Harry Stephen Keeler was a prolific American writer of over 80 mystery and science fiction titles; UK publisher Ward Lock alone released 48 novels from 1929 to 1953 alone. These compact Ward Lock hardcovers are the ones I seek out.
The Green Jade Hand began with such promise, I thought it destined to be a classic on my bookshelf, but it failed at the halfway mark. This seems due to his signature writing style of a 'webwork' plot - wherein, there are several plot lines that casually intersect before culminating at the finale. In this way, he filled each manuscript with so many disparate strands and threads that if he edited them out later, they simply ended up in another novel.
The problem with Jade Hand for me was the break in tone from the main story, to something distasteful and dated.
I'll try to keep it short: A millionaire collector proposes to the owner of a Chicago curio shop that he steals a priceless rare book before it goes up for auction, for a fee. He does but is not undiscovered by another collector, who wants the book so badly, he asks his daughter's suitor to steal it away for his own collection, as a condition of their marriage. A man is released from prison for a crime that was committed by someone else - Slim Jim Landers, who also stole his girlfriend Sadie. A hobo rides the rails into Chicago and goes for a bowl of chop suey, in which he finds a small carved jade hand, placed there by a 'Chinaman' on the run from the police - the man obtained it from his dead roommate, and the police think it suspicious. Their landlady was Sadie, who arrives in Chicago thinking the hand is hers, and seeks out the head of the Chinese community Mr. Wah Hung Fung to find the elusive 'Chinaman'. If anyone can find the hand, it is he. The hand is sold to the curio shop, the scene that night where someone is killed and the rare book stolen. The suitor pursues the book with the help of his college roommate Oliver Oliver, amateur detective. The history of the jade hand goes back to a man who embezzled funds from Chinese looking to emigrate to America, so there is that whole story. If you think this is too much information, I am only scratching the surface.
Cue the police: represented by befuddled plainclothesmen who have the idea to call the press to a reenactment of the book burglary starring the "Steppin' Fetchit" style negro janitor of the station who fancies himself a detective. Why they would think to do this is strange enough, but Keeler does him no favours by naming him 'Simple'. He is portrayed as a bug-eyed, shuffling stereotype you can come across in books of this time period, but the policeman's glee in tricking him for their amusement, even selling tickets to the event designed to make him look feeble-minded, changes the whole tone and becomes distasteful. I accept novels from various different periods with a large grain of salt, (Gone With The Wind has heavy racial overtones some people cannot condone) and so forgive what may have been acceptable or humorous at the time at face value, but this was a confusing turn as Keeler admirably portrays the Chinese community with reverence, calling them Celestials and highlighting the dignity of the culture; the character of Mr. Fung is a refreshingly wise and influential personage. There is a team of two negro women criminals, and once or twice (excuse me) the word 'chink' is used, which for 1930, may be reluctantly excused. The treatment of 'Simple' mars what is otherwise a novel packed with ideas.
Keelers' other staple convention was to have characters "read a story", giving him the chance to fill the manuscript with a new, completely unrelated tale - sometimes written by his wife - having nothing to do with the plot. After this interlude, the story would continue. Stories of the time were often serialized for newspaper and magazines, where these breaks in story may be less noticeable.
Of course, The Green Jade Hand is dated, but usually these thrillers have entertaining merit. I thought the first half complex and intriguing, fun to see the storylines flow and touch. There is an abrupt turn near the end, back to the rare book and the hand, and a finale that ties everything together.
Again, I have a lot to say about something I can't recommend. Unfortunately, this left me down.
1930 / Hardcover / 253 pages
Comments