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pivotal's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
tombomp's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of fun stories. The most notable theme is sex with fox spirits although there's a good variety of stuff too, with varying morals and conclusions even when the set-up is pretty similar. There's nothing here that made me think "woah that's amazing" hence the 4 star but I enjoyed reading every single story here - there's a lot of cool ideas and overall there's an amazing and absorbing atmosphere that really takes you into the world of the Chinese studio.
The Penguin edition I was using has very helpful notes and a good glossary that help you understand the setting for each story as well as pointing out allusions to classic Chinese literature - although I'd note it relies notably on 19th century sources and stuff quite a bit, dunno how some of the explanations of concepts stand up to modern scholarship. 1 story adds the commentary which is apparently standard in the full original Chinese editions.
The Penguin edition I was using has very helpful notes and a good glossary that help you understand the setting for each story as well as pointing out allusions to classic Chinese literature - although I'd note it relies notably on 19th century sources and stuff quite a bit, dunno how some of the explanations of concepts stand up to modern scholarship. 1 story adds the commentary which is apparently standard in the full original Chinese editions.
nicozinos's review against another edition
5.0
the title tells you exactly what you are getting. strange tales. the stories in here are so often told like a juicy piece of gossip that your visiting cousin tells you thst it lends something very human to each one. most of the time supernatural entities are encountered in these stories but they are almost always viewed as a natural part of everyday life. gods and fox spirits and ghosts act like anyone else. full of jealousy, greed, fear, and every other human emotion. ranging from stories about evil entities to a story about man with an invincible penis they are all enjoyable and refreshingly original although being centuries old.
anhtran221's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of long and short stories of the strange and magical, reminded me very much of the One Thousand and One Nights but with a setting of Buddhism/Confucianism/Taoism rather than Islam. The stories are funny, erotic, philosophical.
solhibou's review against another edition
I tried but collections really aren't my thing
daybreak's review against another edition
Read the French translation by Yves Hervouet.
All in all it was a great disappointment. The writing is flat, the stories sometimes repetitive and as much as I tried not to, I read with 21st century eyes. I don't know if it was the translation or the selected stories but I ended up really underwhelmed. I did like some stories (like Lou yi niu) but I was mostly bored and forced myself through.
The one virtue I attach to this read would be that it was very educational : it really gives you a peek into old China.
I know we are not supposed to read old writings with current morals but oh boy was I rubbed the wrong way with the near constant misogyny, the way women were 9 times out of 10 villains and were always punished when men very often got off scot free (and worse, rewarded) when they were also to blame.
However, I am now learning by reading the reviews on here that there are hundreds of tales while the French version only has 20 something. I might enjoy other tales more than the ones I read which were quite similar to each other in pattern. I guess I'll give the English version a shot in the near future. Who knows? For now 2 stars for the French version...
All in all it was a great disappointment. The writing is flat, the stories sometimes repetitive and as much as I tried not to, I read with 21st century eyes. I don't know if it was the translation or the selected stories but I ended up really underwhelmed. I did like some stories (like Lou yi niu) but I was mostly bored and forced myself through.
The one virtue I attach to this read would be that it was very educational : it really gives you a peek into old China.
I know we are not supposed to read old writings with current morals but oh boy was I rubbed the wrong way with the near constant misogyny, the way women were 9 times out of 10 villains and were always punished when men very often got off scot free (and worse, rewarded) when they were also to blame.
However, I am now learning by reading the reviews on here that there are hundreds of tales while the French version only has 20 something. I might enjoy other tales more than the ones I read which were quite similar to each other in pattern. I guess I'll give the English version a shot in the near future. Who knows? For now 2 stars for the French version...