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Hades #2
Sherlock Holmes vs Kapten Kidd: Misteri Kapal House-Boat
Mulai sekarang, aku bisa kembali ke bumi lagi, bebas dari biaya, terlepas dari kenyataan pencipta agungku menginginkan aku di sana atau tidak. ~Sherlock Holmes~
Apa jadinya jika sekelompok pesohor, seperti Napoleon, Socrates, Columbus, Julius Caesar, Monsieur Lecoq, bahkan Shakespeare bersekutu dalam ekspedisi pencarian kapal pesiar supermewah milik mereka?
Semua bermula dari menghilangnya kapal House-boat milik Perkumpulan Arwah yang sebelumnya berlabuh di River Styx. Disinyalir, sang bajak laut legendaris, Kapten Kidd, menjadi dalang pencurian kapal pesiar itu. Celakanya, di dalam kapal ada para istri mereka dan beberapa tokoh perempuan lainnya, seperti Ratu Elizabeth, Cleopatra, Portia, bahkan Cassandra!
Para pesohor yang kebingungan itu malah menghabiskan waktu untuk berdebat menentukan strategi siapa yang sebaiknya digunakan untuk memulai ekspedisi. Untunglah, tanpa mereka sadari, ada sosok lain yang datang dan mempertontonkan kepiawaiannya menganalisis dan mengendus jejak kasus kejahatan. Dialah detektif kesayangan kita, Sherlock Holmes, yang akhirnya memimpin misi penyelamatan dan pencarian House-boat.
Apa jadinya jika sekelompok pesohor, seperti Napoleon, Socrates, Columbus, Julius Caesar, Monsieur Lecoq, bahkan Shakespeare bersekutu dalam ekspedisi pencarian kapal pesiar supermewah milik mereka?
Semua bermula dari menghilangnya kapal House-boat milik Perkumpulan Arwah yang sebelumnya berlabuh di River Styx. Disinyalir, sang bajak laut legendaris, Kapten Kidd, menjadi dalang pencurian kapal pesiar itu. Celakanya, di dalam kapal ada para istri mereka dan beberapa tokoh perempuan lainnya, seperti Ratu Elizabeth, Cleopatra, Portia, bahkan Cassandra!
Para pesohor yang kebingungan itu malah menghabiskan waktu untuk berdebat menentukan strategi siapa yang sebaiknya digunakan untuk memulai ekspedisi. Untunglah, tanpa mereka sadari, ada sosok lain yang datang dan mempertontonkan kepiawaiannya menganalisis dan mengendus jejak kasus kejahatan. Dialah detektif kesayangan kita, Sherlock Holmes, yang akhirnya memimpin misi penyelamatan dan pencarian House-boat.
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1897
64 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
John Kendrick Bangs
466 books42 followersJohn Kendrick Bangs was an American author and satirist, and the creator of modern Bangsian fantasy, the school of fantasy writing that sets the plot wholly or partially in the afterlife.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 3, 2015
My actual Rating: 3.5/5
After reading ‘A House-Boat on the Styx’ from John Kendrick Bangs last week, I was eager to read its sequel ‘The Pursuit of the House-Boat’ and found it a satisfying fantasy novel written with the sharp wit, which is a signature of Bang’s works. Even though the level of humor was a tad bit lower than of the first novel in the series featuring the ‘Associated Shades’ and their clubhouse houseboat on the Styx in Hades, ‘The Pursuit of House-Boat’ written in 1897 is a definite candidate for lightweight reading.
The book carry’s on the tradition of the Bangsian Fantasy and brings together an assortment of heavyweights from the history and mythology together to create a satire that showcase the power of vocal humor, for which Bangs was largely renowned for during his time. Bangs seems to be performing an experiment with his musings on the theory of afterlife with these fantasies. ‘A House-Boat on the Styx’ ends with an unattended clubhouse houseboat – all the men where at that point watching a fight between Goliath and Samson - getting hijacked by Captain Kidd – as a revenge for his denied membership to the clubhouse - and his crew of pirates. At the moment of hijacking unknown to Captain Kidd and his crew there was a contingent of about two hundred of the cream of the womenfolk from the Hades like Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. Noah, Cleopatra, Xanthippe and Helen who where taking advantage of the absence of the male club members to satisfy their curiosity about the clubhouse by nosing around onboard. The pirates not knowing the cargo they are carrying sails to Europe with the houseboat in search of plunder.
