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Sax Rohmer

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Sax Rohmer
BornArthur Henry Ward
(1883-02-15)15 February 1883
Birmingham, England, UK
Died1 June 1959(1959-06-01) (aged 76)
White Plains, New York, USA
Pen nameSax Rohmer, Michael Furey, Arthur Sarsfield Ward
OccupationNovelist
NationalityBritish

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.[1]

Life and work

Born in Birmingham to a working-class Irish Catholic family, he had an entirely working class education and early career before beginning to write. Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.

He worked as a poet, songwriter and comedy sketch writer for Music hall performers before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.

Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.[2] Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organisations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.

His first published work came in 1903, when the short story "The Mysterious Mummy" was sold to Pearson's Weekly. Rohmer's main literary influences seem to have been Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and M. P. Shiel.[1]

He gradually transitioned from writing for music hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.

He published his first book Pause! anonymously in 1910.

The Fu Manchu series

After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the famous music hall entertainer of the same name: Little Tich) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, also serialised from October 1912 – June 1913. It was an immediate success, with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw (an occult detective), and The Crime Magnet— made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s. The first three Fu Manchu books were published in the four years 1913–17; but it was not until 1931 (some fourteen years after the third book in the series) that Rohmer returned to the series with The Daughter of Fu Manchu. The reason for the long interval was that Rohmer wanted to be well and truly done with the series after The Si-Fan Mysteries, much as Arthur Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes. The first three books had been successfully filmed by Stoll in the twenties as a pair of serials. In 1928, Rohmer bowed to pressure and agreed to write a fourth novel as a serial for Collier's. Paramount had the first Warner Oland picture gearing up for production and the daily newspaper strip based on the series was in the offing. There was public demand for the character's return.

Rohmer's first effort at reviving the Fu Manchu property was eventually reworked as The Emperor of America. The original intent had been for the head of the organisation to be Fu Manchu's daughter. He kept Head Centre as a female criminal mastermind to combat Drake Roscoe, but was very unhappy with the book both as it started and in its finished form. He would later return to Drake Roscoe and his female supervillain for the Sumuru series. In the meantime, he tried again to focus his energies on what was first titled Fu Manchu's Daughter for Collier's in 1930, but with an older (now knighted) Nayland Smith as the protagonist once more. The results were infinitely better and jump-started the series in the process.

In the 28 years from 1931 to 1959, Rohmer added no fewer than 10 new books to the Fu Manchu series, meaning the series totals thirteen books in all (not counting the posthumous collection The Wrath of Fu Manchu).

The Fu Manchu series drew much criticism from the Chinese government and Chinese communities in the US for what was seeing as negative ethnic stereotyping.Sociologist Virginia Berridge claims Rohmer created a false image of London's Chinese community as crime-ridden, further claiming that the Limehouse Chinese were one of the most law-abiding of London's ethnic minorities. Critics noted London's Chinatown was known for higher rates of certain crimes than usual in the general population, such as forced prostitution ( in the jargon of the time 'white slavery' ), and use of drugs from the Far East such as opium.[1] Critic Jack Adrian notes that "Rohmer's own racism was careless and casual, a mere symptom of his times".[1]

Other work

Rohmer made friends with escape artist Harry Houdini, who wrote to him in praise of Rohmer's The Romance of Sorcery. Rohmer based his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada on Houdini.

The Orchard of Tears is an odd book in the context of Sax Rohmer's other work. There are no oriental villains or exotic locations; rather, there are gentle rabbits and lambs in pastoral settings and a great deal of philosophical musing. As much as he enjoyed Fu Manchu—and the notoriety and income the character provided—Rohmer had other interests and a markedly serious side. The departure from his expected subject matter is plainly signalled by the book's dedication: 'To the slaves of the pomegranate, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, who drink at the fountain of life, this chalice is offered as a loving-cup'. The Orchard of Tears is Rohmer's most restrained and serious novel.

In The Quest of the Sacred Slipper (1919) terror comes to Britain when a self-centered archaeologist unearths one of Islam's holiest relics—the sacred slipper of the prophet Mohammed. Until it is returned to its rightful people, the implacable Hassan of Aleppo vows his reign of death and destruction shall not cease. Behind these inhuman outrages is a secret group of fanatics. Not even the best men of Scotland Yard seem able to apprehend them. For, in some mystical way, this phantom band had never been seen or even heard.

