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The Story of the Stone #4
The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears
The Story of the Stone (c. 1760), also known by the title of The Dream of the Red Chamber, is the great novel of manners in Chinese literature.
Divided into five volumes, of which The Debt of Tears is the fourth, The Story of the Stone charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Divided into five volumes, of which The Debt of Tears is the fourth, The Story of the Stone charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 1791
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About the author
Cao Xueqin
803 books244 followersXueqin 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")[...]
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")[...]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 2, 2022
In the fourth volume of The Story of the Stone, tragic events long foreshadowed come to pass. The first half of The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears is somewhat lighter, featuring Bao-yu's attempts to keep his father happy and Xue Pan's latest way to shame the family. There is also some fascinating discussion of the Qin as Dai-yu takes it up again. I've only come across this instrument before while watching The Untamed, so it was lovely to learn something about it in a historical rather than xianxia context. The observations and plans of the maids were also enjoyable and insightful as ever.
The second half of the book becomes exceedingly tragic. This sequence of events is moving and extraordinarily compelling.
As ever in this long novel, there is a striking balance between practical matters of daily life (meals, clothing, medicine, etc) and existential considerations (fortunes foretold, prophetic dreams, previous lives, etc). The 1985 edition I borrowed from the library also contains a charming account in the preface of the translator searching for and seemingly finding the house where the novel's events take place. I wonder at what further sadness the fifth and final volume will bring. The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears continues to be fast-paced and highly readable, a fascinating domestic saga filled with psychological insight and historical details.
The second half of the book becomes exceedingly tragic. This sequence of events is moving and extraordinarily compelling.
As ever in this long novel, there is a striking balance between practical matters of daily life (meals, clothing, medicine, etc) and existential considerations (fortunes foretold, prophetic dreams, previous lives, etc). The 1985 edition I borrowed from the library also contains a charming account in the preface of the translator searching for and seemingly finding the house where the novel's events take place. I wonder at what further sadness the fifth and final volume will bring. The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears continues to be fast-paced and highly readable, a fascinating domestic saga filled with psychological insight and historical details.
January 23, 2013
Nothing good lasts forever, whether we are talking about the Garden or this novel itself… Volumes 4 and 5 are thought to be written by Gao E a generation after Cao Xueqin’s untimely death. There has been rampant speculation since the appearance of these last 40 chapters in 1791 as to how faithfully they followed Cao’s original intention and how much material Gao E had to work with in editing it all together. I wish that David Hawkes, the translator of the first three volumes, had continued to translate these final two volumes. I would then be able to say more definitively whether the author’s voice or the quality of the writing changes that greatly. I do not believe that our new translator, John Minford, is quite as skilled as Hawkes. I guess this means that someday I will have to read a version completely translated by the same person, perhaps Gladys Yang’s.
Anyway, back to the story itself. We continue to see the struggle between lineal descendants as Jia Zheng has returned to make Bao-yu study. Everywhere the family is falling apart and the conflicts play out as expected: young vs. old, mistress vs. servant, husband vs. wife. In the first 80 chapters there was an interplay between characters’ (major and minor) storylines that helped me feel the texture of their everyday lives. Incidents would ebb and flow until some great event occurred which stopped everything. Gradually the plot would get rolling again but in a different direction than I had assumed. This no longer happens. Things go about as one would expect. Again, this is the price we readers pay for having these last 40 chapters assembled at all. The previous volumes each took me at least two months to read. I frequently had to stop due to feeling overwhelmed by the richness of detail and characterization. With this volume I was able to read as compulsively as I had always wanted but never got exhausted. The writing is now heavy on dialogue, and none of it particularly rich or layered (as I said before, I cannot say for certain whether this is due to Gao E, John Minford or both, though perhaps if David Hawkes had continued as translator he might have improved on the original however slightly.) The upside is that I finished the book in ten days.
When characters do have inner thoughts they are always of something established in the first 80 chapters (Aroma wonders what will become of her as a concubine, Dai-yu feels like an outsider, etc). And although I felt chapters 80-90 were somewhat clunky, I settled into a groove and enjoyed the second half of this volume. Or perhaps Gao E had better notes or fragments to work from, since Cao had perhaps finished 110 chapters and tended to lend them to his friend/relative/editor Rouge Inkstone in increments of 10. We will never know.
Despite my previous complaints, there is one relationship that continues to develop, that which is between Nightingale and Dai-yu. Nightingale’s mad dash around the Garden during the critical time for Dai-yu was incredibly suspenseful and heartbreaking. I’ve always been surprised at how emotional I can get about these characters, and I am even more surprised that I continue to be moved by Gao E’s chapters. Although chapters 80-90 struck me as a bit flat, the chapters leading up to the wedding have been presented quite believably by presenting the complicated motivations and actions surrounding the grand substitution. Although I was never a huge Dai-yu fan, I appreciated her aesthetic and pitied her situation. However, I probably would have wanted my son to marry Bao-chai, and not for jade and gold reasons, but because she is very solid and sensible. My favorite character continues to be Tan-chun, who embodies the best qualities of Dai-yu and Bao-chai. I was surprised and comforted to see her at Dai-yu’s deathbed. I hope she makes it out okay, but I don’t have high hopes for anybody at this point.
Anyway, back to the story itself. We continue to see the struggle between lineal descendants as Jia Zheng has returned to make Bao-yu study. Everywhere the family is falling apart and the conflicts play out as expected: young vs. old, mistress vs. servant, husband vs. wife. In the first 80 chapters there was an interplay between characters’ (major and minor) storylines that helped me feel the texture of their everyday lives. Incidents would ebb and flow until some great event occurred which stopped everything. Gradually the plot would get rolling again but in a different direction than I had assumed. This no longer happens. Things go about as one would expect. Again, this is the price we readers pay for having these last 40 chapters assembled at all. The previous volumes each took me at least two months to read. I frequently had to stop due to feeling overwhelmed by the richness of detail and characterization. With this volume I was able to read as compulsively as I had always wanted but never got exhausted. The writing is now heavy on dialogue, and none of it particularly rich or layered (as I said before, I cannot say for certain whether this is due to Gao E, John Minford or both, though perhaps if David Hawkes had continued as translator he might have improved on the original however slightly.) The upside is that I finished the book in ten days.
