Lemmy Caution E Os Agentes Duplos

Lemmy Caution #10

by Peter Cheyney, Fernanda Pinto Rodrigues (Translator)

Cover artist: Lima de Freitas

Genres: Crime

208 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

Born Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, he trained as a lawyer before getting tired of legal office work and joining the Army. He fought at the second Battle of the Somme in World War I and was wounded but when he returned to England he wrote songs, poems and short stories for various newspapers and magazines and used many pseudonyms.

He also turned his hand to journalism, was a newspaper editor and also owned a detective agency, Cheyney Research Investigations.

His first published novel was This Man Is Dangerous and this began his prolific novel writing career. Thereafter he averaged two mystery novels a year with his best known characters being Slim Callaghan and Lemmy Caution and he became one of the best known and most successful of British crime novelists. His success also brought with it financial rewards and he was recognised as one of the richest authors of the time.

There have been many film versions of his works, which helped spread his popularity, particularly to the United States.

His life-style, one of hard-living, much like his characters, and hard work eventually took their toll and he died at age 55. He was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.

Michael Harrison published a biography in 1954 entitled Peter Cheyney Prince of Hokum and there have been a number of biographical essays over the years.

Gerry Wolstenholme
December 2010

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemmy Caution! The wise-cracking super-sleuth (FBI agent really) who delighted countless readers around the world...since his adventures/cases are always written in the first person. Okay, we all know that the praise actually belongs to author Peter Cheyney, a superb "realistic" writer in his pomp. We Africans familiar with his work have always believed though, that Cheyney's major characters, plots - and dialogue in particular - resonate largely with Africans. I mean the incredibly talkative nature of the protagonists, the "spiel", the over-done humour... Could anybody do it better than Cheyney? Like in his other novels, all the ingredients are present here; the wisecracking by good old Lemmy, the sparkling "naughty" dialogue, the excellent twists and turns. And the gratuitous "philosophies" and quotations from the great minds, like Confucious. Interesting quotes almost always pertaining to women and their wiles. No other author could introduce women - "dames" as Cheyney did, especially thorough his mouthpiece, Lemmy Caution. Apparently every female dotting his adventures is always the most beautiful and alluring, and they are described in such colourful, allusive language that the reader can not but be captivated. "I see a dame! I'm telling you that there's nothing like it...". The plot here is quite ingenious as usual, as Caution leads us along into believing that his reputation is somewhat tarnished, and he might no longer be at his best. Until the moment late on, when unexpectedly he-that-seemed to be his "ally" is exposed as the culpable individual by Lemmy in his nigh-nonpareil manner. Lots of fun...and those lucky enough to have this book will find themselves re-reading it time and again.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

FBI supersleuth Lemmy Caution on the hunt for post war secret agent names list, chasing down rogue agents and fancy dames from Paris to London. Breathless and tongue-in-cheek funny, it still seems to me to be so much more wrong to enjoy a pulp novel which admittedly contains its fair share of misogyny and casual racism, than it would be to enjoy a movie from the same period with the same primitive values. Is the written word held to a higher moral standard than cinema?

[jaroiva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nějak zvlášť mě to nechytilo, ani v rámci žánru; hůř jsem udržovala pozornost a to normálně ani takovou brakovou literaturu nezavrhuji. Čekala jsem starou dobrou krimi, ale tohle už podle mě je spíš zastaralé.

[Dfordoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulpy hardboiled tongue-in-cheek fun with FBI agent Lemmy Caution.

[Vaijayanthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The irrepressible Lemmy Caution again does his magic & turns out a brainy solution at the end, despite all odds ....and some hot 'broads !'

[Miloš Petrik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Serbian translation of the Authors & Artists edition is horrendous.

[Neer · Rating 3 out of 5]

My introduction to Lemmy Caution. Certain very nice twists, esp. as regards the eponymous heroine.

More here:

http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2014/0...

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Možná jsem vám, lidičky, už jednou řekl, že tři čtvrtiny pozemského trápení pochází do slečen. Zbývající čtvrtina je původu finančního, a tudíž veskrze podřadného. Všechno, co se v životě semele a nemá souvislost se slečnami nebo oběživem, si můžete klidně vrazit o oka. Ani to neucítíte.“

Jo, tohle je ikonická věta. Peter Cheyney se v téhle knize fakt rozjel a hází kolem přirovnání a barvité popisy… a to až tolik, že se moc nezatěžoval vymýšlením zajímavé zápletky. Lemmy Caution vyráží, těsně po válce, chytit německého agenta, který se zmocnil důležitých spisů, ovšem problém je, že nikdo neví, jak ten agent vypadá. A že sám Lemmy je momentálně v podezření, že si před nějakou slečnou moc pouštěl hubu na špacír. Ovšem to milého Lemmyho nemůže zastavit. Putuje z Paříže přímo do cizokrajné Anglie (čili do autorova domova), vrhá dedukce a pohledy na lepé děvy, a občas k tomu přihodí i nějakou tu ránu pěstí. A mluví a přemýšlí a filozofuje.

O slečnách, samozřejmě.

Tohle není kniha, která by člověk překvapila – zvláště když už zná Cheyneyho triky, a ví, že jakmile se s někým začne Lemmy usilovně družit a vylívat si před ním srdce, je jasný, že je to úhlavní mizera, na kterého nejoblíbenější synek mámy Cautiové šije nějakou habaďůru.

„Koukám a vidím, že slečna plakala doopravdy a začínám uvažovat, zda snad tohle stvoření – poprvé od svých dob povijanových – nemluvilo pravdu.“

Tohle překládal František Gel a rozhodně se na tom vyřádil. Ona kvalita téhle série stojí a padá s překladem. Když si odmyslíte styl vyprávění (pro větší dynamičnost ještě vedený v přítomném čase), tak vám zbyde vlastně dost jednoduchá a velmi sexistická špionážka, s otravně geniálním hrdinou. Ale humor a hrdinova chorobná žvanivost to všechno zjemňuje a dělá z toho součást šarmu celé knihy.

Tak teď to víte.