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agtw 's review for:
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
by Luo Guanzhong
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The supermassive tale of warlords vying for their own twist on a handful of dynasties is described around 1,300 years removed from the actual events, heavily romanticised (hence the title) by both Luo Guanzhong and 17th Century compilers Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang, resulting in the trimmed 600-ish page epic that we Western readers may attempt to wrap our heads around today.
Entire months of beseiging cities, troop movements and dynastic betrayals unfold in mere sentences within the endlessly rich story of how the Three Kingdoms came to be, how they existed and how one united them all. Spearheaded by pure evil warlords like Dong Zhuo, military tactitian demigods like Kong Ming, and valiant dynastic hopefuls and figureheads like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, it is hard to believe that all of these battles and territorial changes (however far removed from actuality some of them may be) occurred in the timespan covered (c. 184 - 280 AD).
It may be difficult to wrap your head around (the Chinese naming convention is probably enough to turn most English speaking readers away) but it's certainly not slow-paced. The writing is at points so blunt it's genuinely hilarious, not to mention the various poems whose poetic prowess was probably lost in translation.
You can't really recommend this book to anyone, unless their parameters were something along the lines of "3rd Century narrative hybrid fiction epics", but if this description alone doesn't immediately turn you away, it's probably worth a look.
Entire months of beseiging cities, troop movements and dynastic betrayals unfold in mere sentences within the endlessly rich story of how the Three Kingdoms came to be, how they existed and how one united them all. Spearheaded by pure evil warlords like Dong Zhuo, military tactitian demigods like Kong Ming, and valiant dynastic hopefuls and figureheads like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, it is hard to believe that all of these battles and territorial changes (however far removed from actuality some of them may be) occurred in the timespan covered (c. 184 - 280 AD).
It may be difficult to wrap your head around (the Chinese naming convention is probably enough to turn most English speaking readers away) but it's certainly not slow-paced. The writing is at points so blunt it's genuinely hilarious, not to mention the various poems whose poetic prowess was probably lost in translation.
You can't really recommend this book to anyone, unless their parameters were something along the lines of "3rd Century narrative hybrid fiction epics", but if this description alone doesn't immediately turn you away, it's probably worth a look.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol