Christopher > Recent Status Updates

Very fascinating introduction but the text itself fluctuates between profound and incomprehensible, since it represents the world of the Nuosu people, totally alien to me and to anybody outside their community.

Finally finished part I, the chronology section. Next up, topical studies, starting with Old Chinese.

I'm so glad the 潘仁美 arc is over, but the lack of 呼延丕显 and 寇准 and the others in the last couple chapters has been disappointing. Hopefully they'll reappear now that 六郎 is back in the capital. Chapter 53, here I come.

So far this is an inordinately interesting tale of rebellion and ethnic determination a thousand years ago. I'm very eager to learn more about the history and the actual rebellion. Hopefully this will serve as a stepping stone to more understanding of Vietnam, since, like 儂智高, the book straddles both sides of the border. Having already learned so much about China, Vietnam mustn't remain a lacuna much longer.

Xiahou Dun ate his left eyeball and Liu An killed his wife to feed Liu Bei, for which Cao Cao rewarded him 100 gold liang (Roberts says silver, Yu Sumei says gold; since the text says 以金百两, I prefer Sumei's on this occasion - not something I typically would say).

"The book pays a price for being a corrective endeavor ...: the sequel is not nearly as exciting as the parent novel. Most readers of the parent novel are engrossed by the resourcefulness of Monkey, beginning with his birth. Here, with his weapon confiscated, he is not even allowed to exercise his mind! From one episode to another, it is stressed that the monsters will disappear so long as he sets his mind right." 58

I have suffered through this extremely polemical nonsense just so I can write a most excoriating review and by god will it be excoriating! If they would have lived up to their claim at the start that they are impartial, I probably would give it three stars. But that's just the first lie or misrepresentation of more than I can count.

This is superior to the Yu Sumei translation in terms of accuracy and fidelity to the original by far, but it's arguably a lot less readable. Moss Roberts might have a great mind for the nuances of the Chinese language, but he is no English stylist. I've only read maybe a quarter of these 155 pages, I'm reading the original and evaluating the translations and getting help when needed.

I don't like to rate books if I've missed a single page, but in this case I'll make an exception. I've read maybe a quarter of the first eight chapters and have already quite the idea of what my review will look like judging from the quality of the translation alone and it's not very good. I'll continue reading a few pages per chapter back to back with the original in full and the Moss Roberts translation.

Nine chapters in a week. I'm amazed at my progress. I occasionally consult Roberts or Yu, but not much after the first three chapters. Now that I'm used to the language it's not so difficult. I am very interested, though, in their translations, I'd like to review both at the end, so I'll probably keep using them not for help but so I can critique them.