At the beginning of the sequel the reader is introduced to a scene where the members of the 'Associated Shades' are deeply in a meeting about the mystery and the action to be taken in recovering their clubhouse and their womenfolk. And in to this heated and often hilarious meeting enters none other than the legendary detective figure Sherlock Holmes, a recent entry to the Hades - in 1897 at the time of writing of this novel Holmes was declared dead by Conan Doyle after his battle with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls – who soon gains the confidence of the club members in leading an expedition in pursuit of the hijacked houseboat. What follows is a hilarious nautical adventure in which the club members led by Sherlock Holmes goes after the pirates. Holmes making deductions from absurd clues and the pirates finding it difficult to control a mob of strong female characters adds to the pandemonium and merriment of the narration. Like the other Bangsian fantasies from the author, some background information on the historical figures, which he uses as characters, will help in fully enjoying the hilarious remarks he makes of them.
Instead of being a collection of short stories like the prequel, this volume is centered on a main plot and narrates a single tale of satire with Sherlock Holmes and the womenfolk equally adorning the central stage. This will be one of the oldest of the Holmes pastiches and written at the same time Conan Doyle was still operating. Since this is written as a piece of satire, true Holmes fans should have no problem in enjoying this parody without any malice over the way in which the pastiche is created out of silly plots. According to an interview that Kendrick Bangs gave in 1899, Conan Doyle himself, who was a personal friend of Bangs, found these parodies featuring Holmes written by Bangs highly original and amusing.
The more works I read from Bangs the more intrigued I become on why he is completely forgotten as a master of satire during modern times. This is a amusing book meant for some lighthearted reading…
After reading ‘A House-Boat on the Styx’ from John Kendrick Bangs last week, I was eager to read its sequel ‘The Pursuit of the House-Boat’ and found it a satisfying fantasy novel written with the sharp wit, which is a signature of Bang’s works. Even though the level of humor was a tad bit lower than of the first novel in the series featuring the ‘Associated Shades’ and their clubhouse houseboat on the Styx in Hades, ‘The Pursuit of House-Boat’ written in 1897 is a definite candidate for lightweight reading.
The book carry’s on the tradition of the Bangsian Fantasy and brings together an assortment of heavyweights from the history and mythology together to create a satire that showcase the power of vocal humor, for which Bangs was largely renowned for during his time. Bangs seems to be performing an experiment with his musings on the theory of afterlife with these fantasies. ‘A House-Boat on the Styx’ ends with an unattended clubhouse houseboat – all the men where at that point watching a fight between Goliath and Samson - getting hijacked by Captain Kidd – as a revenge for his denied membership to the clubhouse - and his crew of pirates. At the moment of hijacking unknown to Captain Kidd and his crew there was a contingent of about two hundred of the cream of the womenfolk from the Hades like Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. Noah, Cleopatra, Xanthippe and Helen who where taking advantage of the absence of the male club members to satisfy their curiosity about the clubhouse by nosing around onboard. The pirates not knowing the cargo they are carrying sails to Europe with the houseboat in search of plunder.
At the beginning of the sequel the reader is introduced to a scene where the members of the 'Associated Shades' are deeply in a meeting about the mystery and the action to be taken in recovering their clubhouse and their womenfolk. And in to this heated and often hilarious meeting enters none other than the legendary detective figure Sherlock Holmes, a recent entry to the Hades - in 1897 at the time of writing of this novel Holmes was declared dead by Conan Doyle after his battle with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls – who soon gains the confidence of the club members in leading an expedition in pursuit of the hijacked houseboat. What follows is a hilarious nautical adventure in which the club members led by Sherlock Holmes goes after the pirates. Holmes making deductions from absurd clues and the pirates finding it difficult to control a mob of strong female characters adds to the pandemonium and merriment of the narration. Like the other Bangsian fantasies from the author, some background information on the historical figures, which he uses as characters, will help in fully enjoying the hilarious remarks he makes of them.
Instead of being a collection of short stories like the prequel, this volume is centered on a main plot and narrates a single tale of satire with Sherlock Holmes and the womenfolk equally adorning the central stage. This will be one of the oldest of the Holmes pastiches and written at the same time Conan Doyle was still operating. Since this is written as a piece of satire, true Holmes fans should have no problem in enjoying this parody without any malice over the way in which the pastiche is created out of silly plots. According to an interview that Kendrick Bangs gave in 1899, Conan Doyle himself, who was a personal friend of Bangs, found these parodies featuring Holmes written by Bangs highly original and amusing.