When characters do have inner thoughts they are always of something established in the first 80 chapters (Aroma wonders what will become of her as a concubine, Dai-yu feels like an outsider, etc). And although I felt chapters 80-90 were somewhat clunky, I settled into a groove and enjoyed the second half of this volume. Or perhaps Gao E had better notes or fragments to work from, since Cao had perhaps finished 110 chapters and tended to lend them to his friend/relative/editor Rouge Inkstone in increments of 10. We will never know.
Despite my previous complaints, there is one relationship that continues to develop, that which is between Nightingale and Dai-yu. Nightingale’s mad dash around the Garden during the critical time for Dai-yu was incredibly suspenseful and heartbreaking. I’ve always been surprised at how emotional I can get about these characters, and I am even more surprised that I continue to be moved by Gao E’s chapters. Although chapters 80-90 struck me as a bit flat, the chapters leading up to the wedding have been presented quite believably by presenting the complicated motivations and actions surrounding the grand substitution. Although I was never a huge Dai-yu fan, I appreciated her aesthetic and pitied her situation. However, I probably would have wanted my son to marry Bao-chai, and not for jade and gold reasons, but because she is very solid and sensible. My favorite character continues to be Tan-chun, who embodies the best qualities of Dai-yu and Bao-chai. I was surprised and comforted to see her at Dai-yu’s deathbed. I hope she makes it out okay, but I don’t have high hopes for anybody at this point.
April 30, 2011
The difference in authorship is clear to the informed. For me it manifested itself as a sudden feeling that I knew what was going to happen next. The Cao Xuequin-penned volumes are a voyage of discovery, whereas the Gao E-authored sections are more or less what an intelligent reader might expect to happen (at least in terms of most of the major characters). There seems to be little to no further character development, only plot, which has a strangely static feel. On to the next one!
March 31, 2019
3.5/5
I'm not fully reconciled to this volume after the slog that was the previous volume was, but I will admit that I didn't suffer much from the shift in those responsible for the translation, and the plot events fell enough within the realm of believability without as much background shuffling of events has had been admitted to previously. In a way, the blurb for the first volume spoils the reader for events that do not occur till now, so it, in addition to the fleshing out of characters whose great presence in the first volume hadn't followed through much in II and III, gives one a sense of coherence and reassurance that, after all, this is a single piece that is ultimately destined to end. I may mess with the rating of this later (and most probably will have to adjust Volume III's rating to demonstrate a consistent scale of evaluation), but for now, I was impressed with the cohesive yet multifaceted drawing together of many characters under a series of calamities striving to get by, and while I know such struggles will be futile (Xueqin's own life is a 'spoiler' for such), it is still rather impressive to watch the social mechanisms of great families at work, as there are few households out there these days that are conducted on such a scope, and even fewer are as open to the public, and admittedly voyeuristic, purview of a reader such as I.
Out of all the volumes, this one has one of the more definitive beginnings and ends, so it was less tedious to follow along to a clearly seen, if tragic, end. I was highly aware of the changeover and translators and break from the realm of Xueqin-approved work to posthumous tacking-ons by various variously intentioned sorts, and so I paid especially close attention to the credibility of the plot, character development, and handling of the still enormous cast of family members, doctors, and charlatans. I'm sure others more familiar with the text and Mandarin itself are more scathing, but I thought the handling of everything was mostly uniform with what had preceded it, although the fate of Dai-yu was disappointing beyond the usual exigencies that are side effects of a virulently patriarchal society. I'm both looking forward to and rather dreading the ending, as the oncoming fate of the Jia family will finally be realized, but I do admit to being ghoulishly curious about how the family members will react to the confirmation of the reality of their destruction. I've seen enough characters annihilated as side effects while certain (worthless) others are propped up again and again beyond belief that not even sympathy for Bao-yu, Bao-chai, Tan-chun, and a few others can make me think that the catastrophe waiting in the fifth and final volume is anything but just deserts.
I'm on the home stretch of finishing this esteemed classic. However, I've learned my lesson from Volume II and so I'm going to break for one, maybe more works, depending on how I feel after an April group read of Foundation and all the other incoming work that month is tied up in. I'm not going to lie and say this will be an absolute favorite, but it was worth devoting a chunk of my year to, especially since it ended up being less intensive than I had imagined. I'll likely understand more references in some of my more modern reads in Chinese of various dialects, and it never hurts to give oneself some perspective in a far flung country during a far flung century. I honestly can't imagine myself coming back for a reread, but the final volume may change my thoughts on that, as while this fourth one ended in extreme melancholy, the story still awaits its penultimate death knell. How all that will fall out remains to be seen. It's doubtful, but I may even bequeath the last one with a thus far unrewarded fifth star. Stranger things have happened.
I'm not fully reconciled to this volume after the slog that was the previous volume was, but I will admit that I didn't suffer much from the shift in those responsible for the translation, and the plot events fell enough within the realm of believability without as much background shuffling of events has had been admitted to previously. In a way, the blurb for the first volume spoils the reader for events that do not occur till now, so it, in addition to the fleshing out of characters whose great presence in the first volume hadn't followed through much in II and III, gives one a sense of coherence and reassurance that, after all, this is a single piece that is ultimately destined to end. I may mess with the rating of this later (and most probably will have to adjust Volume III's rating to demonstrate a consistent scale of evaluation), but for now, I was impressed with the cohesive yet multifaceted drawing together of many characters under a series of calamities striving to get by, and while I know such struggles will be futile (Xueqin's own life is a 'spoiler' for such), it is still rather impressive to watch the social mechanisms of great families at work, as there are few households out there these days that are conducted on such a scope, and even fewer are as open to the public, and admittedly voyeuristic, purview of a reader such as I.
