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I'm ordering this stuff http://t.co/tkI8jgH7.
I hope the one I link above is the unabridged version not the abridged version, which wasn't tranlasted well according to some reports. If someone here already got their book from this link, let me know If I'm getting the right one.
It's not like I haven't read the novel before. I've read it hundreds of times over the last 6 years, of course in my native language. And after reading some chapters in English on a website, I felt like they used a new method of expressing the words which I found very interesting to read. It makes me feel like I was reading the novel in a new completely style but I always dislike reading books online so I decided to purchase the book itself. There are not so many English-written novels that sell in my country so I forced to buy it oversea and was able to order it via an agent.
I will inform when I get the package.
DoaE gave birth to Huo Hu.
This is the best version I know of. It's unabridged, four tightly-bound volumes with thin pages and compact text. IIRC the online translation is the Brewitt-Taylor translation which is a little harder to read. Moss Roberts' is as readable as any science fiction or fantasy novel without losing any of the gravitas or style.
Lots of great historical footnotes, too. Let us know what you think once you start reading.
Thanks for the confirmation Niahak. That's good to hear. Three Kingdoms is my favorite and I can read it infinite time w/o getting tired of. The story, characters, schemes and arguments all so great that make me wanna touch the book whenever I see it. Though I heard of the novel and famous chars like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei since I was a very little kid, I never read the book just once. It wasn't until I played DoaE, after finishing the game I was deeply touched at the story and immediately borrowed the book from a parents' friend. I devoured and finished it in just a few days. That was a great feeling. You can say that DoaE inspired me to do the work.
I've also read the other great novels like Water Margin and Journey to the West. Haven't got a chance to give Dream of the Red Chamber a look. But all of them didn't make me feel enjoyable as Three Kingdoms did.
DoaE gave birth to Huo Hu.
I also was mostly inspired to read 3K by Destiny of an Emperor, though I didn't actually read it until I was 18 or so.
I agree with Water Margin and Journey to the West not being nearly as enjoyable.
In the case of Water Margin, the translation was in a pretty different style which might've contributed. I'd call it second best out of the three, though; at its high points it is nearly as great as Three Kingdoms (especially the middle segments where the imperial army invades the marsh and the heroes' journeys in the beginning). I suspect after a couple re-reads that the final 20 or so chapters were authored by Luo Guanzhong since they have a very similar tragic overtone as the same chapters in Three Kingdoms, but nobody knows for sure. Water Margin did inspire the Suikoden series of games which is of course fantastic.
I get the impression Journey to the West was a very repetitive story to begin with. Although the iconic Monkey is a great character, the situations he and Sanzo get into are simply too varied and bizarre to really make a coherent story.
Haven't read Dream of the Red Chamber, but it sounds very different from the other novels.
I never read the novels, but I have watched the 1990's 80+ episode television series which seemed so much better than the newer versions which just seem so… fakey.
Yeah I second that Water Margin is the second best. The hypothesis whether it was authored by Luo Guanzhong is still up to debate. But it's true that some of the characters share the similar characteristic, like Wu Yong somewhat resembled Zhuge Liang, Li Kui somehow made people remember Zhang Fei ( but Li Kui was way more barbaric ), etc. I like Wo Song's tale especially the part when he avenged his brother's death. It's quite epical.
Quote:I never read the novels, but I have watched the 1990's 80+ episode television series which seemed so much better than the newer versions which just seem so… fakey.You should at least have a look at it. If you wish to know the story deeper, how the characters actually thought about each other and the brillance of Zhuge Liang's brain and all the other details then there's no good reason to not give it a shot.
DoaE gave birth to Huo Hu.
How about working 12 hrs. a day at work and coming home to 3 more hrs of work? :crybaby:
I got the stuff just moments ago.
My first impression is that it has really a lot of footnotes at the end of each volume, which didn't happen in my native language version. I also skim through some pages and suprisingly realise the appreance of maps and pictures, this is so wonderful. I guess this is the diferrence between the abridged and unabridged ones. Moss Roberts truly did a incredibly great job. It was absolutely worthy the order. I have no regret at all that I purchaed it.
I will post more review as I move on reading.
DoaE gave birth to Huo Hu.
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