The Story Of The Stone: A Master Li Novel (1989) - Plot & Excerpts
In a review of Hell Is Empty, I noted a story told by Virgil White Buffalo, that ended with Walt Longmire asking, “‘And the moral of the story is?’He raised an eyebrow, and it was as if the dent in his forehead was looking to dig deeper. ‘What is it with you white people and morals? Maybe it’s just a story about what happened.’”And that is the essence of Master Li stories. They are old myths, storytelling at the knee of a master; the advanced version of What Happened that Time on the Mountain. Morals may be enforced, lessons learned, principles illustrated, but those are all secondary or even tertiary goals. First and foremost is the work of a story: to entertain.“‘But how can I tell The Story of the Stone?’ I wailed. ‘In the first place I don’t understand where it begins and in the second place I’m not sure it has an ending and in the third place, even if I understood the ending it wouldn’t do me any good because I don’t understand the beginning in the first place.’He gazed at me in silence. Then he said, ‘My boy, stay away from sentences like that. They tend to produce pimples and permanent facial tics.’”I may be in the minority, but I found The Story of the Stone even better than its predecessor, Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was. While Bridge was a rollicking adventure through the countryside, Stone is a mystery, one that needs to be solved the old, old, old fashioned way–by doing all of it yourself, including the autopsies (“My boy, we’re going to perform the most delightful autopsy in history“) and dream journeys through the Hells.It begins in their home, with Number Ten Ox worrying about Master Li, “He never spoke to me about it, but he was old, old almost beyond belief, and I think he was afraid he’d drop dead before something interesting turned up.” The ‘something interesting’ turns out to be the abbot of a monastery in the Valley of Sorrows who brings a mystery: A monk has been murdered and a forgery of an an ancient stolen manuscript found in his hands. Even worse, the Laughing Prince, who has been dead for seven hundred and fifty years, seems to be responsible. Master Li is certain there is a rational explanation, so he and Ox set off for the Valley, just in time for the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts and a re-appearance of the horror. Solving the mystery of the murdered monk will mean learning about the Laughing Prince, meeting Prince Liu Pao, his current living descendent, discovering the Laughing tomb, visiting the capital city and the Captain of Prostitutes, and journeying to a barbarian kingdom find a talented song-master. That’s not all, mind you, but I don’t want to give the impression that solving the mystery means any less of a scope of adventure than Bridge, just that the adventures are more focused.“One-Eyed Wong and his beloved wife, Fat Fu, have worked very hard to earn the reputation of running the worse wineshop in all of China. The notoriety gives them a clientele that is the envy of the empire”Characters are delightful, from Master Li and his slight flaw, to the eternally-innocent Ox, to two new companions, Moon Boy and Grief of Dawn. Moon Boy has the ability to seduce anyone he meets–male or female–providing the opportunity for a nudge-nudge-wink-wink that adds some silly fun to the story. In the wrong hands, this kind of characterization could edge into simple caricature, but Hughbart does a perfect job of rounding out each character, respecting their eccentricities, and providing justifications for their traits.“If it was a coincidental collapse of a tunnel and the release of old acids, as I suggested to the prince, it’s the kind of coincidence that deserves priests, prayers, and an elaborate theology.”The writing is clever, with bits of humor scattered through, partly due to the word-play and partly moments of sheer fun (there’s a scheme to obtain tracings of sacred stones that’s laugh-out-loud). There’s awe at the mysteries of the universe. Surprisingly, there are some horror elements, which I should have expected since the Laughing Prince has been dead for seven hundred and fifty years.“Li Kao, you wouldn’t do that, would you? he said pleadingly. “He’s only a boy.”“And a delightful one, so I’m told,” Master Li said warmly.“A trifle wild, perhaps, but that’s the way of the young,” the toad said. “You have to allow for a little excess in boyish ambition.”“Youth will be served,” Master Li said sententiously. “Sometimes after having been stuffed with truffles and basted in bean curd sauce,” he added.These stories may not work for everyone, but I think they should work well for people that love the art of storytelling, that grew up on mythology and fairy tales, and have the patience for apparent detours that develop into the path of solution. I’m reminded of Valente’s The Orphan Tales, Goldberg’s The Princess Bride, Williams’ Inspector Chen series, and just about every myth I’ve ever read. This is an excellent group of books, and I’ll be looking to find them in hardcover for my collection.My blog post has a link to the Monty Python sketch referencedhttps://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2015/...