The more works I read from Bangs the more intrigued I become on why he is completely forgotten as a master of satire during modern times. This is a amusing book meant for some lighthearted reading…
June 8, 2014
The review from afar – No. 6
Revised forward to these overseas reviews:
Since I am cycling back-and-forth from the US to Asia like a piece of string in search of a yo-yo, I have forgone the usual joy of slugging 8-12 paperbacks along with me and taken a previously unused Kindle 3G along instead. It is to the fine folks at Project Gutenberg that I tip my hat: virtually every title I have or will be reading comes from their worthwhile endeavors (or endeavours, when in a former British colony.)
The Pursuit of the House-Boat is the second tale about a house-boat/clubhouse owned by several prominent shades. The first, which I have not yet read is A House-Boat on the Styx. The author, John Kendrick Bangs chose to populate the house-boat tales with pre-existing famous characters from fiction and history. In the 2nd tale certainly all the players are “borrowed”. The first was published in 1896 and I’ll be looking forward to reading it. While Bangs may not have invented the form of using other people’s characters, I don’t know of any earlier examples. The closest (in time) most similar successor novels that I know of are Philip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld series.
In this volume, Captain Kidd has decided to have some aquatic fun and he and his gang have absconded with the aforementioned house-boat. This has the club members upset for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they have lost their house-boat and private club. Secondly, they have lost their women. This second point is a matter of some surprise to the pirates (and to the men), as they were not expecting a hold full of dead ladies to keep under control.
The club members are debating what to do when they are chastised by a shade in their midst that they don’t recognize. This turns out to be none other than Sherlock Holmes (who having been officially dropped into Reichenbach Falls by ACD the previous year is, fictionally at-least, dead and therefore fully qualified to appear in this tale.) The author put Holmes through his paces making trivial and often absurd observations & predictions, but eventually he convinces the club members that he indeed is their only hope of retrieving the house-boat.
Unlike other pastiches of Holmes (which is how I came to know about this and read the second novel before I knew the first existed), there is no Watson or pseudo-Watson. Bangs gives a large swath of the book over to the women who are no uniform group of shrinking violets. Indeed, they are on the house-boat because they were attempting to “crash” the club. Having seen the men go ashore (part of the previous novel), they seized their chance to enter and enjoy the amenities. Once they understand that they and the boat have been hijacked, they begin to plot to seize control (or at the very least interfere with Kidd’s command).
I found this to be an interesting take on the Holmes character. Here he is, contemporaneous with Conan Doyle’s own writings (the Hound of the Baskervilles will not come out for another 6 years). But Bangs is not attempting to replicate Holmes, no he makes Holmes more imperious, more arrogant, and pushier. Not only does he perhaps need Watson to “soften” him, because he must explain everything himself, the good Doctor’s narrative connectivity is also lacking. Nonetheless, this is definitely a good tale one that I strongly recommend. For inventiveness alone it’s worth 3 stars, but I think that it merits at least three on the writing and plotting. I am looking forward to reading the Holmes-less first novel. Three and One-Half (3.5) Stars.
You can get this book for free from Project Gutenberg.
April 5, 2011
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
At the end of John Kendrick Bangs’ A House-boat on the Styx, the men went ashore to watch Goliath fight Samson, leaving the houseboat untended. So the ladies, headed by Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth, took the opportunity to trespass. While they were playing pool below decks, the pirate Captain Kidd and his crew, unaware that the ladies were aboard, hijacked the boat and set out for Europe so they could do some looting.
As The Pursuit of the Houseboat opens, everyone is discovering what’s just happened. When the men realize that the boat is missing, they have no idea how to find it but, fortunately, Sherlock Holmes appears and offers his services. Meanwhile, the pirates and the ladies are shocked and horrified to find themselves sharing the houseboat. The rest of the plot involves the pirates and the women trying to outwit each other.
The Pursuit of the Houseboat is more fun than A House-boat on the Styx — it doesn’t feel quite so much like a series of history lessons. There is still some slightly clunky humor that depends on understanding the historical allusions (e.g., Delilah is asked to fetch her scissors so she can cut the rope holding the anchor, and Queen Elizabeth tries to be discreet about her relationship to Sir Walter Raleigh), but The Pursuit of the Houseboat actually has an entertaining plot as Captain Kidd and his crew try to deal with the women. The more ancient men (those from earlier times, I mean) think this will be rather easy to do, but the modern men scoff and explain that women are different than they used to be and are not going to let themselves get pushed around by pirates. (This was written in 1897 — good for you, Mr. Bangs — I wish you were writing paranormal romance novels today!) Sure enough, the ladies of Hades (sorry, I couldn’t resist) are up to the task!
