard who seems a clever sort of policeman. Addison and Gatton move the story along at a pace in both London and the Home Counties before the denouement is provided by the mastermind of the deaths in one of those long statements that some writers like as a way of explaining the motivation for the plot. Does Addison get the girl in the end? To whom does the title refer to? Questions that can only be answered by reading the book!
The book is over a hundred years old now, so there are some references and attitudes that will seem dated, but not enough to spoil the story, at least for me.
July 11, 2021
Typical Rohmer scariness but with an odd side trip into too much description of the cat woman phenomenon. Light, horrific fun reading for summer despite that.
January 1, 2015
The review from afar – No. 21
Re-revised forward to these overseas reviews:
Since emulating a yo-yo, I continue to rely on the old-style Kindle 3G for any non-technical reading. I tip my hat to the fine folks at Project Gutenberg: virtually every title I have or will be reading in the near future comes from them.
The Green Eyes of Bast is yet another non-Fu Manchu novel from the prolific author Sax Rohmer. It starts out with an innocent stroll home by the ex-Army officer, now writer Addison. Along the way he is an accidental witness to a highly peculiar request for the local constable. Since it is on his way, he goes with him. Later, on his way to his own house he encounters a mysterious phenomenon. Then, the strange becomes bizarre: a woman caller leaps out through a window in an almost super-human bound. In the morning, very few marks are found – implying that she was no ordinary lady. After that beginning, the author mixes in an odd death and a second mystery begins to run alongside the first.
This is typical and classic Rohmer. There is the worldly but not completely cynical hero (a Westerner of course), the evil/maniacal genius whose villainy drives the plot forward, and the mysticism of Eastern religion or shady organization. It’s all here and it all hangs together well enough to hold your interest even while you notice the differences in language, attitude and “correctness” from our 100+ perspective.
Rohmer’s genius (and he was very, very skillful at making up these stories) is more in the creation of the fantastic elements and characters rather than the fleshing out of the actual characters or sometimes even the plot. I think this is partly due to the nature of how his stories or novels were published: his was the rich world of magazine serialization where each segment (usually in itself a complete sub—story) has to have enough punch and enough of a hook to keep the reader interested and willing to shell out for the next installment. This pattern in a full novel can be a bit wearying as there are (perhaps) too many climaxes for our current tastes, but at the same time it does keep things lively.
Coupled with his actual knowledge (through book study mostly) of Eastern culture and motifs, his action-oriented, attempts to discover and defeat evil megalomaniacs seem to hang together just enough to entertain. And that’s what he intended the bulk of his writing to do and he was able to gain wealth and fame while he was feeding the people what they wanted. Yes, he was following in the footsteps of other perhaps better authors, but he took what he found and made it his own in a way that few others did. Trash fiction, pulp, sensationalist literature; the names do not matter because the results speak to us even today.
Three and one-half (3.5) radioactive green and almond-shaped Stars.
You can get this book for free from the Gutenberg Project site.
February 23, 2022
It has been a long time since I read any Rohmer and I must admit that I picked this up entirely for its great dust-jacket and that I seemed to remember Rohmer’s tales as being a lot of fun.
I don’t know what book the synopsis given is taken from but it isn’t this book. Our hero, Jack Addison, is a journalist who happens to become more intricately involved in a murder investigation as a) it happened just down the road from him and b) in the frame (as they say in the lingo) is a man engaged to an old flame of his. The seemingly insoluble murder mystery has a hint of supernatural exotica- who is the mysterious green-eyed woman? What is the meaning of the Bast amulet? Is Dr Damar Greefe a villain or not? and rattles along at a cracking pace.
Although there are some hokey moments (co-incidences that are pretty unlikely but certainly more plausible than some of Buchen's) this is pure escapist fun and very well-plotted, the 300 or so pages a (pulp) pleasure to read. I enjoyed it hugely.