Out of all the volumes, this one has one of the more definitive beginnings and ends, so it was less tedious to follow along to a clearly seen, if tragic, end. I was highly aware of the changeover and translators and break from the realm of Xueqin-approved work to posthumous tacking-ons by various variously intentioned sorts, and so I paid especially close attention to the credibility of the plot, character development, and handling of the still enormous cast of family members, doctors, and charlatans. I'm sure others more familiar with the text and Mandarin itself are more scathing, but I thought the handling of everything was mostly uniform with what had preceded it, although the fate of Dai-yu was disappointing beyond the usual exigencies that are side effects of a virulently patriarchal society. I'm both looking forward to and rather dreading the ending, as the oncoming fate of the Jia family will finally be realized, but I do admit to being ghoulishly curious about how the family members will react to the confirmation of the reality of their destruction. I've seen enough characters annihilated as side effects while certain (worthless) others are propped up again and again beyond belief that not even sympathy for Bao-yu, Bao-chai, Tan-chun, and a few others can make me think that the catastrophe waiting in the fifth and final volume is anything but just deserts.
I'm on the home stretch of finishing this esteemed classic. However, I've learned my lesson from Volume II and so I'm going to break for one, maybe more works, depending on how I feel after an April group read of Foundation and all the other incoming work that month is tied up in. I'm not going to lie and say this will be an absolute favorite, but it was worth devoting a chunk of my year to, especially since it ended up being less intensive than I had imagined. I'll likely understand more references in some of my more modern reads in Chinese of various dialects, and it never hurts to give oneself some perspective in a far flung country during a far flung century. I honestly can't imagine myself coming back for a reread, but the final volume may change my thoughts on that, as while this fourth one ended in extreme melancholy, the story still awaits its penultimate death knell. How all that will fall out remains to be seen. It's doubtful, but I may even bequeath the last one with a thus far unrewarded fifth star. Stranger things have happened.
December 21, 2017
I will admit that I was disappointed for the first couple of chapters, as I think the translator (John Minford) is not nearly as good as the one for the first three volumes (David Hawkes). (For my biggest complaint, he uses way too much Latin; I get that this is to illustrate where the characters are using antiquated classical Chinese that would be as obscure to the masses of Cao's time as Latin is to our own, but boy did it jar with the Eastern setting.)
But I excuse literally everything for the sake of the book's climax, which I will never, ever spoil and I swear is worth reading all 97 chapters that proceed it. Because when it came, it was simply beyond beautiful; you can see the tragedy coming from a mile away, but you are powerless to stop it; even putting down the book could not save what fate has decreed must be so.
A certain friend of mine made a comment the other day that I find particularly apropos for this volume. Upon watching a particular animated movie that we both found highly original in spite of the fact that both of us could predict long in advance what ending was coming, she noted that sometimes something is simply so well written that it can only end in one particular way, and that reaching such a resolution represents the height of creativity, rather than its absence. That is what I think about the climax of The Story of the Stone.
Finally, I must also comment that Xi-Feng is a fantastic character, and definitely the most sublimely constructed female character I have encountered since Robert Graves's Livia.
But I excuse literally everything for the sake of the book's climax, which I will never, ever spoil and I swear is worth reading all 97 chapters that proceed it. Because when it came, it was simply beyond beautiful; you can see the tragedy coming from a mile away, but you are powerless to stop it; even putting down the book could not save what fate has decreed must be so.
A certain friend of mine made a comment the other day that I find particularly apropos for this volume. Upon watching a particular animated movie that we both found highly original in spite of the fact that both of us could predict long in advance what ending was coming, she noted that sometimes something is simply so well written that it can only end in one particular way, and that reaching such a resolution represents the height of creativity, rather than its absence. That is what I think about the climax of The Story of the Stone.
Finally, I must also comment that Xi-Feng is a fantastic character, and definitely the most sublimely constructed female character I have encountered since Robert Graves's Livia.
April 22, 2025
The houses of Rong and Ning now in full-blown meltdown. Didn't notice much in the way of a falling-off from the definitely-all-written-by-Cao first three volumes to the more Debatable fourth, still weaves its characters together beautifully, still with a great attention to details and emotional complexities, still with an occasionally scatological humour, though (SPOILER) I wasn't really sure about good Bao-Chai being up for disguising herself as Dai-Yu in order to bag our hero, she doesn't seem like that sort of girl to me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2024
It's fuck Grandmother Jia forever now
Very telling that in Bao-yu and Dai-yu's last meeting they ape a scene of Buddhist enlightenment.
Crab-flower trees blossom in the middle of winter. Strange cries are head from forgotten edges of the ancestral mansion. Ghosts appear in your apartments, slip a noose around your neck, and vanish with the sighing of trees. What has passed is lost forever.
Very telling that in Bao-yu and Dai-yu's last meeting they ape a scene of Buddhist enlightenment.
'Can't you see?' said Dai-yu. 'It's the illusion of "me" that creates the illusion of "others", and a life lived under these twin illusions is bound to be beset with frustrations, fears, confusion, foolish dreams and a host of other obstacles and entanglements...'
Crab-flower trees blossom in the middle of winter. Strange cries are head from forgotten edges of the ancestral mansion. Ghosts appear in your apartments, slip a noose around your neck, and vanish with the sighing of trees. What has passed is lost forever.
'And yet there is a pattern in all things,' said Jia Zheng. 'Take your pearl for instance. The big one is like a man blessed with fortune; the little ones are his dependants, sheltering in the shade of his influence. If the big one goes, then the little ones are helpless. If the head of a family is in trouble, his wife and children are taken from him, his relations are left destitute, even his friends he may see no more. Prosperity may crumble in the twinkling of an eye, like the passing of a spring cloud or the falling of an autumn leaf.'
December 11, 2012
The last 40 chapters of 红楼梦 are now thought to be written by Gao E rather than Cao xueqin. Vol. 4 of the penguin translation is the first 20 of these chapters, (80-100). They also have a different translator. It's hard to say whether the different translator or the different editor/author makes a difference but this book has a much different feel to it. The characters seem to act quite differently at times. There is also much less empahsis on the maids and much more emphasis on the men in the family. The basic plot of this volume involves Bai Yu loosing his jade and going insane so the family decide to marry him off to Baichai as a chance to regain his sanity. This is largely due to a few chapters earlier Dai Yu attempting to starve herself to death when she hears Bai Yu is going to marry someone else. And it is this bout of ill health that finally convinces everyone she'd not make a good wife. I thought her dying scenes were some of the strongest parts of the book. It was also interesting to see my two new favorites, Tan Chun and Li Wan were the two of the women that were there for her death. The rest of the plots didn't seem to ammount to much. Xue Pan being arrested for murder again didn't seem quite as interesting as when this happened in the first volume. Likewise Baoyu's return to school wasn't as in depth. Xifeng seemed to hardly be around at all, sick for no reason, and just joking rather than controlling anything. I did however find it interesting when they had the nun perform spirit writing mediumship to find out what was wrong with Baoyu.
