Best kung fu novel ever?

[sukitc]

I am looking to upgrade my reading material and am looking into potential kung fu novels. I have read a few, but all Thai-language translations. From memory, "The Condor Hero" and "Li's Flying Dagger - Xiao Li Fei Dao" were good. But, do you guys have any personal favorites?

Also, most of the famous ones were written in the 1950s-1960s (I think), so will the language be very difficult? Do you guys have any recommendations for kung fu novels written recently?

Many thanks.

[Javer Chen]

Talking about Kungfu novels, I like this topic. Jinyong(金庸) is definitely the best and the most popular Kungfu novels writter ever. all his books are masterpieces with many chinese traditional cultures and wonderful stories included. but I think you may have read his books like 天龙八部,笑傲江湖,鹿鼎记 and etc. they are all my favorites. Wen rui an is the most famous Kungfu writter after Jinyong, but I just finished a few his books and swear never read his books any more. because I think it's too sucks. but maybe you will like it, who knows. you may have a try if you have time.

[renzhe]

I'm reading Jin Yong's Legend of the Condor Heroes right now and I'm enjoying it (as did you). Many people feel that Jin Yong is among the best wuxia writers out there.

But it's hardly easy from a language point of view. You should have a good grasp of at least 3500 characters and a decent vocabulary to read his novels in original, at least that has been my experience. The 60's are not a problem, but lots of classical-style language crops up, lots of chengyu and bookish language.

[Lu]

I'm also reading Jin Yong, it is great (I have no comparison, never read any other kung fu novels), but not easy.

[Javer Chen]

I'm reading Jin Yong's Legend of the Condor Heroes

Legend of the condor heroes is 射雕英雄传 in Chinese?

[renzhe]

Correct, that's the translation I've most often seen.

[character]

I'm reading Jin Yong's Legend of the Condor Heroes right now and I'm enjoying it (as did you). [....]

But it's hardly easy from a language point of view. You should have a good grasp of at least 3500 characters and a decent vocabulary to read his novels in original, at least that has been my experience. The 60's are not a problem, but lots of classical-style language crops up, lots of chengyu and bookish language.

What do you use to help figure it out? Fan translation?

[renzhe]

I used to rely on a fan translation a lot (there's a great one here) when I was first starting, but I found that I needed it less and less, and now I don't consult it at all anymore. Every now and then, there is a formulation that I don't quite get, but it almost never interferes with understanding the story.

[Outofin]

Translation? It was joked in school by my English teacher, “How would you translate 化骨绵掌?” The name by itself tells a palming technique that every seemingly soft touch can dissolve one’s bones inside.

I like 笑傲江湖. It was the first wuxia novel I read and still is my favorite. I think Jin is pretty good, perhaps better than George Lucas. I don’t mean Jin Yong’s works are with great literature values but Lucas is overrated. So they’re like of same level to me.

Another famous wuxia writer is 古龙, who had a very different if not opposite personality of Jin Yong. Gu Long’s works are much easier to read. Their qualities vary a lot. Some are very boring and worthless. He sometimes shamelessly stole ideas from western detective stories.

[yersi]

I took a look at Legend of the Condor Heroes and while it's tough it's definitely not impossible if you have some background in classical Chinese. I think I'll make reading through it a project for this spring.

[xiaocai]

For me there is no such thing as the best kung fu novel. The styles vary from author to author, and even for the same author you would notice the changes in styles through time. Personally I would go for 金庸‘'s works, especially 天龙八部 and 笑傲江湖, definitely worth a try if you are into 射雕英雄传.

[sukitc]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. Outofin, as per below, could you recommend any novels by this author?

"Another famous wuxia writer is 古龙, who had a very different if not opposite personality of Jin Yong. Gu Long’s works are much easier to read. Their qualities vary a lot. Some are very boring and worthless. He sometimes shamelessly stole ideas from western detective stories."

[Javer Chen]

most famous novels by Gulong are here: 白玉老虎,楚留香,七种武器,边城浪子,三少爷的剑,小李飞刀..............

depict his novels' style in one word? cool.

[sukitc]

Thanks, Javer.

