The Mirror of Kong Ho

by Ernest Bramah

This lively and amusing set of stories, constructed as a series of letters dealing with the oddities and eccentricities of the West, are purportedly by Kong Ho, a Chinese man visiting early 20th century London. These letters, addressed to his homeland, refer to the Westerners in London as barbarians and reinterpret many elements of modern life (such as the motor car and the piano) with the wit, wisdom and wry sense of humor that suffuses the best of Bramah's Oriental works.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, Speculative Fiction, Ebooks

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

Bramah was a reclusive soul, who shared few details of his private life with his reading public. His full name was Ernest Bramah Smith. It is known that he dropped out of Manchester Grammar School at the age of 16, after displaying poor aptitude as a student and thereafter went into farming, and began writing vignettes for the local newspaper. Bramah's father was a wealthy man who rose from factory hand to a very wealthy man in a short time, and who supported his son in his various career attempts.

Bramah went to Fleet Street after the farming failure and became a secretary to Jerome K. Jerome, rising to a position as editor of one of Jerome's magazines. At some point, he appears to have married Mattie.

More importantly, after being rejected by 8 publishers, the Wallet of Kai Lung was published in 1900, and to date, remains in print. Bramah wrote in different areas, including political science fiction, and mystery. He died at the age of 74. See http://www.ernestbramah.com for more information.

Reviews

[Perry Whitford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drolly amusing set of spoof letters sent from a highly bemused Chinaman sojourning amongst the English 'barbarians.'

in the first decade of the 19th century to his revered father back home, with a view to coming to grips with their inferior culture, which he singularly fails to do, resulting in much 'loss of gravity'.

Kung Ho is an unfailingly modest chap, referring to himself dismissively as 'this person' while getting into all manor of misunderstandings resulting in a 'loss of gravity,' such as accidentally insulting his hosts, being arrested, and cooking a dog to impress a young lady.

I particularly liked his description of cricket as a 'barbarian sport of leaping insects.'

Bramah obviously knew Chinese culture well, and though this is very much a piss-take you can tell that he respected it too. English ignorance regarding the true nature of the Oriental is the true target of his satire.

I also enjoyed Kong Ho's ever-ready litany of sayings which he generously dispensed to the general befuddlement of his hosts, such as these two:

"'The sagacious bird does not build his nest twice in the empty soup-toureen."

"There is only one man who knew with accurate certainty what a maiden's next attitude would be, and he died young of surprise."

Confucius never said wiser words.

[MN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly funny

[Marty Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure. One of the funniest books I've ever read. Check out 'Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat' also by Bramah.