The Mirror of Kong Ho (Dodo Press) [Paperback]

Ernest Bramah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2008

Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) was an English author of considerable repute in his day. In total Bramah published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were ranked with Jerome K Jerome, and W. W. Jacobs; his detective stories with Conan Doyle; his politico-science fiction with H. G. Wells and his supernatural stories with Algernon Blackwood. George Orwell acknowledged that Bramah's book What Might Have Been (1907) influenced his seminal Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948). Bramah, the creator of the immortal Kai Lung and Max Carrados, was a recluse who refused to allow his public even the slightest glimpse of his private life - secrecy perhaps only matched by E. W. Hornung, the creator of Raffles, and today, J.D. Salinger. We now know that Bramah, whose real name was Smith, was a man of erudition and prescience with a unique style of writing that has never been copied. Among his most famous works are: Four Max Carrados Detective Stories (1914), Kai Lung's Golden Hours (1922), The Mirror of Kong Ho (1905) and The Wallet of Kai Lung (1900).

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ernest Bramah, of whom in his lifetime Who's Who had so little to say, was born in Manchester. At seventeen he chose farming as a profession, but after three years of losing money gave it up to go into journalism. He started as correspondent on a typical provincial paper, then went to London as secretary to Jerome K. Jerome, and worked himself into the editorial side of Jerome's magazine, To-day, where he got the opportunity of meeting the most important literary figures of the day. But he soon left To-day to join a new publishing firm, as editor of a publication called The Minister; finally, after two years of this, he turned to writing as his full-time occupation. He was intensely interested in coins and published a book on the English regal copper coinage. He is, however, best known as the creator of the charming character Kai Lung who appears in Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat, Kai Lung's Golden Hours, The Wallet of Kai Lung, Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree, The Mirror of Kong Ho, and The Moon of Much Gladness; he also wrote two one- act plays which are often performed at London variety theatres, and many stories and articles in leading periodicals. He died in 1942. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Dodo Press (January 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406589551
• ISBN-13: 978-1406589559
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,721,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The master, February 23, 2008

By 

James A. Root "tool fool" (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mirror of Kong Ho (Paperback)

If you love words, a great tale, a spinner of fable and fantasy, a literate charmer. Here's your man. Earnest Bramah has captivated me for fifty years, with no end in sight. I swoon each time I read one of his tales, or as he puts it: "Kai Lung unrolling his mat", so that he can commence telling his tale.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mirror of Kong Ho, November 8, 2010

By 

Orinoco - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mirror of Kong Ho (Paperback)

A delight of a book. Kong Ho is a naive (fictional) young chinaman whose interpretation of early twentieth century English life is an utterly delightful.