Suggestions for BOTM July

[Lu]

Just went to Eslite to stack up for the big trip, and bought two Chinese books:

金庸 "書劍恩仇錄" (recommendation from skylee I think, who said this was one of the shorter ones)

And in case Jin Yong prooves too difficult:

姜戎 "朗圖騰"

I'm going to start with Jin Yong, I expect that at my speed this will take me about three months for the first volume (given it's not too difficult in the first place). Anyone want to join?

[skylee]

I am not going to join you as I've read "書劍恩仇錄" many times. But you might be interested in listening to the theme song of one of the early TV dramas based on this story -> http://www.haoting.com/htmusic/17218ht.htm

The words of the song probably do not suit today's world as they include terms like 蠻夷, 滿奴, etc. But I think it is a good song and it conveys the mood of the story pretty well.

BTW, please share your view on what you think about the main character 陳家樂. He is like the most disappointing leading man in Louis Cha's books IMHO. He is an elite, and he fails through and through.

[renzhe]

I can't join you either, as I'm currently reading another one of Jin Yong's novels, 射雕英雄传.

But you have my moral support, as we're in a similar boat. It's not as difficult as you expect. Arm yourself with an easy-to-handle dictionary and it should be quite doable. What helps me is that there is a translation online that I read with a day's delay, to make sure I understand all the details I've read the night before. If you can find something similar, I recommend using it.

[skylee]

Try this link for a translation of the book and the sword -> http://qiqi.com/cgi-bin/bk2.pl?fd1=book&fd2=wx&fd3=jinyong&in=jy01

[Philee]

金庸 is the greatest writer of Chinese Fantasy literature but instead of western sword and magic, Chinese Fantasy place more emphasize on love and revenge and Gongfu of course.

Here is the book list of 金庸and by 金庸 in which one character represents one book.

飞雪连天射白鹿，笑书神侠倚碧鸳