I have read multiple reviews that basically say "his book is good, but it wasn't as good as his first book." My opinion n that is that the first book has real heart, and that is a difficult shoe to fill. Every single character in Bridge of Birds has something to share of themselves and most had a story to tell. Even those who you thought were just a minor character became someone you could sympathize with (my personal favourite character was Doctor Death).I think where this book has trouble reaching its audience is that there is very little to tie us to the characters in this novel. I admit it! I was hoping to learn more about ur main characters and possibly to see cameos from some of the side characters from before. I am always impressed when an author can include a very minor character from the first novel in the series and enrich the story's world more by letting that character have further involvement with the sequels plot, but there was nothing like that in this novel! There is absolutely NO repeating of minor or side characters from the first novel, and what made the book a little more bland to me was the lack of real connection to the new existing side characters, which really surprised me because characters SEEM to be this author's strength. We don't learn more about our main characters, Master Li and Number Ten Ox; they do not evolve or grown in any way and to top it off the quest is somehow less noble and feels a bit more forced. At times I have wondered what the actual quest WAS, not because the author really stirs away from it, but rather because it isn't as firmly reinforced to the reader as the previous novel. Please don't misunderstand, there is a plot and they DO let us know what it is - but ... somehow I find myself wondering - is that really all we're doing here? It just didn't seem like enough to me, but perhaps it was enough for Master Li. Having said all of this though, I must also mention that it's strength lies in the fact that Mr. Hughart is a very entertaining writer who created a wonderfully rich world where fable saturates everyday life. What it lacked in substance it made up for in enthusiasm for its own story. There is still something of merit within the novel's walls and I would still make a recommendation of this book, however I might suggest that one reads this book (and possibly the third) before Bridge of Birds.
What do You think about The Story Of The Stone: A Master Li Novel (1989)?
I found this volume a little more confusing than Bridge of Birds, but in the end I think I liked it a little more. Hughart maintains the same faux-fairy tale tone which I really enjoy. The way characters and coincidence weave in and out makes the story feel older than it really is. Some of the coincidences get a little hard to believe, but the tone makes this forgivable.What I really enjoyed about the book though was the way it played with gender and sexuality. reGrief of Dawn and Moon Boy just fascinate me, and I'd have to think most authors would have swapped their gender. They are both intriguing characters without any sense of impropriety or jealousy, and that makes them pretty unique in the field of literature. Their love for each other is a pure thing despite the fact that they sleep with whoever and whatever they like/gets them to their goal. It's very weird and at times awkward, but that juxtaposition is so intriguing I'll overlook the weirdness.Master Li remains a great character, a trickster of the old school. Ox develops into a bit more of a character, I think. He has more emotions, more opinions despite his innocence. I'm curious to see how he grows in the third book. My one disappointment is that having read Bridge of Birds, it was pretty easy to guess who the real villain of the piece was. It's one of the reasons I don't read many mysteries. Most authors have tells that give it away pretty early, and Hughart's are pretty classic. Knowing didn't make any of the fantastical adventure much less enjoyable, though. The descriptions and crazy links of causality are some of the best parts of the book. Bridge of Birds is under talks for a film right now, but I think this one might make make an even better film. Zombies and bishounen and crazy rock slides... what could be better?
—Valerie
There is so much going on in this story, guys, so much. As The Bridge of Birds, this book is impeccably written. The folk tale cues are all there as well, and it is as fun to read as the first book. Yet, somehow, it didn't felt as good. I think it was the fact that the story wasn't as urgent, or maybe it was the way there was setting information essential to solving the puzzle, but which the reader had no access to, meaning there was no way you could solve it besides watching Master Li work. I prefer having a fair chance at solving puzzles.Still, head and shoulders over most humoristic fantasy.
—Leticia
A friend loaned me this book as she knows how much I like China and said it was a mystery using the characters from Hong lou meng (A dream of red mansions/The story of the stone). Unfortunately there were SOOO many HUGE historical inacuracies I wasn't able to get more than 36 pages into it before I had to give up! First, there was a problem with the year on page 3. He said it was "The year of the serpent 3,339 (650) AD". Chinese dates have never been given in thousands of years, but would be given with the dynasty, emperor, and reign period (In this case Tang Ming Huang). Then in the next paragraph he mentioned "The goddess Guan Yin". Now Guan Yin during the Tang dynasty was still the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and had yet to undergo her gender transformation (which happened in the Sung several hundred years later). The author then had characters discussing how one woman was persecuted by the "neo-Confucians" now I know that the term Neo-Confucian would never be uttered by Chinese people of the period as it is a western term but could see it being used. But it also didn't start till the Sung!!!!! Hundreds of years after the story. Not to mention she was being persecuted because the neo-Confucians didn't believe a woman could be competent, when a woman had been Emperor, just over 30 years before this story was set! Then they began talking of the Emperor "Wu Di" by which I was able to determine they meant "Han Wu Di", but just referring to the Emperor Wu, when there were so many who claimed that name (The most recent to 650 being of course Wu Zetian!) seemed ridiculous. Then there was something about a forgery of Sima Qian's calligraphy and I just gave up! If you're looking for a Chinese mystery set in the Tang I'd definitely recommend Van Gulik's Judge Dee mysteries instead! They also have a few historical inaccuracies (which he acknowledges as they are based on Ming stories) but are done so much better!
—Mel
