9 h 20 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the only thing between you and danger is the next story you tell?
Kai Lung earns his bread with words. A poor wandering storyteller, he faces danger and bargains for safety by telling tales. In Ernest Bramah's Kai Lung's Golden Hours, each story sits inside a larger story, where wit becomes more than a pleasure: it is a means of survival.
The setting is an invented China, not a portrait of a real place. Mandarins, village headmen, scholars, bandits and spirits share a world of elaborate courtesy. Beneath those polite words lies a sharp sense of the absurd, as humble people and wanderers face officials, rich men, rivals and magical powers.
What you’ll discover
- Stories within a story Follow Kai Lung's precarious life as his tales become a way to bargain for safety.
- Courtesy with a sting Enjoy grave, flowery exchanges where enormous politeness carries a quiet edge of irony.
- Wit against power Meet humble figures whose cleverness challenges the advantages of rank and force.
- An invented world Wander among scholars, bandits and spirits in a setting shaped for tales rather than realism.
- Pride under scrutiny Find gentle but pointed humor in stories that expose the absurdities of power and pride.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy dry humor, elaborate language, folk tale shapes and satire of officials. It may be less suited to anyone who wants a fast plot with realistic characters and plain, modern prose.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A storyteller's tales hold the book together
- Politeness becomes a form of wit
- Cleverness beats rank and force
- Its place in Bramah's work and its lasting appeal
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Les heures dorées de Kai Lung
by Ernest Bramah· 1922
A travelling storyteller uses his tales to bargain for safety.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
A storyteller's tales hold the book together
The book rests on a frame, a device older than most novels. Kai Lung is a wanderer who earns his bread by telling stories. In the larger tale, his craft is also his protection, because a good story can win him a hearing from people who might otherwise harm him.
Inside that frame, Kai Lung tells separate tales, each with its own people and its own small lesson. The method comes from old collections such as the Arabian Nights, where a teller spins tales to stay alive. Bramah borrows the shape but fills it with his own comic tone.
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The author
Ernest Bramah
1868–1942 · English novelist
Ernest Bramah was an English author born in Manchester in 1868. He later lived in London and died in 1942. He wrote fiction featuring Kai Lung and the blind detective Max Carrados. His books include The Wallet of Kai Lung (1900), Max Carrados (1914), and Kai Lung’s Golden Hours (1922).
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What is Kai Lung's Golden Hours about?
It is a collection of tales told by Kai Lung, a poor traveling storyteller in an imagined China. His stories entertain, teach and help him survive among mandarins, rivals and other dangers.
Who is Kai Lung?
Kai Lung is the storyteller at the center of Bramah's series. He is humble in speech but quick of mind, and he uses tales, courtesy and cleverness to get through a dangerous world.
Is Kai Lung's Golden Hours a true story or set in real China?
No. It is fiction published in 1922, set in an invented China drawn from folk tale style. It is a literary creation by an English author, not a record of real events or places.
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