April 3, 2013
Man, things just go from worse to even worser in this one. The spiral downward is long and through. There are some ups, but they only serve to accentuate the downs. Honestly, though there are some beautiful moments, and those are perhaps some of the mosst beautiful so far, it is a much more depressing volume than the others. I don't expect things to improve for them in the last volume.
September 24, 2022
The beginning of the "unofficial" ending, also marked with a new translator. The new translations I find less literary, more prosaic. Still, the characters feel consistent and the Jia fortunes unravel enjoyably. I was pretty riveted.
March 17, 2023
An enjoyable read
April 25, 2024
i think this was the worst one
November 17, 2013
The following review is my review for all five volumes as a whole.
I'm going to put forth an argument that books can be compared to relationships. There are books that are guilty pleasures with no literary value beyond straightforward entertainment, such as potboiler mysteries or the much maligned Harlequin style romance. These are your one-night stands of the book world.
Then there are brief forays readers take out of curiosity or biblio-style peer pressure, such as best-seller lists or perceived literary acclaim. Examples of this could be a summer spent reading Swedish detective fiction, or reading the latest Young Adult series (Hunger Games Trilogy, perhaps) or whatever Oprah's new favorite thing is. These would be your "flings" or summer romances. They are short term pleasures which you may outgrow or simply move on from after finishing.
And then you have a book like "The Story of the Stone." This is a long term relationship. It sucks up your soul and being, and perhaps becomes a part of you. It is impossible to start another book after this without giving yourself time to process the experience, at least it was the case for me. When the final page of this journey is turned, you are physically and maybe even emotionally drained.
The Jia family, with whom you get to spend 2500 pages with, becomes an extended family of your own. At the core is Jia Bao Yu, a spoiled somewhat effeminate boy, who is more than just a boy. He is the human incarnation of a rock fashioned by a goddess in her efforts to repair the sky, but is never used. Left alone for eons, this stone begins to ponder the purpose of existence until it is given a chance to live as a human.
The story proper begins when Bao Yu is around 13. He is a member of a wealthy family who spends his days wiling away his time with his numerous girl cousins, maids and even a Buddhist nun. The narrative follows the daily life of his extensive family, their staff, and many hangers-on. An astounding number of characters make up the cast, from the 80 year old Lady Dowager who is the matriarch of the family, down to her great-granddaughter Qaio-Jie, but the amazing thing is the author's ability to make each of the many characters feel fully human and real, with hopes, desires, , talents and weaknesses of all their own.
As can be expected with such an immense novel, the narrative structure is complex. It is often episodic, bouncing around from one plot line to another. The main plot line concerns Bao Yu and the question of which of his two girl cousins he'll marry, the ethereal Dai Lin or the ideally modest and respectable Bao Chai. Surrounding this love triangle are the various soap operatic endeavors of the many family members, and surrounding the family dramatics is the decline of the family fortune and its rapidly growing debts. And above all of these worldly concerns is a spiritual and philosophical exploration from the Buddhist and Taoist point of view all of life is a fleeting illusion.
Ironically, despite the novel's length, it can be considered an unfinished or incomplete masterpiece. The original novel was never published in the author's lifetime. For thirty years the novel consisted of the first 80 existing chapters being passed around in manuscript form. The first printed edition, which came out in the 1790s was published with 120 chapters, with the editors claiming to have pieced together the remaining 40 chapters from fragments and the author's notes. The first 80 chapters make up the first three volumes of this translation, and the remaining 40 chapters make up the final two volumes. I'll leave the question of authorship of the final 40 chapters to the scholars. Whether it is different authors, or (as the translators suggest) perhaps the author died before revising the final 40 chapters, there is a decided difference between the two sections.
The first section is chock full of poetry and character driven narrative, while the second section is plot-driven, workmanlike and flat, as if there is a stated goal in wrapping up all of the loose plot lines in as tidy a manner as possible. The difference between the two sections is accentuated by the fact that one translator worked on the first 80 chapters, and another translator worked on the final 40 chapters. While there is a difference in translating styles, nothing is diminished from the impact of the book. It is a big commitment to read this book, but one well worth the experience. Bao yu and his family will linger for a long time in my imagination.
I'm going to put forth an argument that books can be compared to relationships. There are books that are guilty pleasures with no literary value beyond straightforward entertainment, such as potboiler mysteries or the much maligned Harlequin style romance. These are your one-night stands of the book world.
Then there are brief forays readers take out of curiosity or biblio-style peer pressure, such as best-seller lists or perceived literary acclaim. Examples of this could be a summer spent reading Swedish detective fiction, or reading the latest Young Adult series (Hunger Games Trilogy, perhaps) or whatever Oprah's new favorite thing is. These would be your "flings" or summer romances. They are short term pleasures which you may outgrow or simply move on from after finishing.
And then you have a book like "The Story of the Stone." This is a long term relationship. It sucks up your soul and being, and perhaps becomes a part of you. It is impossible to start another book after this without giving yourself time to process the experience, at least it was the case for me. When the final page of this journey is turned, you are physically and maybe even emotionally drained.
The Jia family, with whom you get to spend 2500 pages with, becomes an extended family of your own. At the core is Jia Bao Yu, a spoiled somewhat effeminate boy, who is more than just a boy. He is the human incarnation of a rock fashioned by a goddess in her efforts to repair the sky, but is never used. Left alone for eons, this stone begins to ponder the purpose of existence until it is given a chance to live as a human.
The story proper begins when Bao Yu is around 13. He is a member of a wealthy family who spends his days wiling away his time with his numerous girl cousins, maids and even a Buddhist nun. The narrative follows the daily life of his extensive family, their staff, and many hangers-on. An astounding number of characters make up the cast, from the 80 year old Lady Dowager who is the matriarch of the family, down to her great-granddaughter Qaio-Jie, but the amazing thing is the author's ability to make each of the many characters feel fully human and real, with hopes, desires, , talents and weaknesses of all their own.
