Favourite 100 Novels

[skylee]

Taiwan is holding a poll for the favourite 100 novels. Take a look at this website.

So far "紅樓夢" has got the highest vote, and seven of 金庸's novels are in the top 100.

[pazu]

The vote seems to be for Taiwanese only. If I could vote I would vote for 圍城 by 錢鍾書。

[劍帥文佩然]

Taiwan is holding a poll for the favourite 100 novels. Take a look at this website.

So far "紅樓夢" has got the highest vote' date=' and seven of 金庸's novels are in the top 100.[/quote']

It's very strange that 紅樓夢 got the highest vote, because there are few Taiwanese read all 紅樓夢 volumes. Taiwanese young read Japanese comics most frequently, and it may be true that 金庸's novels are the most popular novels in Taiwan. But for classical novels, "三國演義" should be the most popular between Taiwanese young. So, if you walk in any streets in Taiwan, and ask any boys the history of "三國," most of them can give you a detail story about "三國時代."

Indeed, "三國演義" is a very good novel.

[Quest]

劍帥文佩然, your own perception is probably not very representative or accurate. Of course, a website poll is also hardly representative of the general population.

[skylee]

Phase 1 of the poll has been completed and the list of the 100 favourite novels of Taiwan readers is here. Too bad that the list is not arranged according to popularity. And there does not seem to be works of any contemporary mainland writers (I consider 金庸 a HK writer).

Hey pazu, 圍城 is on the list.

People are now voting for the top 20.

[Ian_Lee]

My favorite is 傾城之戀

張愛玲 shouldn't be treated as either from HK or Mainland or Taiwan since she was a refugee in HK in the '50s but actually lived most of her live in pre-CCP Mainland.

I heard that Mainland also experienced the Zhang Fever.

In 傾城之戀, a playboy and an eager-to-marry lady finally got stuck together owing to the outbreak of the Pacific War. I like Zhang's description about the tactics applied by the two in the chasing game.

The movie by Chow Yun Fat was hardly comparable to the novel.

[skylee]

And the city falls just to draw those two together ...

The current hit in HK is another of her novels, also on the list, 半生緣. It is one of the 2004 Ten Good Books. A tv channel is now airing a Taiwanese drama series of this story, and there was a stage production featuring 莫文蔚 as the leading lady in the recent HK Arts Festival (a colleague of mine said it was really good because of Karen Mok's slender legs).

[Ian_Lee]

I have watched the movie 半生緣 but not the novel. The movie was acted by Leon Lai, Wu Chien-Lien and Anita Mui, and directed by Ann Hui.

The movie was completely filmed in Mainland and the atmosphere resembled Pre-1937 Nanking. The rape victim in the movie acted by Wu deserved sympathy. The final scene when the married Lai met with Wu again was really moving.

Wu's eyesight is the kind that can grab a man's heart.

[Guest cavebear]

my favourit is catcher in the rye.

surprised to see the differnece in the books picked up by people on both sides of the straits.

One list ( claimed to have voters from Mainland TW and HK , but I guess mostly from mainland) has Xiaohong's book taking the sencond position.

Yet it is nowhere to be found in this list you are talking about.

why?

[ala]

Zhang Ailing is SHANGHAINESE! born and bred in Shanghai (minus a few years in Beijing-Tianjin and Hong Kong). Nearly all her novels and short stories are set in Shanghai. Her style is completely influenced by romantic Shanghainese petit bourgeois writers before her and classical Chinese (including Wu Dialect courtesan literature). She reached fame during the Japanese occupation in Shanghai (and her famous ex-husband and writer 胡兰成 Hu Lancheng was pro-Japanese, later fleeing to Japan). The atmosphere and breadth is completely Chinese Mainland a la Republican-era Shanghai. How can she be a Hong Kong or Taiwan author?? ergh.

半生緣 is set in 1930's Shanghai. Even the film made in the late 90's mimicked Mainland cinema in its style and themes.