But (he asks rhetorically) what of the racism and cultural stereotyping? Will I be ostracised by my pals for reading Rohmer? Well, on the basis of this book, no siree. There is certainly a point when one character says something to the effect of “But he is British, went to a good school and was in the army- he cannot be a murderer” and our hero is, of course, true to ‘type’. I, perhaps generously and with a century of hindsight, think Rohmer might be mocking as there is another, quite lengthy, passage where Greefe explains that he, his academic credentials and his researches would never be accepted by the ‘west’ because of the racist attitudes of the colonial Whites towards anything outside their, imperialist, knowing, ‘reality’. So yes, it's perfectly acceptable to buy a copy and you won’t (or shouldn’t) be shunned by your mates- so that's ok then. Phew!
I don’t know what book the synopsis given is taken from but it isn’t this book. Our hero, Jack Addison, is a journalist who happens to become more intricately involved in a murder investigation as a) it happened just down the road from him and b) in the frame (as they say in the lingo) is a man engaged to an old flame of his. The seemingly insoluble murder mystery has a hint of supernatural exotica- who is the mysterious green-eyed woman? What is the meaning of the Bast amulet? Is Dr Damar Greefe a villain or not? and rattles along at a cracking pace.
Although there are some hokey moments (co-incidences that are pretty unlikely but certainly more plausible than some of Buchen's) this is pure escapist fun and very well-plotted, the 300 or so pages a (pulp) pleasure to read. I enjoyed it hugely.
But (he asks rhetorically) what of the racism and cultural stereotyping? Will I be ostracised by my pals for reading Rohmer? Well, on the basis of this book, no siree. There is certainly a point when one character says something to the effect of “But he is British, went to a good school and was in the army- he cannot be a murderer” and our hero is, of course, true to ‘type’. I, perhaps generously and with a century of hindsight, think Rohmer might be mocking as there is another, quite lengthy, passage where Greefe explains that he, his academic credentials and his researches would never be accepted by the ‘west’ because of the racist attitudes of the colonial Whites towards anything outside their, imperialist, knowing, ‘reality’. So yes, it's perfectly acceptable to buy a copy and you won’t (or shouldn’t) be shunned by your mates- so that's ok then. Phew!
May 28, 2014
The Green Eyes of Bast, like most of Sax Rohmer's work, is very much a window into the popular sentiments and fears of early 20th century England. Much like his Fu Manchu series, it deals with the consequences of British imperialism in a time when that empire was fading, when widespread support of colonialism was fading fast, subject nations were exerting their independence, and the fear was that they might seek retribution against their former oppressors. Rohmer's cynical, ultimately pessimistic tone stokes those fears, as the only one to stand in the way of these insidious threats is a hapless journalist who is forever two steps behind the villains.
The book is written as a retrospective from the point of view of Jack Addison, a freelance journalist for the Planet of good reputation, means and breeding, who gets caught up in the murderous incident by chance and proceeds to blunder his way through the plot while his friend, Inspector Gatton, does all the heavy lifting, the Nayland Smith to Addison's Dr. Petrie. In this way, Addison serves as a proxy for the reader who may be in need of some exposition to tie the clues together or to fill in the history of an old barony.
A solid mystery story, Green Eyes of Bast follows the pair as they attempt to unravel the killing of Sir Marcus Coverly, whose body was discovered in a shipping crate on-board the Oritoga along with a votive offering to Bast, a crate which Addison had seen the night before. Suspicion is laid at the feet of the late baronet’s cousin, heir to the title, along with his fiance and onetime love interest of the narrator, Isobel. This suspicion is promptly dismissed, as they conclude that no woman could ever be behind a case such as this, and the good Eric Coverly was clearly innocent despite having every motive, means and opportunity. And so the race is on to uncover the real killer, the method and motive, all before an innocent man is hanged.
