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A review by ioanastoica
Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout
5.0
*Incredible* writing -and a pretty good story! But the writing and characterization are what hooked me to the Nero Wolfe mysteries - though really the titles are a misnomer, as they are about Archie Goodwin, my favorite "sidekick" ever. Agatha Christie used to be my favorite mystery writer (with no one coming in even as a close second), but with this book Rex Stout has now been placed firmly in first place. I still like Christie's *stories* and her mysteries are usually more complex than Stout's, but his writing and characters are far superior to Christie's.
The story: it's about a bull. A championship-winning prize bull. The bull-culture (?) is described in detail, along with bull classification, competition requirements, bull coloring, skin secretion, description of progeny and quality of offspring, etc. The thought of any of these things had never crossed my mind before reading this delightful book, and if you had asked me before, Would I read and enjoy a book about farmers and their bulls, I would have responded with a resounding, "No Way". But I simply LOVED "Some Buried Caesar"... main reason: Archie is at his absolute best (so far, of books 1-6) in this story.
Ode to Archie: I want to marry him. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is now my favorite character from any book I've ever read. His irreverent, sarcastic, and casual personality is absolutely endearing. First, unlike Dr. Watson or Captain Hastings, Archie is recognized as intelligent in his own right, and moreover, Wolfe trusts him to make his own decisions about practical strategies, and does not micromanage techniques Archie uses to get needed information. Second, he is just absolutely brilliantly sardonically hilarious. I don't usually like humorous books because too many times the wit is flippant, inane, or arrogant, but Archie's commentary has made me put this book down for a good laugh at several points throughout, and smile for the rest of the time.
Example: Archie is imprisoned as a "material witness" in the basement of a courthouse. Within hours of arrival, instead of panicking, being unduly upset, or actively working on strategies to get out of prison, he instead takes the opportunity to get to know his fellow inmates, and to found the "CCPU", the Crowfield County Prisoner's union, complete with a list of demands such as "abolition of all animals smaller than rabbits" [in the cells] and "Soap which is free of Essence of Nettles, or what- ever it is that it now contains"...
The story: it's about a bull. A championship-winning prize bull. The bull-culture (?) is described in detail, along with bull classification, competition requirements, bull coloring, skin secretion, description of progeny and quality of offspring, etc. The thought of any of these things had never crossed my mind before reading this delightful book, and if you had asked me before, Would I read and enjoy a book about farmers and their bulls, I would have responded with a resounding, "No Way". But I simply LOVED "Some Buried Caesar"... main reason: Archie is at his absolute best (so far, of books 1-6) in this story.
Ode to Archie: I want to marry him. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is now my favorite character from any book I've ever read. His irreverent, sarcastic, and casual personality is absolutely endearing. First, unlike Dr. Watson or Captain Hastings, Archie is recognized as intelligent in his own right, and moreover, Wolfe trusts him to make his own decisions about practical strategies, and does not micromanage techniques Archie uses to get needed information. Second, he is just absolutely brilliantly sardonically hilarious. I don't usually like humorous books because too many times the wit is flippant, inane, or arrogant, but Archie's commentary has made me put this book down for a good laugh at several points throughout, and smile for the rest of the time.
Example: Archie is imprisoned as a "material witness" in the basement of a courthouse. Within hours of arrival, instead of panicking, being unduly upset, or actively working on strategies to get out of prison, he instead takes the opportunity to get to know his fellow inmates, and to found the "CCPU", the Crowfield County Prisoner's union, complete with a list of demands such as "abolition of all animals smaller than rabbits" [in the cells] and "Soap which is free of Essence of Nettles, or what- ever it is that it now contains"...