Yes, 小李飞刀, I've read it before but in Thai-language translation. It was many years back, but I remember it to be very cool, as you said. Will try to read it in Chinese.

[Guest kangkang]

In my opion, there are 3 greatest wuxia(kongfu) novel wirters:

#1 Jing Yong(金庸): He is the first well-known and accepted wuxia writer, he only wrote 14 wuxia novels, but everyone of them is classic! his style is tradtional chinese novel style.

My recommendations: 射雕英雄传/神雕侠侣/天龙八部/笑傲江湖/鹿鼎记/倚天屠龙记

#2 Gu Long(古龙): His style is totally diffrent from Jing Yong and other wuxia writers, there are a lot of suspense and deduction in his book.

My recommendations:多情剑客无情剑(小李飞刀)/绝代双娇/楚留香传奇/陆小凤传奇/欢乐英雄

#3 温瑞安: His style is like 古龙+金庸, all his book are in same 江湖(wuxia world), you can find same character in his diffrent books. his imagination is unbelieveable. his books are much more fancy than others.

My recommendations: 四大名捕系列(series)/神州奇侠系列(series)/七大寇系列(series)

[jawshoowa]

From the perspective of a student of Chinese language, 古龙 offers the advantage of ease of reading. I would recommend starting with him just to get a feel for some of the specialized language of the genre. It is very straightforward, modern Chinese, despite the ancient setting.

Be prepared, however, for his overly emphatic style. Lot's of this sort of thing: "There was no one in the world who could beat his Super-Duper-Whirlpool-Lightening Sabre technique, no one, that is, except (insert heroe's name)". It is pulp fiction all the way, chock full of violence, one liners, and cliched amateur philosophy ("There are only two types of men in this world, those that become ill at the thought of violence, and those for whom violence has become an addiction more powerful than any drug." -- I'm making this up, but that's the sort of thing you run into a lot). All in all, it is fun if you simple enjoy it as campy fiction. He does provide some interesting plot twists, but I find that they are not so compelling for me as they seem to be for many Chinese fans, perhaps because I already guessed that it was coming, or because it was so out of left field that it was completely implausible. At the same time, he nails some very poetic phrases with sufficient frequency to make it seem worthwhile. The books definitely have atmosphere.

Well, the point here is to recommend books, so I recommend 流星蝴蝶剑. I tried a couple of the other famous 古龙 novels before and since, but that is the only one I really got into.

As for other Kung Fu novelists... I feel that 温瑞安 borrows heavily from 古龙 without the poetry and atmosphere. I admit I haven't read him cover to cover, but that is just the problem, I can't seem to get hooked.

金庸 is still too intimidating for me, though my attempts have left the impression of a masterful storyteller.

Currently I am really enjoying a book by 卧龙生 titled 飞燕惊龙, which is in a psuedo-classical style, though not nearly as dense as 金庸. I'm 100 pages in and the plot is quite gripping, and he develops the atmosphere well. The emotions of the characters seem real enough. My only concern is that I have heard he has a reputation for not finishing as well as he starts. I am a deathly slow reader, so perhaps I can report back in 6 months or so...

[Shadowdh]

Are these books easily accessible on line or does anyone have a doc or txt file for them?

[sukitc]

Jawshoowa: Thanks for your input. Yes, after doing some research, everyone seems to agree that Gu Long is the best place to start, in terms of simplicity.

I have therefore taken my first stab at a Gu Long novel 七星龍王 and I must admit that it is indeed not too difficult to read, and fairly enjoyable

My plan is to complete a few more novels by Gu Long like 小李飛刀 then move on to Jin Yong. But, again, as you said, the transition is said to be quite daunting (for a non-native Chinese reader). So, Jin Yong could a project for 2010.

Edited March 4, 2009 at 02:58 AM by sukitc

[jawshoowa]

I'm with you man. 金庸 in 2010!

You should be able to find most of the classics online somewhere, but the link I had seems to have expired. Good luck digging them up!

[imron]

See this post for links to 金庸 novels. However it's worth pointing out there are slight differences between the online versions, and the most recent print versions that I've seen. 金庸 has updated his own works a couple of times, so the differences might be related to that, or they might be due to poor efforts at typing them in.