"don't wanna be your angel / don't want the burden of black wings"

[larryhammer]

Reading Wednesday? So it is. And I've gotten absolutely nowhere on anything in progress two weeks ago because I started:

Outlaws of the Marsh aka Water Margin by Shi Nai'an and/or Luo Guanzhong, in Shapiro's translation of a 100-chapter edition -- I bounced hard, a few years ago, off an abridged version, but this is snorking down nicely. It doesn't hurt that I've read enough wuxia I can recognize this for an ur-text (one even more important than Journey to the West), but the better translation is probably more relevant. I did initially worry about how coherent a story with a main cast of 108 could be, but part of that was lingering effects of that abridgement, which was egregiously episodic -- and this version isn't. Having the Wikipedia plot summary with its links out to major characters has also helped (ditto being able to look up locations).

I'm up to chapter 39, and while so far it's all been multiple characters weaving in and out of each others' stories as we set up the Liangshan Marsh bandits, given a very low Ninja Replacement Score I'm good with that. Which is not to say I like any of these guys -- with hardened bandits as nominal heroes, we're firmly in the realm of Black and Grey Morality. Also, it's misogynistic as fuck -- I'm hoping that when one of handful of Action Girls finally show up, they'll help moderate things. Every time a woman appears, my enthusiasm dims a little more.

But despite that, he picked up the book. As a result, the pages were turned like a river in flood, minor characters died like a clear-cut forest. What happened next in the story? Read our next post if you would know.

Officially DNF: Eon, Freedom's Landing.

Subject quote from "She Knows," Shino Lin.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Sounds like one to give a miss.

[larryhammer]

Unless you like wuxia, I don't recommend it.

---L.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Given that I DNFed Eon myself, I'm curious what made you stop.

[larryhammer]

Pretty much what we talked about before, coupled with a (surprising) lack of interest in the protagonist's uncomplicated dilemma of identity.

Also: Icon!Love

---L.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Good to know! The only one of the big classical Chinese texts I've attempted is Romance of the Three Kingdoms; I think I've read about half of the two-volume Roberts translation (not abridged AFAIK). I've meant to try Water Margin or Red Chamber but hadn't even looked for plausible English translations yet. *makes note*

[larryhammer]

Go directly to Journey to the West, do not stop, do not pass Go. Either Jenner or Yu translation -- either way it's great fun, and the cultural importance of the Monkeyshines matches that of the other three Classic Novels.

No, the Roberts isn't abridged, and once all the first generation dies off, around three-quarters of the way through, it isn't really as interesting. Still good, but the epigones aren't as vivid.

I'd recommend Water Margin only if you like wuxia and are interested in its roots.

---L.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's very helpful.

[cat-i-th-adage.livejournal.com]

If you like soap operas or having a lot of female characters interacting with each other you should totally read Red Chamber. (Er, some of the abridgements skip the prologue with the travelling stone, which is a mistake I feel, because it informs a lot of Pao Yu's story. So if you do get a clipped version, at least look up the start with one of the public domain e-books.)

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That too is useful. In general I'm not inclined towards abridged versions. The stone does seem important--isn't one of the conventional English titles The Story of the Stone?

[larryhammer]

This. And definitely make sure whatever edition you have includes the story of the stone in the first chapter. (It's also one of the alternate titles in Chinese.)

(Not that I've finished Red Chamber -- I'll return to that eventually, though.)

---L.