A House-Boat on the Styx and The Pursuit of the Houseboat are available on Kindle in the Halcyon Classics edition, which contains 48 works by John Kendrick Bangs for (at this writing) only $1.99. Both books are rather short and easily read in an afternoon.
At the end of John Kendrick Bangs’ A House-boat on the Styx, the men went ashore to watch Goliath fight Samson, leaving the houseboat untended. So the ladies, headed by Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth, took the opportunity to trespass. While they were playing pool below decks, the pirate Captain Kidd and his crew, unaware that the ladies were aboard, hijacked the boat and set out for Europe so they could do some looting.
As The Pursuit of the Houseboat opens, everyone is discovering what’s just happened. When the men realize that the boat is missing, they have no idea how to find it but, fortunately, Sherlock Holmes appears and offers his services. Meanwhile, the pirates and the ladies are shocked and horrified to find themselves sharing the houseboat. The rest of the plot involves the pirates and the women trying to outwit each other.
The Pursuit of the Houseboat is more fun than A House-boat on the Styx — it doesn’t feel quite so much like a series of history lessons. There is still some slightly clunky humor that depends on understanding the historical allusions (e.g., Delilah is asked to fetch her scissors so she can cut the rope holding the anchor, and Queen Elizabeth tries to be discreet about her relationship to Sir Walter Raleigh), but The Pursuit of the Houseboat actually has an entertaining plot as Captain Kidd and his crew try to deal with the women. The more ancient men (those from earlier times, I mean) think this will be rather easy to do, but the modern men scoff and explain that women are different than they used to be and are not going to let themselves get pushed around by pirates. (This was written in 1897 — good for you, Mr. Bangs — I wish you were writing paranormal romance novels today!) Sure enough, the ladies of Hades (sorry, I couldn’t resist) are up to the task!
A House-Boat on the Styx and The Pursuit of the Houseboat are available on Kindle in the Halcyon Classics edition, which contains 48 works by John Kendrick Bangs for (at this writing) only $1.99. Both books are rather short and easily read in an afternoon.
February 1, 2017
Quick read---although I stopped half-way through to read several mysteries...wanted to finish it up before the end of the year---not quite as good as the first of the "series"....but it is clever and witty, and makes you smile with some of the references. Bangsian Fantasy---a genre all its own. Well worth a read.
August 12, 2024
good fun
A perfect summer read.
Boating on the River Styx with a cast of the spirits of history . Male spirits have a houseboat used as a clubhouse. When the spirits of pirates decide to take the houseboat and go roving little do they know an illustrious group of female spirits have snuck aboard.
Chaos follows
A perfect summer read.
Boating on the River Styx with a cast of the spirits of history . Male spirits have a houseboat used as a clubhouse. When the spirits of pirates decide to take the houseboat and go roving little do they know an illustrious group of female spirits have snuck aboard.
Chaos follows
August 6, 2021
This second volume of Bangs' Hades stories has more plot than the first; the female immortals (notably Queen Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, Ophelia, Portia, Mrs Noah, Calpurnia the wife of Julius Caesar, and Xanthippe the wife of Socrates), having invaded the men's floating clubhouse, find it's being pirated by Captain Kidd. The men, led by Sherlock Holmes (who is a huge bluffer and sometimes fabricates his clues), attempt to track them down and get them back; Captain Kidd, who only wanted the boat and not the women, tries to figure out how to ditch them, and settles on tempting them with Paris fashions; and the women, though significantly distracted by fashion magazines, set out to rescue themselves, with some success.
Despite the fact that these are some of the greatest people who ever lived, much of the humour comes from them all being more or less incompetent. The author is wildly inconsistent on the question of whether the shades can be harmed or not, and if so by what, changing the answer depending on the demands of the plot and its humour. He's also inconsistent in that, in the first book, the shades talked about popping back to the mortal world as if it was extremely quick and easy, but here they have to take an extended sea voyage. While the first volume stuck mostly to real people, even if some of them had become fictionalized (such as Prince Hamlet), here we have several out-and-out fictional characters included in the cast: Holmes, several other fictional detectives better known at the time of writing than they are now, Portia, and Shylock, for example.