[skylee]

How can she be a Hong Kong or Taiwan author?? ergh.

No one said Eileen Chang was a HK or Taiwan writer. She did spend some time in HK, and the background of 傾城之戀 is the fall of HK ("香港的陷落成全了她(白流蘇)"). And her bio shows that she was related to HK, we like her partly for this -

1920年9月30日 出生於上海，原名張瑛煐

1922年 遷居天津

1928年 由天津搬回上海，讀《紅樓夢》和《三國演義》

1930年 改名張愛玲

1939年 考進香港大學

1941年 太平洋戰爭爆發，投入文學創作。兩年後，發表《傾城之戀》和《金鎖記》等作品，並結識周瘦鵑、柯靈、蘇青和胡蘭成

1944年 與胡蘭成結婚

1945年 自編《傾城之戀》在上海公演；同年，抗戰勝利

1947年 與胡蘭成離婚

1952年 移居香港

1955年 離港赴美，並拜訪胡適

1956年 結識劇作家賴雅，同年八月，在紐約與賴雅結婚

1967年 賴雅去世

1973年 定居洛杉磯；兩年後，完成英譯清代長篇小說《海上花列傳》

1995年9月 逝於洛杉磯公寓，享年七十四歲

[39degN]

1991 39degN于某学校讀《紅樓夢》和《三國演義》《西游记》《水浒传》,hehe funny!

[skylee]

I think it is stuff like this that makes HK people like 張愛玲 -

好幾年後，在港戰中當防空員，駐扎在馮平山圖書館，發現有一部《醒世姻緣》，馬上得其所哉，一連幾天看得抬不起頭來。房頂上裝著高射炮，成為轟炸目標，一顆顆炸彈轟然落下來，越落越近。我只想著：至少等我看完了吧。

-《憶胡適之》

And I think it is also (at least partly) because he was a HKU medical student (and of course a Cantonese) that makes Sun Yat-sen dear to HK people.

[39degN]

I think it is stuff like this that makes HK people like 張愛玲 -

好幾年後，在港戰中當防空員，駐扎在馮平山圖書館，發現有一部《醒世姻緣》，馬上得其所哉，一連幾天看得抬不起頭來。房頂上裝著高射炮，成為轟炸目標，一顆顆炸彈轟然落下來，越落越近。我只想著：至少等我看完了吧。

-《憶胡適之》

And I think it is also (at least partly) because he was a HKU medical student (and of course a Cantonese) that makes Sun Yat-sen dear to HK people.

yeah, but not only HK people like her, she is welcomed in mainland too.

do u mean HK people is 排外? even though he is a cantonese coudnt be welcomed if witout a HK background?

[skylee]

do u mean HK people is 排外? even though he is a cantonese coudnt be welcomed if witout a HK background?

No, I don't.

[skylee]

I have watched bits of the TV drama "半生緣". What a sick story.

The older I am the more I like happy endings.

[39degN]

so, how old...

hehe, just kidding!

[Ian_Lee]

I have watched bits of the TV drama "半生緣". What a sick story.

The older I am the more I like happy endings.

Probably you are not old enough.

The most usual thing in life is that you will come across the inappropriate person at the appropriate timing, or the appropriate person at the inappropriate timing.

The ending is the best because that is life.

[skylee]

By "sick" I mean a barren woman arranges for her husband to rape her sister, and then locks her up and forces her to give birth to the child thus conceived, so that she may adopt the child and keep her status as the wife of that rapist. Surely such TV drama is not good for family viewing.

I have no problem with the eventual separating of the two main characters, because in reality 好事總是多磨, 美中總有不足. But shouldn't novels/dramas give people some comfort by showing them something good/beautiful? If people want reality, they can always watch the news (which btw could be more dramatic than dramas these days).

[skylee]

Latest results -> http://www.favorite100.com/fav100/fav100_new.shtml

I am glad that "紅樓夢" and "天龍八部" rank quite high (would be happier if they rank higher).

I have only read about 20 on the list.