Reviews - Die drei Reiche: Roman aus dem alten China

109 reviews for:

Die drei Reiche: Roman aus dem alten China

Luo Guanzhong

4.09 AVERAGE

taglilie88's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

taisie22's review against another edition

This is a DNF. I got a quarter of the way through this 3,000-page book, so I think I gave it a good shot. Like the Dynasty Warrior games, the plot seems to be battles/wars where one hero can kill thousands of opponents at a time and not much else. I was hoping for more politics, but so far, I've found it lacking.

kriscent's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

max_rauhman's review against another edition

5.0

One of the most incredible journeys I’ve ever been on. It’s a fictional masterpiece, a review of the human condition and human nature, and a window into a time and place that’s accessible only through the magic of the narrative and translation.

diacritics's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The Three Kingdoms is basically battle after battle after battle, with LOTS of characters to keep track of, a typical Epic format. I'm not a big fan of the genre and it's longer than it should've been (even though I read an abridged version), but it is still a worthwhile read overall.

I chose the Martin Palmer translation. It's condensed and you could tell that some parts were rushed and the wording is off at times, but it's still a good abridgement if you have low expectations like me. If you plan on reading or studying Three Kingdoms in full, I'd recommend the Moss Roberts translation since everybody seems to like it, and it's more academic.

laurencemb's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging informative lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I enjoyed this classical tale plotting the fall of the Han Dynasty in China, it is a rich world of warring kingdoms and states and steeped in Interesting history.

Being an ancient tale, it is very lacking in style and substance for the modern reading, characters are whizzed past your eyes at an alarming rate. The style of the prose is clinical, with much of the story following a formulaic structure of ‘A did this so B did that and C happened this was XYZ.’ I found it very repetitive which was a little frustrating as was the lack of any real character development. it’s hard to love a character who is introduced and killed within the space of 3 pages.

It is a shame the story doesn’t have a more finessed narrative style as there are lots of great historical moments and quirky characters you just never feel like you get beyond the surface of any of them.

Despite its failings as a piece of literature, I have been left inspired by a unique bit of history I had no awareness of, and would like to read some other novels set in this period, addressing a much smaller segment of the history.