It's a short, light read, and amusing enough.
Despite the fact that these are some of the greatest people who ever lived, much of the humour comes from them all being more or less incompetent. The author is wildly inconsistent on the question of whether the shades can be harmed or not, and if so by what, changing the answer depending on the demands of the plot and its humour. He's also inconsistent in that, in the first book, the shades talked about popping back to the mortal world as if it was extremely quick and easy, but here they have to take an extended sea voyage. While the first volume stuck mostly to real people, even if some of them had become fictionalized (such as Prince Hamlet), here we have several out-and-out fictional characters included in the cast: Holmes, several other fictional detectives better known at the time of writing than they are now, Portia, and Shylock, for example.
It's a short, light read, and amusing enough.
August 3, 2024
Attempts to have slightly more plot than the first book and then tramples all over that plot.
The stuff with the women scheming to escape their captors and then trying to figure out how to run a boat was fun, but that's a quarter of the book.
The rest is the men being incompetent at mounting a rescue expedition, the pirates not being much better and a 'humorous' take on Sherlock Holmes that's only funny for about five pages.
This version of Hades is interesting and there's lots of potential, but Bangs is too interested in being funny and so the cast wears out their welcome and the plot runs out of steam.
A cute time waster, but I won't be hunting down the third volume.
The stuff with the women scheming to escape their captors and then trying to figure out how to run a boat was fun, but that's a quarter of the book.
The rest is the men being incompetent at mounting a rescue expedition, the pirates not being much better and a 'humorous' take on Sherlock Holmes that's only funny for about five pages.
This version of Hades is interesting and there's lots of potential, but Bangs is too interested in being funny and so the cast wears out their welcome and the plot runs out of steam.
A cute time waster, but I won't be hunting down the third volume.
April 29, 2024
I listened to the Librivox version, which is not listed on Goodreads.
Only interesting as a cultural artifact. Dozens of characters from history and literature have a little adventure as Captain Kidd kidnaps the women and the men take to sea to track down his ship. The book would probably be long forgotten but for one oddity. Arthur Conan Doyle gave the author permission to include Sherlock Holmes. The inclusion of the great detective puts this book on many Holmes lists and bibliographies.
It's too bad that it hasn't been forgotten.
Only interesting as a cultural artifact. Dozens of characters from history and literature have a little adventure as Captain Kidd kidnaps the women and the men take to sea to track down his ship. The book would probably be long forgotten but for one oddity. Arthur Conan Doyle gave the author permission to include Sherlock Holmes. The inclusion of the great detective puts this book on many Holmes lists and bibliographies.
It's too bad that it hasn't been forgotten.
February 16, 2018
Being a huge Sherlock Holmes fan I decided to read this. Bad decision. This book is horrible. The writing is incredibly sloppy it doesn't flow at all. Way too many characters in this. It just comes off as ridiculous and stupid.
August 6, 2017
What a nonsense. Part one was better.
February 5, 2018
Unexpected find from a used bookstore. Extremely funny.
April 3, 2018
Sequel/continuation of the first book in this series, The House-Boat on the Styx.
Sherlock Holmes is one the new main characters (he also appears in the third book of this series).
Sherlock Holmes is one the new main characters (he also appears in the third book of this series).
August 8, 2024
Enjoyable sequel to Houseboat on the Styx. The spotlight is turned on the female spirits of Hades who take over the clubhouse.
November 10, 2024
Great fun!
January 2, 2024
Entertaining fantasy listening
This was a free kindle e-book novella from Amazon.
This is one of three books with a similar name. The club of famous players in history are off in search for their wife's that have been taken by Captain Kidd once again.
I listened to all three novellas by the same author and I would recommend them and author to readers of British👑 novels. 2024 😤😀👒😘
This was a free kindle e-book novella from Amazon.
This is one of three books with a similar name. The club of famous players in history are off in search for their wife's that have been taken by Captain Kidd once again.