As can be expected with such an immense novel, the narrative structure is complex. It is often episodic, bouncing around from one plot line to another. The main plot line concerns Bao Yu and the question of which of his two girl cousins he'll marry, the ethereal Dai Lin or the ideally modest and respectable Bao Chai. Surrounding this love triangle are the various soap operatic endeavors of the many family members, and surrounding the family dramatics is the decline of the family fortune and its rapidly growing debts. And above all of these worldly concerns is a spiritual and philosophical exploration from the Buddhist and Taoist point of view all of life is a fleeting illusion.
Ironically, despite the novel's length, it can be considered an unfinished or incomplete masterpiece. The original novel was never published in the author's lifetime. For thirty years the novel consisted of the first 80 existing chapters being passed around in manuscript form. The first printed edition, which came out in the 1790s was published with 120 chapters, with the editors claiming to have pieced together the remaining 40 chapters from fragments and the author's notes. The first 80 chapters make up the first three volumes of this translation, and the remaining 40 chapters make up the final two volumes. I'll leave the question of authorship of the final 40 chapters to the scholars. Whether it is different authors, or (as the translators suggest) perhaps the author died before revising the final 40 chapters, there is a decided difference between the two sections.
The first section is chock full of poetry and character driven narrative, while the second section is plot-driven, workmanlike and flat, as if there is a stated goal in wrapping up all of the loose plot lines in as tidy a manner as possible. The difference between the two sections is accentuated by the fact that one translator worked on the first 80 chapters, and another translator worked on the final 40 chapters. While there is a difference in translating styles, nothing is diminished from the impact of the book. It is a big commitment to read this book, but one well worth the experience. Bao yu and his family will linger for a long time in my imagination.
September 5, 2014
The Debt of the Tears is the fourth volume of the Story of the Stone (a.k.a the Dream of the Chamber). The mood and style are much different from those in the first three volumes. The first reason is that Cao Xuequin only got as far as the end of the third volume before dying and leaving the work to be finished Gao E. The second reason is that the Penguin translator of the first three volumes also died before starting the fourth volume.
The result for the reader is relatively positive. The pace in Volume 4 is faster and the prose has more sparkle. This instalment begins with multiple portents of bad things to come. The heroine Dai-Yu is informed that she will be married as a second wife to a relative of her stepmother. She is horrified because she has counted on marrying her cousin Bao-Yu She appeals for support to all the senior women in the Wang and Jia households but gets none. The older woman feel that she has been a child long enough and must now accept to play the role of an adult woman.
Bao-Yu loves her but suffers from a profound inability to impose his will on anybody. His father wants him to put poetry aside and started studying Confucius seriously as he must pass the mandatory exams in order to rise in the civil service. Week spirited Bao Yu starts his studies and wonders if Dai-Yu does not love him enough.
Bao-Yu the hero is was born with a jade talisman in his mouth. The family had assumed that this meant great things would come from him and that he would be the family leader as an adult. Bao-Yu however becomes a progressively more disappointing son. He seems to lack ambition and other manly qualities. He prefers to spend his time in the company of his sisters, his female cousins and their maids rather than with men.
When Bao-Yu loses his jade talisman, the affairs of the family begin to deterioate. There are several deaths. One that is particularly serious is that of an aunt who had been one of the emperor's concubines and thus in a position to intervene on the family's behalf.
A cousin of Bao-Yu demonstrates again the general disappointing quality of the males in the family by murdering an innocent bartender in a drunken rage. As Volume 4 closes the family appears to have saved the young scoundrel from a prison term by bribing several judges.
Bao-Yu and Dai-Yu reconcile. They start to write poetry together again. Bao-Yu's father is not happy. He feels that the poetic Dao-Yu is a bad match likely to encourage his son in his unhealthy interest in poetry. The father decides that Bao-Yu will marry a rather prosaic cousin who appears more likely to keep Bao-Yu's attention on practical matters. Hearing of Bao-Yu's imminent marriage, health of the already consumptive Dai-Yu takes a dramatic turn for the worse.
Dai-Yu dies at the very hour that Bao-Yu marries. Bao-Yu becomes delirious. The marriage is formalized but not consummated. In delirium, Bao-Yu's spirit follows Dai-Yu's body to the gates of Hell where the guardian tells Dai-Yu to turn back with the warning that if he commits suicide he will never rejoin Dai-Yu in the spirit world. Bao-Yu decides to live but he is very half-hearted about it.
The result for the reader is relatively positive. The pace in Volume 4 is faster and the prose has more sparkle. This instalment begins with multiple portents of bad things to come. The heroine Dai-Yu is informed that she will be married as a second wife to a relative of her stepmother. She is horrified because she has counted on marrying her cousin Bao-Yu She appeals for support to all the senior women in the Wang and Jia households but gets none. The older woman feel that she has been a child long enough and must now accept to play the role of an adult woman.
Bao-Yu loves her but suffers from a profound inability to impose his will on anybody. His father wants him to put poetry aside and started studying Confucius seriously as he must pass the mandatory exams in order to rise in the civil service. Week spirited Bao Yu starts his studies and wonders if Dai-Yu does not love him enough.
Bao-Yu the hero is was born with a jade talisman in his mouth. The family had assumed that this meant great things would come from him and that he would be the family leader as an adult. Bao-Yu however becomes a progressively more disappointing son. He seems to lack ambition and other manly qualities. He prefers to spend his time in the company of his sisters, his female cousins and their maids rather than with men.
When Bao-Yu loses his jade talisman, the affairs of the family begin to deterioate. There are several deaths. One that is particularly serious is that of an aunt who had been one of the emperor's concubines and thus in a position to intervene on the family's behalf.
A cousin of Bao-Yu demonstrates again the general disappointing quality of the males in the family by murdering an innocent bartender in a drunken rage. As Volume 4 closes the family appears to have saved the young scoundrel from a prison term by bribing several judges.