Tales of Chinatown (1922) is a collection of ten stories published in hardcover by Cassell in 1922 and Doubleday, Page and Company in 1922. All the stories first appeared in magazine format. This collection includes a story considered one of his best and also anthologised many times; "Tcheriapin." The story "The Hand of the Mandarin Quong" was rewritten for this; first published as "Hand of the White Sheikh" Rohmer changed the setting to a Chinatown background and published it as "The Mystery of the Shriveled Hand," the title then changed for this collection.

Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen, described by Adrian as "Rohmer's masterpiece". [1][3] Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru. The Sumuru series consist of five books. Rohmer also wrote numerous short stories; "The Master of Hollow Grange" (1920), is a homage to M. R. James' story "Lost Hearts", featuring a mad scientist who preys on children.[1]

After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York, only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").

His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black, in 1958 under the pen name Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter.

Elizabeth Sax Rohmer (1886–1979) and Cay Van Ash (1918–1994), her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.

Bibliography

For a full list of Rohmer's works, see Bibliography of Sax Rohmer.

Rohmer's wife also published a number of works:

A note on texts: US editions of the Sumuru books (Gold Medal/Fawcett paperbacks) have texts which were frequently corrupted.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David Pringle, St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers. London : St. James Press, 1998, ISBN 1558622063 (pp. 482–4).
  2. ^ http://www.shadowplayzine.com/Articles/hermetic_horrors.htm
  3. ^ L.D. Allen, "Sax Rohmer",in E. F. Bleiler, ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers. New York: Scribner's, 1985. pp.555–560.

Further reading

  • Briney, Robert E. "Chronological Bibliography of the Works of Sax Rohmer". In Francis M. Nevins (ed), The Mystery Writer's Art, London: Tom Stacey 1971, as an appendix to "Sax Rohmer: An Informal Survey" by Briney. A slightly altered bversion of the checklist appear in Master of Villainy – see Van Ash and Rohmer below.
  • Colombo, John Robert. "Sax Rohmer and His Yellow Shadows," The Tamarack Review journal (Autumn 1960), No. 17, 43–57. This essay discusses the man and his accomplishment the year following his death.
  • Day, Bradford M. Sax Rohmer: A Bibliography Denver, NY: Science Fiction and Fantasy Publications, 1963. Includes information on book editions and magazine appeararances. Reprinted within Bradford M. Day,Bibliography of Adventure NY: Arno Press, 1978. (The reprint is slightly revised but is not updated beyond 1963). Both versions have some inaccuracies but are useful for the listings on Rohmer's magazine appearances.
  • Enright, D.J. "Introduction" to The Mystery of Dr Fu Manchu. London: Everyman, 1985. Overview of the Fu Manchu work.
  • Huang, Yunte. Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Chapter 15 ("Fu Manchu"), 136-44, considers the Yellow Menace. Chapter 28 ("The Fu Manchurian Candidate"), 268-77, traces the influence of Rohmer's President Fu Manchu on Richard Condon's influential novel The Manchurian Candidate.
  • Lane, Andrew. "The Crimes of Fu Manchu". Million magazine (May–June 1991), 41–44. Overview, with a useful "Fu Manchu Chronology".
  • Scapperotti, Dan Memories of Fu Manchu. Starlog (Jan 1987), 60–64. Article about Henry Brandon, the actor who played Fu Manchu in the Republic Pictures serial Drums of Fu Manchu.
  • Scott, David. "Rohmer's 'Orient' – Pulp Orientalism?" Orient Archive (80), 2012, 1–27. A comprehensive consideration of Rohmer's descriptions of Egypt and the Egyptians and China and the Chinese, with special reference to women, jihad, and conspiracy, in light of the notion of "the other."
  • Cay Van Ash and Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Master of Villainy, London: Tom Stacey, 1972. The only full-length biography. Originally intended as a collaboration by Rohmer and his wife, the book draws on a series of articles titled "Pipe Dreams" written by Rohmer as early as 1918, as well anecdotes and memories of Rohmer's wife. Robert E. Briney annotated the text. Includes Robert E. Briney, "Chronological Bibliography of the Books of Sax Rohmer" (see pp 299–305), which supersedes that of Day in Bibliography of Adventure (1970)

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