Best kung fu novel ever?

[Gleaves]

I just finished up Jin Yong's 雪山飞狐. I got a big kick out of it. It was a collection of three short novels - 雪山飞狐， 鸳鸯刀， and 白马啸西风。 I found 雪山飞狐 quite tough. You have a bunch of people telling flashback stories that overlap, span a lengthy amount of time, and sometimes contradict. And then it ends on a major cliffhanger, but I still liked it. 鸳鸯刀 was hilarious. It reminded me of 武林外传 a little。 I liked 白马啸西风 the best. It was only a hundred pages, but it was pretty easy and packed in plenty of plot. It got a little Scooby-Doo at the end, but was still a cool story. It feels good to finally read/enjoy some 金庸. I was a little worried after Gu Long that kung fu novels were just not my thing.

I have 射雕英雄传 on the way, so I will probably start tackling that pretty soon. If I should be reading something else first, let me know.

[rob07]

Congratulations Gleaves!

I thought it was pretty cool the way it was literally a cliffhanger ending. What do you think, 他这一刀到底劈下去还是不劈？Were you planning on reading the prequel to 雪山飞狐？ I didn't feel the need to after finishing 雪山飞狐 but maybe I should since I'm not sure what 胡斐 would do. Still, I think I'm probably satisfied with there being no answer.

[skylee]

Don't you just like 苗人鳳? Don't you just like how Jin Yong tells a story?

No objection to your starting 射鵰, but after that you might want to also read the other two novels of the trilogy ... 12 books in total, and you might get addicted, and spend the whole night reading, etc ...

If you do start the 射鵰 trilogy, try to pay a bit of attention to these supporting roles - 穆念慈 (射鵰), 郭襄 (神鵰), 張無忌, 殷素素 and 張翠山 (倚天).

But perhaps you should consider reading the other 胡斐 novel first?

[Gleaves]

I am impressed with Jin Yong as a storyteller. I expected lots of cool fighting and dramatic romance, but there is also plenty of subtle parts and humor.

I am a little concerned that 射鵰 is a trilogy (because reading all three books would take me a long, long time). I think I might cheat and read 射鵰, then watch a TV series for each part of the trilogy. I like 胡斐, but I am not sure if I am up for 飞狐外传 right now. I just feel the urge to jump into something different.

Rob - I have to think

不劈. But that is somewhat biased because the other two stories I read have strong themes of mercy. I think if I read 飞狐外传, I could easily change my mind. I think I'm also content that there is no answer. Just the fact that he gets the choice is the ending.

[renzhe]

Don't worry about the trilogy. There are very few characters in common between 射雕 and 神雕, and even fewer with 倚天屠龙记, which takes place much later. 射雕 is enjoyable enough on its own and rounded off as a story.

You can do what I did, and read 射雕 then watch the other two as TV dramas, though books are obviously better than the TV series.

[rob07]

I finished 笑傲江湖 about a month ago. It is the last and (arguably) the darkest of 金庸's serious novels, and the second last overall to the satire 鹿鼎记. It is four volumes of pure entertainment. There is no one anything like 金庸 writing in English as far as I know; in terms of length, structure and epic scope the Lord of the Rings is comparable, but the 金庸 major works operate on more levels than the Lord of the Rings. They are much funnier for starters.

The main theme is what a mucky business politics is, and how power corrupts. It feels like a more mature work than some of his earlier major works that dealt more with the pure beauty of patriotism. The comparison is a bit unfair in that I'm comparing 笑傲江湖 the book to TV adaptions (since the only other 金庸 book I've read is the short 雪山飞狐) but I think it is a comment that more qualified people than me make as well. On the other hand, as with a lot of the earlier books, the main character is a bit impossibly perfect.

A minor gripe: the second volume is by far the weakest of the four. During this volume a particularly enormous amount of suspension of disbelief is required in respect of a major plot point which was a bit difficult at times.

After finishing 笑傲江湖, I could definitely see myself going on to 鹿鼎记 ... in a few years.

[renzhe]

A green plus for finishing that!

It's one Wuxia story where I have refused to watch the TV adaptation because I'm planning to read the book in the future. I've heard from several people that it's one of Jin Yong's best.

[skylee]

the main character is a bit impossibly perfect.