And so the story moves out to the countryside, where the Coverly family has its land. The Upper Crossleys, we learn, along with the converted monastery of Friar's Park, have fallen on hard times, with the bulk of the dynasty now wiped out. It is here that Addison meets with the Eurasian doctor, Dr. Damar Greefe, an Anglo-Indian physician caring for the invalid Lady Coverly, and much despised by the locals along with his Nubian manservant and the Gypsy groundskeeper of the Park.
Alongside the mystery of the murder in the Red House is that of the exotic young woman with the cat-like eyes who follows Addison home from the scene of the murder and steals the statue of Bast from him the following night. Her, too, he meets in the Upper Crossleys, and it is this green-eyed woman who turns out to be the mastermind behind the whole affair.
Several attempts are made on Addison's life, with only his wits, a pistol, and the reliable police inspector to save him, and the truth of the case begins to resolve itself. Dr. Greefe has been concealing the truth of Lady Coverly's death while he and his cat-like accomplice were set about killing the rest of the family, a goal which they succeed in when Eric is killed in Addison's own home. In the end, though, they are little more than bystanders and witnesses to the whole affair, as Dr Greefe is killed by his ward, living just long enough to provide three chapters of back story on their history and motives, while the titular character disappears into the night, never to be seen again.
Overall, the book is quite well written, as far as light fiction goes. It is not exactly fast paced, but rather saunters forward surely but sedately, never missing a step, never veering from the inevitable destination it has set for itself. The mystery itself is well laid out, with ample foreshadowing and the various clues being clearly provided, and while the ending may be somewhat unsatisfying for those who dearly love justice, it is entirely in keeping with Rohmer's other work, in which the villainous masterminds almost always get away, as is his treatment of that sense of post-colonial menace which distinguishes his writing.
There are, of course, a number of things about the book which the modern reader may find offensive. His treatment of race, for instance, while perhaps better than some of his contemporaries, and more based in a cynical desire to appeal to the mass audience than his genuine feelings, can nevertheless be shocking to someone not expecting it. His treatment of women is even worse, on the whole, and the lower classes are barely seen or heard when they are doing something wrong.
Dr. Damar Greefe is this story's mad genius, a man ostracized from both Orient and Occident by virtue of his mixed, Eurasian heritage. Unable to find acceptance in the European scholarly community for his medical research, he is forced into unscrupulous methods. He is a tragic villain, brilliant and dignified yet unapologetic for the murders he has helped to commit, Anubis rather than Bast, wanting only the ability to pursue science and perfectly willing to turn his intellect against those who would scorn him for the colour of his skin. He is also, like Fu Manchu before him, a master of Oriental poisons, untraceable by western forensics, and it is with these that he sets his traps.
His partner in crime, the green-eyed Nahémah, is even more of a hybrid between East and West. Born in the city of Bubastis, she was the legitimate, eldest child of the Coverlys, but who was declared stillborn due to some congenital defect which left her with feline-like eyes and claws, as well as the dusky complexion of an Egyptian goddess. This disfigurement, according the expert in teratology and embryology, Dr Greefe, was due to the fact that her mother had been frightened by a large cat in Bubastis on the night of its patron's holy day while she was pregnant, and which had led to what the Eurasian termed a “psycho-hybrid.”
As questionable as this Orientalist treatment of foreigners might be, they are at least painted in sympathetic lights, the Nubian manservant less so, but this perhaps owes more to the classist habit of treating the lower classes more as furniture than people. More consistently troubling is the treatment of women in the text.
Isobel is the classic damsel in distress. She takes no actions, has no agency of her own, and does only what the men in her life tell her to. She is the delicate flower who must be sheltered from the unpleasant happenings, and quietly idealized as a shining example of grace and beauty. When her fiance is suspected of murder and refuses to account for his whereabouts, she timidly accepts his refusal to confide in her, and when he later dies in the home of his chief rival for her affections, she meekly accepts this, too.