I listened to all three novellas by the same author and I would recommend them and author to readers of British👑 novels. 2024 😤😀👒😘
May 15, 2013
Book ”SHERLOCK HOLMES vs KAPTEN KIDD : MISTERI KAPAL HOUSE-BOAT”
Judul Asli : THE PURSUIT OF THE HOUSE-BOAT
Copyright © by John Kendrick Bangs
Penerbit Visimedia
Alih Bahasa : Istiani Prajoko
Editor : Muthia Esfand
Desain Sampul : Nuruli Khotimah
Cetakan I : Maret 2013 ; 230 hlm
Rate : 2,5 of 5
Siapa yang tak kenal dengan sosok Sherlock Holmes, Monsier Lecoq dan Hawkshaw, para detektif ternama di kalangan penggemar kisah misteri. Dan tentunya nama-nama Hamlet, Shylock, Robinson Crusoe, Count of Monte Cristo, Ophelia, serta Portia juga dikenal oleh penggemar sastra dan drama klasik. Bagaimana jika mereka semua bertemu dalam satu kisah yang juga melibatkan Sir Walter Raleigh, Ratu Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Napoleon Bonaparte, Cicero, Julius Caesar, Socrates, Mozart, Columbus, Captain Kidd hingga Ophelia dan Nabi Nuh ? Rangkaian daftar nama yang cukup panjang dijamin membuat rasa penasaran yang kian lama semakin memuncak, karena sebuah petualangan serta misteri aneh telah melibatkan para karakter ini.
Dimulai dengan adegan di dunia lain, dimana para ‘hantu’ tokoh ternama dunia saling berkumpul dan bercengkerama menghabiskan waktu senggang mereka. Setelah menjalani masa kematian, tentunya mereka juga harus mencari kegiatan guna mengisi waktu luang mereka di dunia yang berbeda. Karena kisah ini merupakan perkumpulan para ‘hantu’ yang berasal dari dunia manusia di abad 15 – 17, maka tak pelak mereka mampu menemukan kesamaan meski dari negara dan bangsa yang berbeda-beda. Kaum pria memiliki kegemaran tersendiri dan kaum wanita memiliki perkumpulan sendiri. Namun acapkali mereka melakukan kegiatan bersama, seperti menikmati pesiar dengan kapal khusus yang cukup mewah bernama House-Boat.
Tanpa diduga, suatu hari di saat kaum pria sedang sibuk dengan kegiatan di daratan, kapal House-Boat dilarikan oleh Kapten Kidd dan kawanan perompaknya. Celakanya, di dalam kapal ternyata sedang berkumpul kaum wanita menikmati masa-masa tenang mereka, jauh dari pasangan dan suami masing-masing. Usaha perampokan berubah menjadi penculikkan. Jika Bonaparte memikirkan istrinya Marie Louise, sebagaimana Bassanio mengkhawatirkan Portia kekasihnya, tidak demikian dengan Socrates yang lebih bahagia tanpa kehadiran Xanthippe, istrinya, kaum pria sepakat mereka harus mengejar dan merebut kembali kapal serta menyelamatkan kaum wanita. Di tengah perdebatan sengit saat hendak mengambil keputusan langkah apa yang paling tepat harus dilakukan, muncul sosok pria aneh yang bersedia ‘menunjukkan’ jalan keluar serta ‘memimpin’ pencarian kapal House-Boat.
( more about this book, check on my review at here : )
http://my-mystery-readings.blogspot.c...
August 27, 2013
Oh, hahahaha.... ya ampun kupikir ini salah satu cerita 'fanfiction' serius bergenre misteri-detektif-investigasi ala Sherlock Holmes. Ternyata bukan saudara-saudara. Ini adalah cerita bertema Bangsian Fantasy (percayalah, saya juga baru belajar tentang istilah ini), yang intinya adalah kisah yang mengambil tokoh fiktif maupun nyata untuk berinteraksi di dunia afterlife dalam sebuah kejadian.
Nah, di sini diceritakan ada sekelompok wanita (Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, Cassandra, Istri Nabi Nuh, Lucretia Borgias, dst, dst) yang tidak sengaja terculik oleh Kapten Kidd si Bajak Laut saat ia mencuri House-Boat yang ditambatkan di tepi sungai Styx. Para suami, tunangan dan saudara laki-laki mereka kemudian melakukan ekspedisi penyelamatan yang dipimpin oleh Sherlock Holmes (yang sebenarnya ingin balik ke London gara2 belum terima dibuat mati oleh Sir Arthur).
Ceritanya sendiri tidaklah serius-serius sekali. Yang mengambil porsi terbesar dalam novel ini justru interaksi dan percakapan antar tokoh, yang hampir seluruhnya sebenarnya mengolok-olok tiap tokoh yang disebut. Dibaca dengan mood yang lagi bagus, saya hampir tidak bisa menahan tawa yang seringkali terlontar di tiap adegan. ^_^
***
Ternyata ini adalah sequel dari cerita bertema sama yang berjudul A House-Boat on the Styx.