Which main character? You mean 令狐沖? He is perfect? hmmm .... ThenI guess 任盈盈 is perfect for him.

[rob07]

Maybe I should have said main characters, but it seemed that 任盈盈 was not quite as impossible (eg less desperate to give blood transfusions to strangers) or quite as central. I agree she is perfect for him.

I hear that 林青霞 is sensational in the movie 笑傲江湖之东方不败 but I can't find a Mandarin version, or even one with Chinese subs. It is on Youtube in Cantonese with English subs. Still tossing up whether to watch that version.

[skylee]

Now that you've read the book there is no harm in watching the film. It would be fun (the interpretation by Tsui Hark, the director, and 林青霞) ->

a - http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/11310868-1355482975.html

b - http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/11312661-1355482975.html

c - http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/11311298-1355482975.html

d - http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/11313099-1355482975.html

[rob07]

Thanks Skylee, you are truly the Queen of these forums.

[imron]

For English books, I find some of Raymond E. Feist's novels similar in some ways to Jin Yong.

[keitha]

Now that you've read the book there is no harm in watching the film. It would be fun (the interpretation by Tsui Hark, the director, and 林青霞) ->

that movie blew me away the first time I watched it. I think I have seen it at least ten times.

[imron]

Regarding 雪山飞狐, I've just finished reading this now and really enjoyed it.

I like how it starts off simple and at each step of the way the plot just keeps getting deeper and deeper, and it keeps you guessing about who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. Then just as it gets to the deep point and it looks like things are coming to a head (with the arrival of 雪山飞狐), it diverts back and starts to resolve all the other plot points that were brought up in the earlier stages of the story, each of which turns out to have a role in the larger plot. I really liked how each of the characters seem to have some small role to play and were each able to cast light on one different aspect of the story, slowly revealing the grander plot as the reader puts all the pieces together.

As for the ending

I think that of course he doesn't 劈. Not only does he realise that 苗人凤 isn't really the main person responsible for his father's death, more importantly he has given his word to 苗若兰 that he wouldn't harm her father, and 雪山飞狐 strikes me as the kind of 好汉 who, like his father, is a man of his word. But, that doesn't mean he has to die. At this point 苗人凤 is also too curious about who he is and his connection to 胡一刀 to allow him to die without getting to the bottom of things. So what you would end up with is that both of them retreat from their attack and neither is harmed (or at least not seriously). After a quick exchange they both decide that a longer discussion needs to be had, and it's better to do that at the bottom of the mountain. They get down safely, the misunderstandings get sorted out, everyone's happy, the end. Haha, well, who knows, but stranger and more absurd coincidences have happened in other 金庸 novels in order to save the star characters from certain death, so I don't think this is that implausible.

Anyway, the ending reminded me in many ways of the short story The Lady or the Tiger.

[skylee]

Ah there are your normal kind of heroes, and there are tragic heroes. Now I insist you guys read 天龍八部 (why doesn't anyone want to read it?) and find out what 喬峰 decides to do at the end. And what the woman who loves him decides to do after that. And then what the guy who loves that woman decides to do after that.

天龍八部 is an epic a-la-Louis Cha.

[imron]

why doesn't anyone want to read it?

I do want to read it, and am looking forward to it, it's just that I decided I wanted to read his books in the order they were written so it's still several books away...

[PineWu]

Seems no one mentioned 沧月.

She is a contemporary 武侠 writer and I love her books.

[rob07]

Now I insist you guys read 天龍八部 (why doesn't anyone want to read it?) and find out what 喬峰 decides to do at the end. And what the woman who loves him decides to do after that. And then what the guy who loves that woman decides to do after that.

I really enjoyed the TV series which was my introduction to Jin Yong. Unfortunately, now that I know what those people all do, it is even harder to find the motivation for the book, when I could be reading another Jin Yong book where I don't already know what happens.

[imron]

And then it ends on a major cliffhanger, but I still liked it. 鸳鸯刀 was hilarious. It reminded me of 武林外传 a little。 I liked 白马啸西风 the best. I

I've finished reading the whole book now and also liked 白马啸西风 the best, but poor 李文秀.

鸳鸯刀 was a little to much like a bad soap opera for me (I'm your long lost son, he's not your father and so on)