A Dream of Red Mansions: An Abridged Version

by Cao Xueqin, Gao E, Yang Xianyi

Also known as Hong Lou Meng, this is arguably China's greatest literary masterpiece. A chronicle of a noble family in the eighteenth century; but the splendor of enchanting gardens, pleasure pavilions, and daily life of the most sophisticated refinements hides the realities of decay and self-destruction.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Asian Literature

499 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 1999

About the author

Xueqin Cao (Chinese: 曹雪芹; pinyin: Cáo Xuěqín; Wade–Giles: Ts'ao Hsueh-ch'in, 1715 or 1724 — 1763 or 1764) was the pseudonym of a Qing Dynasty Chinese writer, best known as the author of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.
It has been suggested that his given name was Zhan Cao (曹霑) and his courtesy name is Mengruan (夢阮; 梦阮; literally "Dream about Ruan" or "Dream of Ruan")[...]

Reviews

[Bre Teschendorf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a all four volumes of this book on the street, in Berlin Germany. I had never heard of it before, but the book described itself as THE most relevant piece of Chinese Literature that there is; naturally I had to keep it and eventually read it.

I didn't fall in love with this book until about half way through Volume II. I had a hard time following all of the characters, their relationships to each other, and the Chinese names, many of which were so similar (to me) that I would get easily confused.

Eventually, I made my own family tree, with notes on it about "who's who" and that helped me to keep it all straight. Furthermore, things became more and more clear as I pressed-on and continued with the story.

So by the middle of the second volume, I was completely immersed in the story and couldn't put the book down. China was all around me! I craved rice and ginseng tea, I dreamed about Daiyu, I spent hours on the internet researching the elements of the book and Chinese culture that I didn't understand.

I have never been a person who is grossly interested in Chinese//Asian culture. Nevertheless, I found this book fascinating and worth reading. The charachters are complex and interesting. The various stories in the book are exciting and really grab and hold the attention. The use of poetry (so many poems!) was also fun to read.

I gave it only 4 stars because, I believe that there are better English translations, of this book, than the translation I read.

[Anna C]

Kebetulan nemu di GR waktu lagi hunting yg klasik2. Hong Lou Meng ini adalah salah satu dari 4 besar sastra klasik Cina yg populer, menempati peringkat lima besar dalam buku populer yg wajib dibaca. Temanya serupa Romeo Juliet dan kemungkinan tragedi juga. Tapi tebalnya ituuuu, 2500 halaman lebihhh, timpuk org langsung mati orgnya, hahaha... mana yg udah baca pada bilang ini alur ceritanya slooooowww bgt, hahaha, khas klasik ya begitu ya semuanya.... Info lainnya : ditambah ratusan karakter, dan bahkan butuh entah berapa puluh halaman dari chapter 1 baru kita bisa "ketemu" si MC... *__*

Tapi yg menarik di sini adalah cerita tentang budaya Cina jaman Kaisar Cina abad 18, detil2nya tentang kehidupan para wanita dalam kerajaan itu yg memikat para pembaca katanya, walaupun menurutku kalo ini ada versi dramanya, aku lebih suka ntn versi drama saja daripada baca bukunya, secara drama historical Cina itu dijamin cuci mata abis liat props dan kostum2 mereka yg buagusss bgt. Dan apalagi ini setting pas jamannya Kaisar Chien-Lung, pasti bgs bgt deh... trus kalo ga salah ya ini Chien-Lung yg sama dgn Chien-Lung yg terkenal bgt itu, dan dia juga adalah salah satu tokoh utama dalam drama Huan Zhu Gege/Putri Huan Zhu karangan Chiung Yao yg populer buanget jaman aku SMP dulu. *Selalu teringat masa2 aku rela ujan2an ke toko rental VCD (alamak, VCD uda antik skrg, hahaha) demi rebutan duluan nyewa episode terbaru, dan setelahnya aku, para sepupu cewe semuanya, berikut tante paman nenek semuanya duduk rapi menonton Putri Huan Zhu yg nakal itu beraksi di layar kaca, hahaha.
Aku waktu itu jadi fans berat Putri Huan Zhu deh, apalagi cuci mata abis liat pemainnya yg cewe cakep2 semua dlm kostum putri yg indah sekali, yg cowok sih ga terlalu, cuma satu aja yaitu Tommy Su yg jadi Pangeran yg jadi pasangan si putri.

