Komisario Saiton pieni satori

by Janwillem van de Wetering

This book is brand new and sealed, never read or used in any way, PERFECT!!

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Japan, Crime

Unknown Binding

First published May 6, 1985

About the author

Jan Willem Lincoln "Janwillem" van de Wetering was the author of a number of works in English and Dutch.

Reviews

[Maryanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful book of short stories revolving around very likeable Inspector Saito of the Kyoto police department. He solves many of the cases by referring to Parallel Cases from Under the Pear-Tree: A 13th Century Manual of Jurisprudence and Detection. A book kept in a gold cloth with inspiring tales, that his superiors find ancient and irrelevant. He thinks of himself as a samurai and derives inspiration from his Uncle Saito and his memorable words " all that matters is that we should learn to be detached from what seems to be happening to us." Each story seems to have a satori, a sudden enlightenment, an insight into the authors thoughts on character and Zen Buddhism.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good, somewhere on the four to five star range; I’ll go with five since it’s the best set of detective stories I’ve read in quite a while. Most of the stories were published individually in either Ellery Queen’s Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine in the late 70s and early 80s. The addition of the last stories in the collection gives the whole series a novelistic story arc.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always read short stories before bed so this was the perfect book. Interesting stories, well written, and a good length.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

gentle but substantial short stories. Happy to have found this.

[Bruce Retallack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this many, many moons, and just discovered it tucked away in my keeper's shelves, so I read it again. Glad I kept it and glad I read. Told in a sequential series of 11 cases, the book charts Saito's rise through the force, but more importantly, it charts his own spiritual and personal growth. Each case is well-conceived and the solutions clever and insightful. What really sets this book apart for me is its gentle, contemplative tone - a rarity the genre for sure. That, combined with the graceful prose and the large dollop of humor, makes this a winner in my book. 4 stars.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a volume of short stories with a mystery theme, but it ends up being so much more than that. Inspector Saito, our protagonist, ends up doing some real introspection, and the philosophical themes - both Buddhist and Western - toward the end of the book are deep.
One should read the stories in order, because each one builds on the previous, especially in the case of the last three stories.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspector Saito is a great character. Thoughtful, quiet, conscientious. He was an excellent student while training for the police force, and continues to use what he learned. Because he is so intelligent and sometimes seems over confident (okay, he's 26), his peers and his superiors sometimes resent him. Each chapter is a case Saito is involved with, and each is a gem.

[Harold Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly loved it and it opened my eyes to thrilling crime novels. True, I read it in college but I was so deep into term papers and work. It awakened me to how just a little love for books turned a dull and totally droll history teacher into enlightening me to works of fiction.

[Jazzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short stories were okay but I prefer Van Gulik’s Judge Dee stories which have a lot of similarities (although they are set in a different time/place). Also I was not expecting the amount of rape in this book, a lot of it felt super unnecessary.

[Yooperprof · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zen detective fiction.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have read the first two stories, and so far I am loving is book, and the remarkable timeliness of it for me.

This book fascinated me. It is continuous short stories about a 26-year-old inspector in the Japanese police force. He practices Buddhism. He is so likable, I would have read for many more stories than Janwillem van deWetering provided. I have enjoyed deWetering's books about the Dutch detective chief, and he is a completely different character than Saito. There is not genre glue sticking these books or characters together. Each is a well developed person in his own right with his own stories.

It's very short book. Easy to read, but don't forget to read every word, because they all matter. I guess that's a Buddhist strength. I am a practicing Christian, and I can see many life work parallels in terms of how to treat others and how to respect yourself and others. I learned from this book. But, also, unfortunately, I learned about the truth of the many stories and examples I've seen in my life about the use of women by men...

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Amsterdam Cops series, so I was curious how the author would write with a character set in a completely different place. And it works. It combines together elements of the old Chinese magistrates like Judge Dee, with the offbeat procedural style he uses in the Amsterdam Cops books. I wonder if

[Rickeclectic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Van de Wetering I read. A good set of short mystery stories. Somewhat unusual for him in that these are not in Amsterdam, the detective is not his usual pair and the stories have a very japanese feel to them.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of short stories with a philisophical theme. None of the mysteries are deep or complicated but they do tie together in an intriguing conclusion.

[Nancy Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful collection of short stories about Japanese Inspector Saito. He refers to a 17th century Japanese text to solve cases.

[Alex Jestrab · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of somewhat linked short stories about a modest yet brilliant detective.