Nahémah, on the other hand, stands in contrast to all this. She is the Oriental woman, mature beyond her years, athletic, proud and independent, willing to pursue her romantic inclinations and personal ambitions, and of course, a murderer. Excepting the last, these would all be seen as positive character traits by most people in the present day, but for Rohmer's characters it is enough to paint her as hopelessly deranged by her hybrid nature. There are no strong, healthy women in Rohmer's fiction, because a strong, healthy woman is a contradiction in terms.
Looking back on it, The Green Eyes of Bast could be seen as a precursor to the Noir tradition. It certainly has many of the hallmarks of a Noir story, with the grisley murders, the femme fatale, the embittered and world weary private investigator (in this case a freelance journalist), and the unfulfilling ending. While Addison is hardly what you would call “hard boiled” and the entire investigation was far too collegial, it was published only just before the genre took off in England and can easily be seen in this light.
To sum up, The Green Eyes of Bast is a good example of Rohmer's writing, as well as an excellent look at the psyche of England during the inter-war period when Empire was collapsing, but the horrors of the Second Great War had yet to visit themselves on the British Isles. It is well worth reading if you have an interest in the popular fiction of this era, or if you just enjoy slow paced mystery novels. Just be aware that it is a product of its time, and be prepared to deal with the sexism, racism, classism and other unfortunate social aspects that get treated pretty casually throughout.
The book is written as a retrospective from the point of view of Jack Addison, a freelance journalist for the Planet of good reputation, means and breeding, who gets caught up in the murderous incident by chance and proceeds to blunder his way through the plot while his friend, Inspector Gatton, does all the heavy lifting, the Nayland Smith to Addison's Dr. Petrie. In this way, Addison serves as a proxy for the reader who may be in need of some exposition to tie the clues together or to fill in the history of an old barony.
A solid mystery story, Green Eyes of Bast follows the pair as they attempt to unravel the killing of Sir Marcus Coverly, whose body was discovered in a shipping crate on-board the Oritoga along with a votive offering to Bast, a crate which Addison had seen the night before. Suspicion is laid at the feet of the late baronet’s cousin, heir to the title, along with his fiance and onetime love interest of the narrator, Isobel. This suspicion is promptly dismissed, as they conclude that no woman could ever be behind a case such as this, and the good Eric Coverly was clearly innocent despite having every motive, means and opportunity. And so the race is on to uncover the real killer, the method and motive, all before an innocent man is hanged.
And so the story moves out to the countryside, where the Coverly family has its land. The Upper Crossleys, we learn, along with the converted monastery of Friar's Park, have fallen on hard times, with the bulk of the dynasty now wiped out. It is here that Addison meets with the Eurasian doctor, Dr. Damar Greefe, an Anglo-Indian physician caring for the invalid Lady Coverly, and much despised by the locals along with his Nubian manservant and the Gypsy groundskeeper of the Park.
Alongside the mystery of the murder in the Red House is that of the exotic young woman with the cat-like eyes who follows Addison home from the scene of the murder and steals the statue of Bast from him the following night. Her, too, he meets in the Upper Crossleys, and it is this green-eyed woman who turns out to be the mastermind behind the whole affair.
Several attempts are made on Addison's life, with only his wits, a pistol, and the reliable police inspector to save him, and the truth of the case begins to resolve itself. Dr. Greefe has been concealing the truth of Lady Coverly's death while he and his cat-like accomplice were set about killing the rest of the family, a goal which they succeed in when Eric is killed in Addison's own home. In the end, though, they are little more than bystanders and witnesses to the whole affair, as Dr Greefe is killed by his ward, living just long enough to provide three chapters of back story on their history and motives, while the titular character disappears into the night, never to be seen again.
Overall, the book is quite well written, as far as light fiction goes. It is not exactly fast paced, but rather saunters forward surely but sedately, never missing a step, never veering from the inevitable destination it has set for itself. The mystery itself is well laid out, with ample foreshadowing and the various clues being clearly provided, and while the ending may be somewhat unsatisfying for those who dearly love justice, it is entirely in keeping with Rohmer's other work, in which the villainous masterminds almost always get away, as is his treatment of that sense of post-colonial menace which distinguishes his writing.
