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kieranhamilton 's review for:
To the Sky Kingdom
by Tang Qi
I read this since it's a translation of «三生三世十里桃花» which had been adapted to a TV series and movie of the same name which experienced unprecedented popularity in China and a scandal around it's author to do with plagiarism (think of how 50 Shades is copied from Twilight). It was such a pop-culture phenomenon I thought I better investigate to understand a little more of the Chinese culture I was immersed in.
The story is generic with little to recommend it other than it appeals to common romantic ideals. Overall the tale is well paced and the highs and lows of the story are well plotted.
It seems to borrow a fair amount of concepts from wuxia, although there are only a few conflicts actually depicted, the elements of Taoism it selectively uses hearken back to an interest in feudal China but the strong female protagonist is more directly symbolic of modern China and female emancipation under Mao's communist regime.
The translation is fairly good, although reading alongside the original Chinese I was slightly bemused by changes in a few scenes, but overall the meaning was clear and the flow of the story was preserved.
I can see why it was popular as it has many elements that appeal to modern thinking and it seemed reflective of the society I found myself in (with it's conflicts between the ancient and the modern). Overall though I found the characters lacked the complexity I search for in novels so this wasn't quite the excellent read for me.
The story is generic with little to recommend it other than it appeals to common romantic ideals. Overall the tale is well paced and the highs and lows of the story are well plotted.
It seems to borrow a fair amount of concepts from wuxia, although there are only a few conflicts actually depicted, the elements of Taoism it selectively uses hearken back to an interest in feudal China but the strong female protagonist is more directly symbolic of modern China and female emancipation under Mao's communist regime.
The translation is fairly good, although reading alongside the original Chinese I was slightly bemused by changes in a few scenes, but overall the meaning was clear and the flow of the story was preserved.
I can see why it was popular as it has many elements that appeal to modern thinking and it seemed reflective of the society I found myself in (with it's conflicts between the ancient and the modern). Overall though I found the characters lacked the complexity I search for in novels so this wasn't quite the excellent read for me.