Ugh, jgn baca blurb yg satu ini kalo mo tau summary ceritanya. Banyak sekali versi novel klasik ini sampe aku pun puyeng abis cari e-book-nya. Nemu e-book yg versi omnibus 2 jilid tapi yg ada di GR malah yg versi omnibus 4-6 buku, ada juga yg versi satuan tapi 3 buku, ada juga satuan 5 buku. Puyeng. Akhirnya aku pilih yg versi ini saja deh, biarpun cover beda dan translator beda, toh yg kubaca versi omnibus 2 buku, juga ga bisa bikin record baru, secara ISBN e-book yg kudapatkan itu malah ga ada. Tapi aku selain sukses nemu yg versi Inggris, juga sukses nemu yg original dlm bahasa Cina loh, sekalian deh kutawarin ke mamaku, secara dia paling demen harlequin Cina, lol.
Iseng2 kuintip box set-nya di Book Depository, harganya itu ga kalah dahsyat sama tebalnya si buku : 1 juta mannn.... *langsung klik x halamannya si BD, lol*

Oh ya ini blurb dari edisi satuan :

"A Dream of Red Mansions" (Hung Lou Meng, sometimes translated as "The Dream of the Red Chamber"), the great classical Chinese novel written in the mid-eighteenth century during the reign of Emperor Chien-lung of the Ching Dynasty, has been widely popular throughout the last two hundred years and more.
The Ching Dynasty (1644-1911) was the last feudal dynasty in China. Although it saw a period of relative stability, feudal society was already on the decline and all the contradictions inherent in it were sharpening.

This classic novel (an erotic tale of love, sex and passion) is a masterpiece of realism takes as its background the decline of several related big families and drawing much from the author's own experiences. It is a book about political struggle, a political-historical novel. Cao Xueqin focused on the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu and, in the meantime, provides a panorama of the lives of people of various levels in the degenerating empire. The author's family were close to the Ching imperial house in general, and with Emperor Kang-hsi in particular. He died in 1763 without having finished his novel.

Seperti yg dikatakan dlm blurb, kisah ini terinspirasi dari kisah nyata si pengarang yg tak kalah menariknya, coba baca di profile author di GR aja, akan disambungkan ke Wiki. Novelis dulunya adalah bangsawan, tapi dimiskinkan waktu pergantian tahta.

Dan omong2, aku jadi teringat sama utang2 TBR-ku yg juga klasik2 itu, yg juga sama tebalnya dgn ini : Romance of Three Kingdoms/Samkok (walaupun aku udah baca versi komiknya Sangokushi, tapi tetep ga sah kalo blm baca yg novel aslinya), Taiko, The Tale of Genji dan Journey to the West.
Kapan yahh dibacanyaa.... >__<

[Joannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost always finish every novel I start, but I just couldn't get through this one. I do love classics, but I felt the translation nearly killed the original authenticity: the Chinese classical poetry is butchered and not nearly as poetic when translated. I sense there's a great story to be told, and I think I'll have to ask my mother to read it in Chinese to me so I can fully appreciate this classic work... until then, I remain somewhat unimpressed.

[Chris]

This is a good story so far, although I'm sure I would get more out of it if I knew more about Chinese culture and history. I'm having some trouble keeping the characters straight because the names seem very similar to me.

I got to a part that indicated this book isn't going to have a Happy Ending and I'm having trouble going back to it.

[Graham Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really hard to review as it's one of the 4 great Chinese Classics. I read the 3 volume set, about 2000 pages - and found it very hard going, although I certainly learned a lot about 18th century Chinese life. I really disliked the characters and by the end I was calling for the revolution. I am certain I missed a great deal via the translation - as I read long sections aloud to my Chinese Ex husband (who loves this book and has read it three times) - and he said the English words were only the plot - without the poetry, the beauty of the Chinese orginal.

Chapters 80-120 may not be by the original author - and I did notice a change in style and content in the concluding volume.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most famous of all Chinese literature. It is older, so the writing style is more flowery at times. This translation was really good, read like a novel. An interesting look into one disfunctional Chinese family. The relationships and roles are all askew from a Confucian moral perspective, so it is basically a critique of society too involved in the world rather than thinking of morality. Interesting, entertaining, sometimes very sad. There are multiple film versions, musicals, etc built off this novel.

[Eric]

Patience

[Maite Penna · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, the best translation of this classic.