There are, of course, a number of things about the book which the modern reader may find offensive. His treatment of race, for instance, while perhaps better than some of his contemporaries, and more based in a cynical desire to appeal to the mass audience than his genuine feelings, can nevertheless be shocking to someone not expecting it. His treatment of women is even worse, on the whole, and the lower classes are barely seen or heard when they are doing something wrong.
Dr. Damar Greefe is this story's mad genius, a man ostracized from both Orient and Occident by virtue of his mixed, Eurasian heritage. Unable to find acceptance in the European scholarly community for his medical research, he is forced into unscrupulous methods. He is a tragic villain, brilliant and dignified yet unapologetic for the murders he has helped to commit, Anubis rather than Bast, wanting only the ability to pursue science and perfectly willing to turn his intellect against those who would scorn him for the colour of his skin. He is also, like Fu Manchu before him, a master of Oriental poisons, untraceable by western forensics, and it is with these that he sets his traps.
His partner in crime, the green-eyed Nahémah, is even more of a hybrid between East and West. Born in the city of Bubastis, she was the legitimate, eldest child of the Coverlys, but who was declared stillborn due to some congenital defect which left her with feline-like eyes and claws, as well as the dusky complexion of an Egyptian goddess. This disfigurement, according the expert in teratology and embryology, Dr Greefe, was due to the fact that her mother had been frightened by a large cat in Bubastis on the night of its patron's holy day while she was pregnant, and which had led to what the Eurasian termed a “psycho-hybrid.”
As questionable as this Orientalist treatment of foreigners might be, they are at least painted in sympathetic lights, the Nubian manservant less so, but this perhaps owes more to the classist habit of treating the lower classes more as furniture than people. More consistently troubling is the treatment of women in the text.
Isobel is the classic damsel in distress. She takes no actions, has no agency of her own, and does only what the men in her life tell her to. She is the delicate flower who must be sheltered from the unpleasant happenings, and quietly idealized as a shining example of grace and beauty. When her fiance is suspected of murder and refuses to account for his whereabouts, she timidly accepts his refusal to confide in her, and when he later dies in the home of his chief rival for her affections, she meekly accepts this, too.
Nahémah, on the other hand, stands in contrast to all this. She is the Oriental woman, mature beyond her years, athletic, proud and independent, willing to pursue her romantic inclinations and personal ambitions, and of course, a murderer. Excepting the last, these would all be seen as positive character traits by most people in the present day, but for Rohmer's characters it is enough to paint her as hopelessly deranged by her hybrid nature. There are no strong, healthy women in Rohmer's fiction, because a strong, healthy woman is a contradiction in terms.
Looking back on it, The Green Eyes of Bast could be seen as a precursor to the Noir tradition. It certainly has many of the hallmarks of a Noir story, with the grisley murders, the femme fatale, the embittered and world weary private investigator (in this case a freelance journalist), and the unfulfilling ending. While Addison is hardly what you would call “hard boiled” and the entire investigation was far too collegial, it was published only just before the genre took off in England and can easily be seen in this light.
To sum up, The Green Eyes of Bast is a good example of Rohmer's writing, as well as an excellent look at the psyche of England during the inter-war period when Empire was collapsing, but the horrors of the Second Great War had yet to visit themselves on the British Isles. It is well worth reading if you have an interest in the popular fiction of this era, or if you just enjoy slow paced mystery novels. Just be aware that it is a product of its time, and be prepared to deal with the sexism, racism, classism and other unfortunate social aspects that get treated pretty casually throughout.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2020
I have had this in my to read for half a year and finally got around to reading it, however not sure what prompted me to read it as its not my usual cup of tea. I think another book I was reading mention it. For a book published in 1920 it honestly felt timeless. I struggle following older writing as it just doesn't a lot of the time resonate with me, can never get it through my skull. This however was imaginative and at times gripping, but not so much as to give it above 3 stars. It just wasn't my idea of a great read. However, if you enjoy murder mysteries then this is definitely worth a look.
