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A review by oneeasyreader
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
4.0
'You're wise enough to rule the world and perverse enough to destroy the world.'
'Oh good,' Cao Cao thought.
Late Second Century China through the eyes of Fourteenth Century China as translated into Twenty-First Century English... ...what could go wrong?
It can be hard to judge a translation/abridgement. It is clear the story suffers compared to its original form. However, virtually every text from the past, including dry histories, can be warped significantly from their original form (see [b:Confronting the Classics|17434669|Confronting the Classics Traditions, Adventures and Innovations|Mary Beard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422743545l/17434669._SY75_.jpg|24291754]). Vaguely saying "I am sure it makes sense in its original text" seems just as bad as solely judging it from present perceptions.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is about three (mainly) kingdoms who are intertwined by, I guess metaphorically, “romance”, but mainly they fight. There are literally (in the original sense of the term) dozens of campaigns that do not really seem to advance much other than letting us know how clever people are with their tricks, often the same ones over and over again.
So Zhang Fei plans a trick. Seizing a perfectly innocent soldier from his own ranks, he has him beaten.
Even one of the main characters Cao Cao sees through the repetition, and the author goes to special lengths to have him be convinced that no, it’s the real deal this time... ...oh oops, it’s another trick.
I believe this is a good translation. The story is easy to follow, despite the profusion of names. What helps is the vast majority of them die in the same chapter, often on the same page. The key ones stick around, even when they are a little weird, for example when
Cao Cao bumbles an assassination with a bejeweled sword, massacres a family that was hosting him, then kills the guy riding back. He’s one of the “winners” in the story. Or when Lü Bu comes to congratulate Xuande on his promotion, Zhang Fei charges in with a drawn sword and bursts out that Xuande has orders to kill Lü Bu. You can feel reassured that further context would not help explain this. The main characters are actually interesting, and their eventual deaths/passings take a lot of power and drive from the story. Kong Ming carries the weight for a few chapters, however I did get tired of constantly reading:
But once again Kong Ming has foreseen this.
There is a fantasy element of sorts in the books. Large portions will be grounded in logistics/tactics of attacking a wall at a certain angle/setting ambushed, then followed up with a couple of chapters of some insane magic (such as by Zuo Ci) that doesn’t really carry any long-term implications. There’s some wild beast magic towards the end – it doesn’t appear to help much (the practitioner of it loses seven times), but it’s a bit of fun and something for people to pick up parts of this story and add their own interpretations.
A brisk read despite its length. I’d recommend it, at least in this language.
'Oh good,' Cao Cao thought.
Late Second Century China through the eyes of Fourteenth Century China as translated into Twenty-First Century English... ...what could go wrong?
It can be hard to judge a translation/abridgement. It is clear the story suffers compared to its original form. However, virtually every text from the past, including dry histories, can be warped significantly from their original form (see [b:Confronting the Classics|17434669|Confronting the Classics Traditions, Adventures and Innovations|Mary Beard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422743545l/17434669._SY75_.jpg|24291754]). Vaguely saying "I am sure it makes sense in its original text" seems just as bad as solely judging it from present perceptions.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is about three (mainly) kingdoms who are intertwined by, I guess metaphorically, “romance”, but mainly they fight. There are literally (in the original sense of the term) dozens of campaigns that do not really seem to advance much other than letting us know how clever people are with their tricks, often the same ones over and over again.
So Zhang Fei plans a trick. Seizing a perfectly innocent soldier from his own ranks, he has him beaten.
Even one of the main characters Cao Cao sees through the repetition, and the author goes to special lengths to have him be convinced that no, it’s the real deal this time... ...oh oops, it’s another trick.
I believe this is a good translation. The story is easy to follow, despite the profusion of names. What helps is the vast majority of them die in the same chapter, often on the same page. The key ones stick around, even when they are a little weird, for example when
Cao Cao bumbles an assassination with a bejeweled sword, massacres a family that was hosting him, then kills the guy riding back. He’s one of the “winners” in the story. Or when Lü Bu comes to congratulate Xuande on his promotion, Zhang Fei charges in with a drawn sword and bursts out that Xuande has orders to kill Lü Bu. You can feel reassured that further context would not help explain this. The main characters are actually interesting, and their eventual deaths/passings take a lot of power and drive from the story. Kong Ming carries the weight for a few chapters, however I did get tired of constantly reading:
But once again Kong Ming has foreseen this.
There is a fantasy element of sorts in the books. Large portions will be grounded in logistics/tactics of attacking a wall at a certain angle/setting ambushed, then followed up with a couple of chapters of some insane magic (such as by Zuo Ci) that doesn’t really carry any long-term implications. There’s some wild beast magic towards the end – it doesn’t appear to help much (the practitioner of it loses seven times), but it’s a bit of fun and something for people to pick up parts of this story and add their own interpretations.
A brisk read despite its length. I’d recommend it, at least in this language.