VisiMedia tampaknya menerbitkan novel ini sejalan dengan semua novel Sherlock Holmes yang lain. Judul yang di cover buku ini menuliskan SH vs Kapten Kidd (yang dalam cerita sama sekali gak pernah saling melawan) dan Misteri Kapal House-Boat (yang dari awal sampai akhir gak pernah bermisteri sedikitpun). Kayaknya lebih pas judul aslinya ya, The Pursuit of the House-Boat (Pengejaran kapal House-Boat)... atau kata 'kapal' dan 'House-BOAT' malah sudah redundan??
Ya sudahlah, yang pasti buku ini bisa bikin pembacanya ketawa ketiwi gak karuan.
Nah, di sini diceritakan ada sekelompok wanita (Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, Cassandra, Istri Nabi Nuh, Lucretia Borgias, dst, dst) yang tidak sengaja terculik oleh Kapten Kidd si Bajak Laut saat ia mencuri House-Boat yang ditambatkan di tepi sungai Styx. Para suami, tunangan dan saudara laki-laki mereka kemudian melakukan ekspedisi penyelamatan yang dipimpin oleh Sherlock Holmes (yang sebenarnya ingin balik ke London gara2 belum terima dibuat mati oleh Sir Arthur).
Ceritanya sendiri tidaklah serius-serius sekali. Yang mengambil porsi terbesar dalam novel ini justru interaksi dan percakapan antar tokoh, yang hampir seluruhnya sebenarnya mengolok-olok tiap tokoh yang disebut. Dibaca dengan mood yang lagi bagus, saya hampir tidak bisa menahan tawa yang seringkali terlontar di tiap adegan. ^_^
***
Ternyata ini adalah sequel dari cerita bertema sama yang berjudul A House-Boat on the Styx.
VisiMedia tampaknya menerbitkan novel ini sejalan dengan semua novel Sherlock Holmes yang lain. Judul yang di cover buku ini menuliskan SH vs Kapten Kidd (yang dalam cerita sama sekali gak pernah saling melawan) dan Misteri Kapal House-Boat (yang dari awal sampai akhir gak pernah bermisteri sedikitpun). Kayaknya lebih pas judul aslinya ya, The Pursuit of the House-Boat (Pengejaran kapal House-Boat)... atau kata 'kapal' dan 'House-BOAT' malah sudah redundan??
Ya sudahlah, yang pasti buku ini bisa bikin pembacanya ketawa ketiwi gak karuan.
June 9, 2013
Tadinya tugas terjemahan, cuma karena urusan keluarga jadi nggak bisa nerusin dan untungnya dihibahkan ke mba Isti, jadi kualitas terjemahannya ga diragukan lagi. Bener2 kocak, bikin nyesel ga jadi nerjemahinnya. Geli banget pas Nyonya Nabi Nuh jadi kapten...jangkar main dipotong aja talinya, jaga di geladak ga usah, kemudi ga usah, ngapung aja kayak pas zaman air bah hahaha. Arwah para pesohornya gokil2. Kapten Kiddnya kurang gahar, ngalahinnya gampang bgt. Salah satu dialog yang bikin ngakak:
"Sementara itu, apa yang harus kita lakukan kepada Kidd?" tanya Holmes.
"Dia harus dipecat dari klub ini," kata Johnson.
"Kita tidak bisa memecatnya, karena dia bukan anggota," jawab Raleigh.
"Kalau begitu angkat dia jadi anggota," usul ward.
"Buat apa?" raung Johnson.
"Supaya bisa kita pecat," kata Ward.
XD
"Sementara itu, apa yang harus kita lakukan kepada Kidd?" tanya Holmes.
"Dia harus dipecat dari klub ini," kata Johnson.
"Kita tidak bisa memecatnya, karena dia bukan anggota," jawab Raleigh.
"Kalau begitu angkat dia jadi anggota," usul ward.
"Buat apa?" raung Johnson.
"Supaya bisa kita pecat," kata Ward.
XD
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2015
Turn of the Century Humor
Written in 1897 as a humorous mishmash of famous people and literary figures which have met together as ghosts in Hades. The first chapter name drops famous men from Socrates to Sherlock Holmes who are running amok after their club house boat was stolen with all their wives and girlfriends aboard. The second chapter covers the women from Queen Elizabeth, Cleopatra to Mrs. Noah. The third is about the pirates and their nefarious plot. Although these chapters set up the story, they do become a bit tedious with the name dropping. The parts with Sherlock Holmes and Baron Munhausen are truly humorous and the rest is funny in a elite, Victorian fashion. Expect a few knocks on women especially, although the author probably felt himself very liberal minded. Fun antique style.