Bao-Yu and Dai-Yu reconcile. They start to write poetry together again. Bao-Yu's father is not happy. He feels that the poetic Dao-Yu is a bad match likely to encourage his son in his unhealthy interest in poetry. The father decides that Bao-Yu will marry a rather prosaic cousin who appears more likely to keep Bao-Yu's attention on practical matters. Hearing of Bao-Yu's imminent marriage, health of the already consumptive Dai-Yu takes a dramatic turn for the worse.
Dai-Yu dies at the very hour that Bao-Yu marries. Bao-Yu becomes delirious. The marriage is formalized but not consummated. In delirium, Bao-Yu's spirit follows Dai-Yu's body to the gates of Hell where the guardian tells Dai-Yu to turn back with the warning that if he commits suicide he will never rejoin Dai-Yu in the spirit world. Bao-Yu decides to live but he is very half-hearted about it.
April 9, 2020
I think I might have liked this volume the best, even though you’re not supposed to because of the dreaded GAO E and his editing. Well who cares. This volume moved me deeply. The whole vast structure of this remarkable novel moves toward its subtle, magnificent conclusion.
December 29, 2008
This is the last of 5 volumes that make up the Story of the Stone. Because none of the five really stand alone this review will apply to all five volumes.
I gave the first volume "The Golden Days" a rating of only 3 stars, but qualified that at the time as likely to rise in subsequent volumes because the story was narrated in such copious detail it took that entire first volume to just get into the story and become familiar with the characters. That assessment still stands as I indeed found myself drawn into this "epic" which I found more compelling as the story "grew".
I won't pretend to summarize what this story is all about. After all it took Cao Xueqin over 2,500 pages to tell it. Suffice it to say it is framed in a "story" of a stone rejected (Does this perhaps parallel the story of the "Stone rejected by the builders" in the Judeo/Christian tradition of the building of King Solomon's Temple?) in the rebuilding of the vault of heaven, brought to earth (the Land of Illusion) by a Buddhist Monk and a Taoist, and there embodied in the form of the story's protaganist (Bao-yu). The story then takes several lines including that of the decline of the prominent Chinese family of which he is a member, a love story between Bao-yu and his cousin Dai-yu, his sensitive relationship with his many female companions and more troubling relationship with men (particularly his severely Confucian father), and many other sub tangents. It ultimately comes down to Bao-yu's choice between the Confucian sense of duty to one's family (e.g., it's revitalization) and the Buddhist/Taoist alternative of salvation. The story's numerous "lines" and profuse detail support variant readings and interpretations among which is the duality of illusion v. reality, life v. eternity.
As an aside, throughout the course of this long novel a compelling question arises as to what causes the downfall of this family. Because I read this in the midst of the worst economic "downfall" in the U.S. since the great depression I found close affinity to this story and our American experience today. There is much to "chew on" here in terms of moral substance that has current relevance.
I think this story is richly deserving of its reputation as perhaps the greatest Chinese novel ever written. But it is much more than just a "Chinese" novel. It transcends ethnicity and religious doctrine to speak to all on matters of practical as well as ethereal import. It is a thought provoking read; and although it requires great patience and perseverence to negotiate those willing to make the effort will be well rewarded.
I gave the first volume "The Golden Days" a rating of only 3 stars, but qualified that at the time as likely to rise in subsequent volumes because the story was narrated in such copious detail it took that entire first volume to just get into the story and become familiar with the characters. That assessment still stands as I indeed found myself drawn into this "epic" which I found more compelling as the story "grew".
I won't pretend to summarize what this story is all about. After all it took Cao Xueqin over 2,500 pages to tell it. Suffice it to say it is framed in a "story" of a stone rejected (Does this perhaps parallel the story of the "Stone rejected by the builders" in the Judeo/Christian tradition of the building of King Solomon's Temple?) in the rebuilding of the vault of heaven, brought to earth (the Land of Illusion) by a Buddhist Monk and a Taoist, and there embodied in the form of the story's protaganist (Bao-yu). The story then takes several lines including that of the decline of the prominent Chinese family of which he is a member, a love story between Bao-yu and his cousin Dai-yu, his sensitive relationship with his many female companions and more troubling relationship with men (particularly his severely Confucian father), and many other sub tangents. It ultimately comes down to Bao-yu's choice between the Confucian sense of duty to one's family (e.g., it's revitalization) and the Buddhist/Taoist alternative of salvation. The story's numerous "lines" and profuse detail support variant readings and interpretations among which is the duality of illusion v. reality, life v. eternity.
As an aside, throughout the course of this long novel a compelling question arises as to what causes the downfall of this family. Because I read this in the midst of the worst economic "downfall" in the U.S. since the great depression I found close affinity to this story and our American experience today. There is much to "chew on" here in terms of moral substance that has current relevance.
I think this story is richly deserving of its reputation as perhaps the greatest Chinese novel ever written. But it is much more than just a "Chinese" novel. It transcends ethnicity and religious doctrine to speak to all on matters of practical as well as ethereal import. It is a thought provoking read; and although it requires great patience and perseverence to negotiate those willing to make the effort will be well rewarded.
March 1, 2013
Es geht spürbar dem Ende zu...
Band 4 des in fünf Bände aufgeteilten Werks bricht in zweierlei Hinsicht mit den Vorgängerbänden. Der erste Punkt ist, dass nun zwei Autoren genannt werden - neben Cao Xueqin taucht Gao E's Name auf dem Titel auf, der den Roman nach Caos Tod aus Manuskriptfragmenten fertiggestellt hat.
Der zweite Punkt betrifft den Übersetzer; John Minford übernimmt den Staffelstab von David Hawkes.
Man spürt als Leser den zweifachen Bruch nur unwesentlich. Die Geschichte selbst wird ab diesem Band zwar deutlich trister, doch das war wohl eh die ursprüngliche Absicht Caos. Die guten Zeiten sind vorbei für die Familie Jia, es häufen sich die Todesfälle, traurigen Ereignisse und Zwiste. Gegen Ende des Bandes fühlt man mit dieser vom Schicksal (und der eigenen Dekadenz) getroffenen Familie mit und fürchtet sich davor, was im letzten Band noch schlimmeres passieren kann.