January 21, 2012
If you have never read Sax Rohmer before and are thinking of reading one of his books, this is a great novel (along with "The Golden Scorpion") with which to start. Sax Rohmer's "The Green Eyes of Bâst" (free for Kindles) is a fast paced mystery which contains all of the mysterious elements of the classical mystery: the naive hero, the mysterious women, dark nights and a lonely house, the "mad doctor," a mysterious car, Scotland Yard and, of course, a body found in a crate. With the body is found a statue of a woman with the head of a cat, and we are left with the question: what is the significance of this mysterious statuette of the Goddess Bâst? This is a well constructed mystery and it is definitely worth the read; if you have a Kindle, the price is right! However, Sax Rohmer is most famous for creating the infamous character of Fu Manchu who later became even more famous in the black and white movies of the 30's. Fu Manchu was portrayed in various films by Boris Karloff in the 1930's. Several of the first Fu Manchu novels are also available for free on the Kindle or search out the actual books in used bookstores - they are worth the time to discover the great, intellectual (and stereotypical) evil genius who is Fu Manchu.
October 11, 2019
An English journalist, NOT Damar Greefe, accidentally gets involved in an intricate murder plot because he accidentally happens to live down the street from the murder scene and he accidentally knows the victim even though that man lives nowhere nearby. But that's the way it is with some people, just ask Jessica Fletcher. The plot involves the Coverly family, headed by a minor Baronet, his aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins. After Sir Marcus Coverly is found stuffed in a box suspicion immediately falls on his cousin, heir to the title. Cousin Eric is coincidentally engaged to the journalists ex-girlfriend, so that man takes an interest.
The story is complex, people continue to die throughout, and everyone keeps seeing a strangely beautiful woman with eyes that glow in the dark. The police are baffled, the journalist is baffled, and Coverly's are dropping like flies. Eventually the journalist himself becomes a target after he meets with some suspicious characters. While it is clear that someone has it in for the Coverly's the motive is absent until, like most Sax Rohmer mysteries, it's all explained in a rush in the last chapter.
Entertaining mystery, the green eyes and the howling dogs adding a bit of eeriness, though the method of some of the murders is not clear until explained. There is just no clue to the motive at all, which makes it more like a slasher movie with people getting murdered for no purpose. As always there is the fun factor of reading a book written in 1920. For instance the police inspector bemoans the fact that the modern criminal is invaluably aided by the use of that new invention, the telephone. Not to mention the howitzer.
The story is complex, people continue to die throughout, and everyone keeps seeing a strangely beautiful woman with eyes that glow in the dark. The police are baffled, the journalist is baffled, and Coverly's are dropping like flies. Eventually the journalist himself becomes a target after he meets with some suspicious characters. While it is clear that someone has it in for the Coverly's the motive is absent until, like most Sax Rohmer mysteries, it's all explained in a rush in the last chapter.
Entertaining mystery, the green eyes and the howling dogs adding a bit of eeriness, though the method of some of the murders is not clear until explained. There is just no clue to the motive at all, which makes it more like a slasher movie with people getting murdered for no purpose. As always there is the fun factor of reading a book written in 1920. For instance the police inspector bemoans the fact that the modern criminal is invaluably aided by the use of that new invention, the telephone. Not to mention the howitzer.
June 9, 2019
Feline fun.
This rather a good yarn, I have to admit. Told in a straightforward, easy to read manner. It tells if a noble English family shedding heirs by murder like a tree poisoned by some kind of blight. Throw in a stalwart white English chap lovesick over a pure and beautiful English gal, a dastardly Eastern doctor and a manifestation or womanifestation of the legend of Bast, the cat headed Egyptian goddess. No sweet pussy cat here but a predatory lioness, and sexy with it. A rattling good tale. Thoroughly enjoyable even if you have to ignore the prejudices of that Time.
