{"id":2611,"date":"2011-11-08T17:51:26","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T22:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=2611"},"modified":"2021-06-02T19:17:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T23:17:22","slug":"the-story-of-the-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2611","title":{"rendered":"The Story of the Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Story of the Stone<\/a><\/em> (1988) Barry Hughart<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Master Li has taken Number Ten Ox on as his assistant. <\/p>\n

The Abbot of the monastery of the Valley of Sorrows comes to Master Li asking for help resolving the unexpected death of his librarian, and the strange dead spots in the Valley. Along the way they meet the Grief of Dawn and Moon Boy, who may be able to help them solve the mystery.<\/p>\n

First, there are plenty of passages that make me laugh, such as the vendors selling worms to the fishermen.<\/p>\n

“Worms!” cried the vendors. “Take pity upon poor helpless worms, most unfairly condemned to death upon hooks!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Second, there is the description of Hell. <\/p>\n

I’ve been a fan of Liz Williams<\/a>‘ Detective Inspector Chen series for quite awhile. This is the first time I’ve come across a similar Hell (though there are many differences between the two). And I love the following description.<\/p>\n

The world is a cube measuring 233,575 paces across. The center of the cube is occupied by the Kingdom of Hell, and it is the judging place for all mortals, saint and sinner alike. That is why people on the wrong sides of the cube don’t fall off: We are all drawn toward our ultimate destination so no matter where one stands, Hell is always “down” and Heaven is always “up,” and that’s all there is to it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now I have just the third and final book in the series to read. Alas.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Subterranean Press <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Story of the Stone (1988) Barry Hughart Master Li has taken Number Ten Ox on as his assistant. The Abbot of the monastery of the Valley of Sorrows comes to Master Li asking for help resolving the unexpected death of his librarian, and the strange dead spots in the Valley. Along the way they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,27,31,2,33,291],"tags":[134],"class_list":["post-2611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-alternate-history","category-asian","category-fantasy","category-historical","category-paper","tag-barry-hughart"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-G7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13275,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13275","url_meta":{"origin":2611,"position":0},"title":"The Story of the Stone","author":"Michelle","date":"July 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Story of the Stone (1988) Barry Hughart (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox) Year of the Serpent 3,339 (A.D. 650). I've been re-reading The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox before bed for a really long time now. I'd read a page or two,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Master-Li-Number-Ten-Ox-e1510885499371.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2607,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2607","url_meta":{"origin":2611,"position":1},"title":"Bridge of Birds","author":"Michelle","date":"October 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Bridge of Birds (1984) Barry Hughart A year or so ago I ordered The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, because I'd read Bridge of Birds, loved it, and wanted to read more. Unfortunately for me, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox is a BIG\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Master-Li-Number-Ten-Ox.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13510,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13510","url_meta":{"origin":2611,"position":2},"title":"Eight Skilled Gentlemen","author":"Michelle","date":"October 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Eight Skilled Gentlemen (1990) Barry Hughart (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox) Year of the Horse 3338 (a.d. 640) This is my least favorite of the three stories. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that I don't like it as much as the first story. A vampire\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Master-Li-Number-Ten-Ox-e1510885499371.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":464,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/464","url_meta":{"origin":2611,"position":3},"title":"Bridge of Birds","author":"Michelle","date":"October 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was (1984) Barry Hughart I have a weakness for fantasy novels set in Asia--especially those set in ancient China. So when I saw Bridge of Birds on the shelf I immediately snatched it up. A strange malady has struck\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Bridge-of-Birds.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9668,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9668","url_meta":{"origin":2611,"position":4},"title":"Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was","author":"Michelle","date":"February 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was (1984) Barry Hughart Set in the Middle Kingdom of China, Year of the Tiger 3337 (AD 639) All the children in the village between the ages of eight and thirteen have fall victim to an unknown illness, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Bridge-of-Birds.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2631,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2631","url_meta":{"origin":2611,"position":5},"title":"Eight Skilled Gentlemen","author":"Michelle","date":"November 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Eight Skilled Gentlemen (1991) Barry Hughart This is the third and final book in the Master Li and Number Ten Ox trilogy. I'm a little sad to see it end, but it was quite enjoyable. Oddly, the passages that caught my attention in this book weren't the funny ones, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Master-Li-Number-Ten-Ox.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}