John Minford schafft den Übergang von David Hawkes reibungslos und übernimmt dessen Stil. Mir persönlich häuft sich das Latein in diesem Band zu sehr; bei den Kapiteln, die sich um die achtbeinigen Essays drehen, finde ich das extrem: Wieso, wenn er es schon nicht ins Englische übersetzt, lässt er dann nicht die chinesischen Fachbegriffe stehen? Warum überträgt er es von einer dem Leser wohl fremden Sprache in eine andere dem (heutigen) Leser fremde Sprache? Darüberhinaus fühlen sich diese Kapitel dadurch an wie ein Fremdkörper - man wird von China in ein englisches College versetzt und sieht plötzlich überall Leute mit engen Hosen und weißen Lockenperücken.
Auch werden nun immer wieder chinesische Werke mit lateinischen Namen versehen ("liber ritualis"), und das muss nun wirklich nicht sein. Ich dachte darüber nach, für diese unnötige Verfremdung einen Stern abzuziehen, das würde aber der restlichen Übersetzungsleistung nicht gerecht.
Von diesen Kritikpunkten abgesehen ist aber auch dieser Band Pflichtlektüre.
Band 4 des in fünf Bände aufgeteilten Werks bricht in zweierlei Hinsicht mit den Vorgängerbänden. Der erste Punkt ist, dass nun zwei Autoren genannt werden - neben Cao Xueqin taucht Gao E's Name auf dem Titel auf, der den Roman nach Caos Tod aus Manuskriptfragmenten fertiggestellt hat.
Der zweite Punkt betrifft den Übersetzer; John Minford übernimmt den Staffelstab von David Hawkes.
Man spürt als Leser den zweifachen Bruch nur unwesentlich. Die Geschichte selbst wird ab diesem Band zwar deutlich trister, doch das war wohl eh die ursprüngliche Absicht Caos. Die guten Zeiten sind vorbei für die Familie Jia, es häufen sich die Todesfälle, traurigen Ereignisse und Zwiste. Gegen Ende des Bandes fühlt man mit dieser vom Schicksal (und der eigenen Dekadenz) getroffenen Familie mit und fürchtet sich davor, was im letzten Band noch schlimmeres passieren kann.
John Minford schafft den Übergang von David Hawkes reibungslos und übernimmt dessen Stil. Mir persönlich häuft sich das Latein in diesem Band zu sehr; bei den Kapiteln, die sich um die achtbeinigen Essays drehen, finde ich das extrem: Wieso, wenn er es schon nicht ins Englische übersetzt, lässt er dann nicht die chinesischen Fachbegriffe stehen? Warum überträgt er es von einer dem Leser wohl fremden Sprache in eine andere dem (heutigen) Leser fremde Sprache? Darüberhinaus fühlen sich diese Kapitel dadurch an wie ein Fremdkörper - man wird von China in ein englisches College versetzt und sieht plötzlich überall Leute mit engen Hosen und weißen Lockenperücken.
Auch werden nun immer wieder chinesische Werke mit lateinischen Namen versehen ("liber ritualis"), und das muss nun wirklich nicht sein. Ich dachte darüber nach, für diese unnötige Verfremdung einen Stern abzuziehen, das würde aber der restlichen Übersetzungsleistung nicht gerecht.
Von diesen Kritikpunkten abgesehen ist aber auch dieser Band Pflichtlektüre.
July 6, 2012
Until reading this volume, I'd never realized just how important and influential characters that touch my heart really are to me. I was crushed!
The great event that takes place in this volume was for me preceded by a bad feeling I got a few chapters before it occurred. The karma debt is paid...and after re-reading that part a few times the realization, acceptance, and reality finally crashed into me. I was shaken to my core and deeply sad...and somehow, maybe as a way of seeing the upside, somewhat happy at the knowledge that that type of order existed. I prefer happy endings and the re-paying of the karma debt kind of obliterated that any hope of that in this story. It took me a week to read any further.
A chapter or two after the karma debt is paid, it is and isn't clear that something in the writing is different. I learned in class that it's suspected that Gao E has began finishing the story around this time. Regardless, I was compelled to read on and finish the volume.
Even though this volume was tragic it is my second favorite of the five volumes :)
The great event that takes place in this volume was for me preceded by a bad feeling I got a few chapters before it occurred. The karma debt is paid...and after re-reading that part a few times the realization, acceptance, and reality finally crashed into me. I was shaken to my core and deeply sad...and somehow, maybe as a way of seeing the upside, somewhat happy at the knowledge that that type of order existed. I prefer happy endings and the re-paying of the karma debt kind of obliterated that any hope of that in this story. It took me a week to read any further.
A chapter or two after the karma debt is paid, it is and isn't clear that something in the writing is different. I learned in class that it's suspected that Gao E has began finishing the story around this time. Regardless, I was compelled to read on and finish the volume.
Even though this volume was tragic it is my second favorite of the five volumes :)
March 15, 2016
The fourth volume of The Story of the Stone continues to tell the winding tale of the Jia family in Imperial China: their changing fortunes, focusing on the love between Jia Baoyu and his orphaned cousin, Lin Daiyu. The backdrop to this is the everyday material and literary life of a wealthy family in the Qing Dynasty.
This is the first volume not completed by Cao Xueqin; instead it was carefully edited together by Gao E. Though fragmentary, Gao E has managed to continue the story without too many glaring editorial errors and those that remain are not serious impediments to reading. Whether or not Gao E wrote the remaining 40 chapters or that they were edited together from Cao's notes is a discussion for redologists and not for this reviewer.
The translator also changes: David Hawkes is replaced by John Minford. Minford continues to ably translate this daunting novel and he deals well with textual errors, which understandably begin to multiply.
All that remains is to progress on to the fifth and final novel.
This is the first volume not completed by Cao Xueqin; instead it was carefully edited together by Gao E. Though fragmentary, Gao E has managed to continue the story without too many glaring editorial errors and those that remain are not serious impediments to reading. Whether or not Gao E wrote the remaining 40 chapters or that they were edited together from Cao's notes is a discussion for redologists and not for this reviewer.
The translator also changes: David Hawkes is replaced by John Minford. Minford continues to ably translate this daunting novel and he deals well with textual errors, which understandably begin to multiply.
All that remains is to progress on to the fifth and final novel.