Written in 1897 as a humorous mishmash of famous people and literary figures which have met together as ghosts in Hades. The first chapter name drops famous men from Socrates to Sherlock Holmes who are running amok after their club house boat was stolen with all their wives and girlfriends aboard. The second chapter covers the women from Queen Elizabeth, Cleopatra to Mrs. Noah. The third is about the pirates and their nefarious plot. Although these chapters set up the story, they do become a bit tedious with the name dropping. The parts with Sherlock Holmes and Baron Munhausen are truly humorous and the rest is funny in a elite, Victorian fashion. Expect a few knocks on women especially, although the author probably felt himself very liberal minded. Fun antique style.
July 11, 2014
Petualangan Sherlock mencari dan mengejar House Boat mirip acara kejar-kejaran dalam kisah Arsene Lupin atau Tom Clancy. Sherlock mencari dan membuntuti dari belakang, sementara Kidd disibukkan oleh nyonya-nyonya bawel.
Keunggulan cerita ini adalah penuturannya yang runut dan mudah dipahami. Alurnya cepat, membuat cerita terasa mengalir dan bisa diselesaikan dengan cepat. Kelemahannya, dialog terkadang tidak fokus, melantur kem masa hidup tiap-tiap tokoh. Misal pertengkaran Cleopatra dengan istri Nabi Nuh, atau Wellington versus Napoleon Bonaparte. Tapi dari dialog-dialog itulah pembaca jadi tertarik mencari tahu kisah hidup tiap tokoh dan bagaimana akhir hayat mereka.
Keunggulan cerita ini adalah penuturannya yang runut dan mudah dipahami. Alurnya cepat, membuat cerita terasa mengalir dan bisa diselesaikan dengan cepat. Kelemahannya, dialog terkadang tidak fokus, melantur kem masa hidup tiap-tiap tokoh. Misal pertengkaran Cleopatra dengan istri Nabi Nuh, atau Wellington versus Napoleon Bonaparte. Tapi dari dialog-dialog itulah pembaca jadi tertarik mencari tahu kisah hidup tiap tokoh dan bagaimana akhir hayat mereka.
November 28, 2016
Thank gods I have found it online. First Sherlock Holmes pastiche ever, written while the Great Detective was on his Great Hiatus and Conan Doyle was taking a long holiday from writing about Holmes.
There is not much mystery tension in it, but it is funny in a way. Yet another example of a "dream team" story, with a lot of historic and fictional characters written into it (from Socrates to Shakespear's Shylock).
There is not much mystery tension in it, but it is funny in a way. Yet another example of a "dream team" story, with a lot of historic and fictional characters written into it (from Socrates to Shakespear's Shylock).
December 30, 2020
It's difficult to rate Bangs with a 2, because he's a great writer. However, as with many sequels, this book didn't live up to the standard of its predecessor. It felt forced--especially the parts about Sherlock Holmes.
Still, Bangs' dry humor made it worth it, and despite the low rating, I would still recommend the book if you enjoyed the first one.
My favorite parts were the pritatical jokes in early chapters, the Parisian advertising papers, and the floating island.
Still, Bangs' dry humor made it worth it, and despite the low rating, I would still recommend the book if you enjoyed the first one.
My favorite parts were the pritatical jokes in early chapters, the Parisian advertising papers, and the floating island.
August 6, 2016
Dunia manusia dan dunia hantu memang berbeda. Sudahlah, kita tidak perlu ikut urusan mereka. Apalagi hantu2 yang punya nama dan ego besar. Capek mendengarkan rapat mereka ;)
August 12, 2015
Sherlock Holmes and friends
Funny book about how the battle of the sexes continues in Hades. Great idea and pretty well executed. Wonder if we will see more of these?
Funny book about how the battle of the sexes continues in Hades. Great idea and pretty well executed. Wonder if we will see more of these?
Want to read
February 9, 2019Synopsis: the Associated Shades hire Sherlock Holmes to deal with Captain Kidd who has hijacked their boat.
April 27, 2012
This book was also enjoyable. Not as much as the original but a fine sequel.
April 22, 2017
It was good! It's funny and absolutely fun to read.
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