This rather a good yarn, I have to admit. Told in a straightforward, easy to read manner. It tells if a noble English family shedding heirs by murder like a tree poisoned by some kind of blight. Throw in a stalwart white English chap lovesick over a pure and beautiful English gal, a dastardly Eastern doctor and a manifestation or womanifestation of the legend of Bast, the cat headed Egyptian goddess. No sweet pussy cat here but a predatory lioness, and sexy with it. A rattling good tale. Thoroughly enjoyable even if you have to ignore the prejudices of that Time.
June 2, 2024
Sax Rohmer novels are usually exciting and fun, in a century-old way. This one has its moments of atmosphere, interest and novelty. But the plot was murky and convoluted. I had to guffaw when one character exclaimed, as if commenting on the story: "Good God! It's hardly credible!" Any novel that ends with 20 pages of explanatory monologue by the villain is not a model of sound construction.
P.S. I fixed the book summary that made villain Damar Greefe the good guy [shakes head] and that is cited in several of the reviews; you're welcome!
P.S. I fixed the book summary that made villain Damar Greefe the good guy [shakes head] and that is cited in several of the reviews; you're welcome!
August 22, 2021
I liked this story. The twists were twisty, the actions was satisfactory, the mystery was original, all the things I like in a story of this sort. And yet, I set it down, more than once, to pursue other things. I understand why the author wrote it the way he did, given the setting, but there is a limit to the amount of Victorian mush I am able to chew through, before I need a break. Overall I recommend it, but with a caution. If you like an action packed thriller, move along.
September 18, 2021
Entertaining listening 🔰😀
Another will written thriller adventure mystery novella by Sax Rohmer with lots of interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in London and suburbs where murder and strange events are happening. Scotland Yard and a helper search for answers before they find maybe an answer. I would recommend this novella to readers of British mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening to books 📚2021
Another will written thriller adventure mystery novella by Sax Rohmer with lots of interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in London and suburbs where murder and strange events are happening. Scotland Yard and a helper search for answers before they find maybe an answer. I would recommend this novella to readers of British mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening to books 📚2021
September 12, 2023
Classicone sospeso tra giallo e mistery riesce ottimamente a tenere il lettore incollato alla vicenda. Le stelle sarebbero state cinque se il finale, come in altri casi con Sax Rohmer, non apparisse affrettato e in qualche maniera irrisolto. Comunque piacevolissimo nel riproporre tutti i topoi della nebbiosa e misteriosa Londra (e dintorni) d'inizio '900.
April 18, 2023
It's a good, compelling murder mystery typical of Sax Rohmer. However, it has some insensitive statements about women and Africans, sadly representative of the time (1920). Also, Rohmer refers several times to the Egyptian god Anubis as hawk-headed, but Anubis has the head of a jackal!
May 28, 2017
A solid but not always all that compelling early supernatural tale from Sax Rohmer.
June 8, 2018
A faced paced quasi supernatural thriller.
July 10, 2020
Scary and fun! Old school English guy sends his servant out to investigate sexy monster. Usual warnings for racism and sexism, typical of the era.
June 13, 2023
Set in London. 151 pp.
June 27, 2015
Kind of a guilty pleasure . . . a real hardboiled genre detective novel repleate with jaded detective, beautiful ex girlfriend bethrothed to another man, gratuitous Asian stereotype Fu Manchu like villain.
November 14, 2013
Classic murder mystery, requiring an explanation for not just who did it but how it was done.
November 15, 2012
I will definitely be reading more of Sax Rohmer! I really enjoyed this book!
July 6, 2014
This is a really convoluted mystery (writing as well as plot). I actually loved it, but I think it's an acquired taste. From the author of the Fu Manchu tales.
March 7, 2015
I kind of enjoy reading this book. Who can resist a mysterious cat woman :-)
May 25, 2016
read some time in 1988
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