March 4, 2014
The question of authorship of the last forty chapters beginning in volume four raises further questions of authenticity of the progression of the narrative. Like any text with such a history, the textual transmission over nearly three centuries undoubtedly had an impact despite the potential of another author taking up the last forty chapters of this 120 chapter novel. Yet it is impossible to know whether or not the narrative adheres to Cao Xueqin's (the original author) intentions. It is a worthwhile discussion nonetheless.
The two worlds portrayed in this novel, visible from chapter one, remain central in the goings-on of volume four. The tension forever unresolved. The utopian world of the garden began to crumble drastically in volume three with the raid of the garden and it's commercialization. This decay is a rich social commentary: the struggle between an impossible ideal-world and the crushing reality of the laws of the actual-world.
The two worlds portrayed in this novel, visible from chapter one, remain central in the goings-on of volume four. The tension forever unresolved. The utopian world of the garden began to crumble drastically in volume three with the raid of the garden and it's commercialization. This decay is a rich social commentary: the struggle between an impossible ideal-world and the crushing reality of the laws of the actual-world.
March 6, 2016
A vivid and earthy new translation of what used to be called The Dream of the Red Chamber, this story of the piece-of-jade-become-charmed-human is full of the ways of Chinese aristocrats from the glory days of the Chinese Qing dynasty. You may have a hard time keeping the characters straight, but don't that stop you from enjoying the ins and outs of the men and women of a Chinese court with too much time on its hands and many, many rituals to observe.
This book is generally considered the first novel in Chinese literature, and it is enormous, magnificent, and beguiling. I'm not normally a fan of lengthy translator's introductions, but in this case, I recommend it, because everything about this book is complicated and it helps to understand the background, genesis, meaning, and mores of the times.
This book is generally considered the first novel in Chinese literature, and it is enormous, magnificent, and beguiling. I'm not normally a fan of lengthy translator's introductions, but in this case, I recommend it, because everything about this book is complicated and it helps to understand the background, genesis, meaning, and mores of the times.
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October 18, 2014As is well-known this book had to be finished posthumously by Cao Xueqin's friends, from notes he had kept. Many people find this disconcerting, but I am just happy it was finished. The wedding scene was rather anticlimactic after all that had led up to it, but I get the sense that during many rituals, people were just present and quiet. This is what prevents things from coming apart! When Bao-yu lifts the veil and sees Bao-chai instead of Dai-yu, he is in a motionless daze. He thinks he is dreaming. It takes Bao-chai to stir him from his stupor, however, by telling him (against Grandmother Jia's express wishes) that Dai-yu has passed away.
I am sure the next volume is simply the unwinding of this startling denouement.
I am sure the next volume is simply the unwinding of this startling denouement.
April 30, 2018
Whilst the cracks start appearing in Vol 3, they spread dramatically in Vol 4.
It starts with the introduction of Jin-Gui, Xue Pan's new wife who starts stirring up trouble as soon as she arrives. Xue Pan then gets thrown into jail, Dai Yu falls ill again, and as a result Bao Yu falls ill (as well as losing his jade).
It's the demise of the Jia's and there are desperate attempts to reverse their fortunes (most notably in Bao Yu's wedding). But Jia Zheng captures their fragility perfectly when he states that 'prosperity may crumble in the twinkling of an eye, like the passing of a spring cloud or the falling of an autumn leaf.
The volume then ends in tragedy as Dai-Yu falls ill and dies and returns to haunt Bao Yu...
It starts with the introduction of Jin-Gui, Xue Pan's new wife who starts stirring up trouble as soon as she arrives. Xue Pan then gets thrown into jail, Dai Yu falls ill again, and as a result Bao Yu falls ill (as well as losing his jade).
It's the demise of the Jia's and there are desperate attempts to reverse their fortunes (most notably in Bao Yu's wedding). But Jia Zheng captures their fragility perfectly when he states that 'prosperity may crumble in the twinkling of an eye, like the passing of a spring cloud or the falling of an autumn leaf.
The volume then ends in tragedy as Dai-Yu falls ill and dies and returns to haunt Bao Yu...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2018
The central plot comes into focus after the last two volumes, which largely meander and dive deep into minor characters (and are nonetheless wonderful). The final 40 chapters, presented here in volumes 4 and 5, were, at a minimum, edited by a party other than the primary author. It shows, and is for the good, I think.
Awe-inspiring, heartbreaking, shockingly relatable 300 years later and a world away, as this magnificent journey heads to its conclusion.
Awe-inspiring, heartbreaking, shockingly relatable 300 years later and a world away, as this magnificent journey heads to its conclusion.
October 31, 2018
This really didn’t have the same magic for me as the first three volumes. A ton of the things being foreshadowed in the first three volumes come to a head here, which drove me to read on, but whether it was the change in translator or the fact that Gao E stepped in at this point to finish what was a less finished part of the novel, something of the emotional subtlety and power was missing. I’m not sure if I’ll read Volume 5, but if I do, it won’t be for a while.
February 8, 2015
Ok, Ok, the book was not that bad. Not the original author but I must admit when one of the lovers wills herself to die, literally shedding both blood and tears at the very moment her true love marries another I was hooked. That might sound extreme but you have to remember all of the principal characters in this book are 15 years old.
One last book to go...
One last book to go...
May 11, 2019
Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger.
With volume 4, I can feel that it’s written by a different writer.
I listened to some qin music which is mentioned in the appendix and is played unexpectedly by one of the principal characters. I was moved to great sadness by it given what happens to the player in the book.
With volume 4, I can feel that it’s written by a different writer.
I listened to some qin music which is mentioned in the appendix and is played unexpectedly by one of the principal characters. I was moved to great sadness by it given what happens to the player in the book.
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March 30, 2009"The Debt of Tears (The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Volume 4) by Cao Xuequin (1982)"
May 27, 2010
I have really enjoyed the previous books, but in this one I could feel that there was a new author involved.
October 1, 2017
Estoy severamente deprimida. Me siento traicionada por unos cuantos personajes y espero que terminen mal.
No me imagino el volumen 5, qué cosas horribles faltan por suceder?
No me imagino el volumen 5, qué cosas horribles faltan por suceder?
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