{"id":5985,"date":"2016-08-14T09:22:56","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T13:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5985"},"modified":"2021-12-16T07:56:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T12:56:09","slug":"the-hell-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5985","title":{"rendered":"The Hell Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hell Screen<\/a><\/em> (2003) I.J. Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The-Hell-Screen\"<\/a>I was trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read, when I stumbled across The Hell Screen<\/em> and remembered that I have the Lord Sugawara Akitada mysteries.<\/p>\n

Akitada is returning to the capital after receiving notice that his mother is dying. On his way he spends the night at a temple where he is shown an amazing and horrifying work in progress: a Hell Screen to help convince viewers to change their ways.<\/p>\n

What kind of faith was this that celebrated human suffering, and what sort of mind could call up such scenes of horror and agony?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Akitada is awakened in the night by a woman’s scream, but it is not until he returns to the capital that he learns that a woman was murdered. Partially to escape the cruelty of his dying mother, and partially because of his own curiosity, Akitada looks into the murder.<\/p>\n

This was a complex and fascinating mystery. There is the mystery of the murdered actress, the mystery of why Akitada’s mother hates him, and Akitada also stumbles upon a haunted temple where people who live nearby turn up mutilated or missing.<\/p>\n

I also like the various people Akitada and his retainers meet during the course of their investigations.<\/p>\n

The cook shouted across, \u201cThe only spirits he calls up are in his cup. He\u2019s a hard drinker.\u201d Harada, far from taking offense, said, \u201cOn the contrary, my friend of the steaming pots. Drinking is the easiest thing I do. The world rests heavily on my shoulders and the worries of my days fray at my nerves.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201c(I)t\u2019s like this: When he\u2019s out of sorts, he drinks. After the first cup he feels more like himself. So he has another and now feels like a new man. But the new man wants to drink, too, and so he goes on drinking till, pretty soon, he feels like a babe . . . bawling and crawling all the way home.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I really liked this book, and it reminded me that I like this series and that I should read more.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Ingrid J. Parker Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hell Screen (2003) I.J. Parker I was trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read, when I stumbled across The Hell Screen and remembered that I have the Lord Sugawara Akitada mysteries. Akitada is returning to the capital after receiving notice that his mother is dying. On his way he […]<\/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":false,"_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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,31,33,8],"tags":[393,549,118,558],"class_list":["post-5985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-asian","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-akitada","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-i-j-parker","tag-song-dynasty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1yx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3053,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3053","url_meta":{"origin":5985,"position":0},"title":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","author":"Michelle","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Akitada and the Way of Justice (2011) I. J. Parker This is a collection of eleven short stories featuring the 11th century Japanese \"detective\" (there wasn't such a term at the time) Akitada, over the span of his career, from the first mystery he was involved in to one towards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/akitada-way-of-justice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5800,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5800","url_meta":{"origin":5985,"position":1},"title":"Three Tales of Love and Murder","author":"Michelle","date":"April 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Three Tales of Love and Murder (2012) I.J. Parker Set in Heian-Kyo (Kyoto) in 11th century Japan. These are three Akitada short stories\/novellas, all about love and murder (of course, from the title). Death and Cherry Blossoms Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), during the Flowery Month (May) This finds Akitada at the start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three Tales of Love and Murder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Three-Tales-of-Love-and-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5988,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5988","url_meta":{"origin":5985,"position":2},"title":"Black Arrow","author":"Michelle","date":"August 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Black Arrow (2006) I.J. Parker Set in Echigo Province, JAPAN GODS-ABSENT MONTH (NOVEMBER), A.D. 1015 Akitada has been sent to Echigo as provisional governor, and discovers that there are many problems at his new post, from the decrepit compound to a possible revolution to outcasts possibly harboring fugitives. Plus the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-Arrow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Black-Arrow.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6022,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6022","url_meta":{"origin":5985,"position":3},"title":"The Crane Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Crane Pavilion (2014) I.J. Parker I skipped the book before this after reading the blurb for this book. After the loss of his wife and newborn son, Akitada returns home, ostensibly to care for his motherless children, but really to withdraw from the world into his grief. When his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Crane-Pavilion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Crane-Pavilion-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6002,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6002","url_meta":{"origin":5985,"position":4},"title":"The Masuda Affair","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Masuda Affair (2011) I.J. Parker Akitada is struggling to deal with the death of his son in a smallpox epidemic, when he comes upon a small abused boy alone in the rain. Rescuing the boy has far greater consequences than he could have imagined, when this draws Akitada into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Masuda-Affair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Masuda-Affair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6011,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6011","url_meta":{"origin":5985,"position":5},"title":"The Emperor’s Woman","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Emperor's Woman (2012) I.J. Parker Set in 1028. She was intended to be the emperor\u2019s concubine, but she died at the bottom of a cliff near Prince Atsuhira\u2019s private villa. The palace covered up the scandal. Months later, Akitada is drawn into the case when his best friend is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Emperors-Woman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Emperors-Woman.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\/5985","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=5985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}