Three Kingdoms Part 2

Three Kingdoms #2

by Luo Guanzhong, Moss Roberts (Translator)

Three Kingdoms tells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 b.c.-a.d. 220), when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms. This decisive period in Chinese history became a subject of intense and continuing interest to historians, poets, and dramatists. Writing some 1,200 years later, the Ming author Luo Guanzhong drew on this rich literary heritage to fashion a sophisticated, compelling narrative that has become the Chinese national epic. Luo's novel offers a startling and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought; it has influenced the ways the Chinese think about power, diplomacy, and war even to this day. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this Ming dynasty masterpiece continues to be widely influential in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, and remains a great work of world literature. The University of California Press is pleased to make the complete and unabridged translation available again.

Genres: Fiction, China, Historical Fiction, Classics, Literature, Asia

551 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2004

About the author

Luo Ben (c. 1330–1400), better known by his style name Luo Guanzhong (罗贯中) (Mandarin pronunciation: [lwɔ kwantʂʊŋ]), was a Chinese writer who lived during the Yuan Dynasty. He was also known by his pseudonym Huhai Sanren (Chinese: 湖海散人; pinyin: Húhǎi Sǎnrén; literally "Leisure Man of Lakes and Seas"). Luo was attributed with writing Romance of the Three Kingdoms and editing Water Margin, two of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

Reviews

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

As complex as it is rewarding, I am happy to have stumbled upon this classic Chinese national epic. We in the West tend in our solipsistic cloud to blind ourselves to goings on in the East, or frankly anywhere other than the immediate area in front of our faces (usually filled by glowing silicon devices). Long in my memory will last the noble Xuande, his mighty and loyal brothers Zhang Fei and Lord Guan, the brilliant Kongming, and the calculating Han usurper Cao Cao. Although these are in many ways fictional representations of actual historical figures, there is enough truth as well to prevent dismissal as totally worthless in historical context. To anyone new to Chinese history who does choose to read this, I would suggest educating yourself at least minimally on the early and later Han dynasties as well as the following Three Kingdoms era during which most of this epic takes place. This knowledge helped immensely with what otherwise would have been an overwhelming onslaught of unfamiliar characters and places.

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an epic reading! A fascinating chronicle of the historical events from the end of the Han dynasty to the founding of the next, an era plagued by war, with powerful warlords engaged in a battle to the end to gain power, in which were no rules other than those imposed by military necessity. The author takes us to that time in an ideal way, perfectly combining the great amount of information with the fictional elements, creating a book that is highly enlightening and informative but at the same time very interesting for any reader. Despite its enormous size, this interest is not diminishing at any point, with developments following each other at such a stormy pace that you do not have time to catch your breath. Each of its pages is full of battles, intrigues and plans, betrayals and careful diplomatic moves and above all with a detailed description of the climate of the era. The only problem is the complexity that makes reading a highly demanding endeavor. Sometimes I felt like I was losing the thread and it was hard for me to understand even who was fighting who at each point, but that's obviously not the author's fault but my own reduced attention in these cases. Whenever I was focused, however, I had no problem with that, so I think for the careful reader this complexity will not be an obstacle but on the contrary will highlight the epic scale of the work much more.

Τι επικό ανάγνωσμα! Ένα άκρως συναρπαστικό χρονικό των ιστορικών γεγονότων από το τέλος της δυναστείας των Χαν μέχρι την ίδρυση της επόμενης δυναστείας, μιας εποχής που μαστιζόταν από τον πόλεμο τη βία, με τους ισχυρούς πολέμαρχους να εμπλέκονται σε μία μάχη μέχρι το τέλος για την απόκτηση της εξουσίας, στην οποία δεν υπάρχουν κανόνες πέρα από αυτούς που επιβάλλει η στρατιωτική ανάγκη. Ο συγγραφέας μας μεταφέρει σε εκείνη την εποχή με έναν ιδανικό τρόπο, συνδυάζοντας άριστα το μεγάλο πλήθος πληροφοριών με τα φανταστικά στοιχεία δημιουργώντας ένα βιβλίο άκρως διαφωτιστικό και ενημερωτικό αλλά ταυτόχρονα πάρα πολύ ενδιαφέρον για οποιονδήποτε αναγνώστη. Παρά το τεράστιο μέγεθος του αυτό το ενδιαφέρον δεν μειώνεται σε κανένα σημείο του, με τις εξελίξεις να διαδέχονται η μία την άλλη με τέτοιο καταιγιστικό ρυθμό που δεν προλαβαίνεις να πάρεις ανάσα. Κάθε σελίδα του είναι γεμάτη μάχες, δολοπλοκίες και σχέδια, προδοσίες και προσεκτικές διπλωματικές κινήσεις και πάνω από όλα με μία λεπτομερή περιγραφή του κλίματος της εποχής. Το μόνο πρόβλημα είναι η πολυπλοκότητα που καθιστά την ανάγνωση ένα ιδιαίτερα απαιτητικό εγχείρημα. Κάποιες φορές ένιωθα ότι έχανα το νήμα και μου ήταν δύσκολο να καταλάβω ακόμα και ποιος πολεμάει ποιον σε κάθε σημείο, για αυτό, όμως, προφανώς δεν ευθύνεται ο συγγραφέας αλλά η δική μου μειωμένη προσοχή σε αυτές τις περιπτώσεις. Όποτε ήμουν συγκεντρωμένος, όμως, δεν είχα κανένα πρόβλημα για αυτό πιστεύω ότι για τον προσεκτικό αναγνώστη αυτή η πολυπλοκότητα δεν θα αποτελέσει εμπόδιο αλλά αντιθέτως θα αναδείξει πολύ περισσότερο την επική κλίμακα του έργου.

[Meeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alas, the Three Kingdoms Era is finally at an end and China has been reunited by the Jin dynasty (apparently that doesn't last very long). Its a melancholy ending in that all our favorite characters have died before the last 16 chapters. Still, as the story winds down treacherous acts are repaid, lessons from the past are ignored, countless armies are ambushed and plenty of messengers are beheaded.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

#1

[Vincent Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent end to the epic. I don't have much to add to my first review. I loved the twists, plotting, counter plotting and complex characters. The best action comes from divided loyalities, unscrupulous traitors, and individuals getting their just desserts. Highly recommend reading this translation, and I am ultimately very glad to have read the complete translation rather than the abridged edition. There was probably alot of repetition but I didn't feel like I missed out in anything.

[Jonathan Schimmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zeer interessant, maar kan de complete versie enkel aanraden als je in alle details geïnteresseerd bent. De complete versie is zeer uitgebreid over titels en verdiensten, welk het verhaal niet altijd ten goede komen. Er zijn meerdere verkorte, abridgded, versies die het verhaal prima overbrengen en leesbaar houden

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The payoff for this book is huge. Yes, it can sometimes be confusing and hard to keep up. But after finishing, I can strongly say I'd recommend this to any serious book lover. I now want to read it again. I will absolutely return to this story.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everybody has plot armor until the last thirty pages of the book. Kongming's power gets toned down, unfortunately. I liked some (unintentionally? I think?) funny bits, such as Cao Cao laughing three times. It's overwhelming at times, and the ending was a bit disappointing, but overall not bad.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the absolute masterpieces of world literature.

[Guy Sandison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of the story, and it feels it. By the end, the story is into the 3rd and 4th generation, and a lot of the characters you’ve come to know are gone. Some play a role in the first few hundred pages, but they soon disappear after a series of time jumps, that it’s sometimes hard to follow. The Sima family and Deng Ai are really the only memorable character in the half. Also, Wu are barely featured by this point/

[Glendy Soto Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 estrellitas. Algunas cosas que escribí mientras leía:

- Zhou Yu pasó demasiado tiempo con esa herida abierta hasta que murió.
- Que cándido que es Lu Su.
- Las estratagemas que fabrican no tienen fin. Todos intentan ser más listos o más rápidos que su respectivo contrincante.
- Kongming me tiene de nervios con su constante "déjame preguntarle a las estrellas".
- Cao Cao me encanta, aunque la obra lo retrata como una persona cruel y recelosa, dándole más chicha a la persona real. La batalla de Jiangling? Perfección.
- Nooo Guan Yu!
- Cao Cao tambien?!
- Zhang Fei se buscó su muerte pero bien.
- Liu Xuande nooo!!! Un all kill fue todo.
- Un spin off con Guan Xing y Zhang Bao por favor.
- Kongming se redimió al final, solo faltaba que muriera Liu Bei...
- Creo que Zhao Zilong es mi personaje favorito y Sun Qian el que más odio, maldita rata.

Considerando todo, estuvo fantástica. Entrega mucha sabiduría y da lecciones que sirven hasta hoy; no por nada es una de las obras mas influyentes en el pensamiento chino y ha sido adaptada infinitamente en medios de entretenimiento (los miro a ustedes, Dynasty Warriors y The Ravages of Time). Aun asi, no creo que sea una lectura para todo el mundo. Su estructura de ir de batalla en batalla puede hacerse repetitiva y pesada para muchos.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic novel. In particular, the interplay between strategists (Jia Xu, Sima Yi, Lu Xun, Zhuge Liang, etc...) is fascinating. Quite often, a character of lesser intelligence serves as a proxy for the reader, allowing the genius strategist to explain to him the complex military manoeuvre about to be performed and its expected consequences.

Also of interest is the wholly negative role of the eunuchs, bringing down the Han at the beginning and Shu/Wu at the end.

[Craig Herbertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As for volume 1: brilliant. Chinese Lord of the Rings with a million names and several deep and enchanting characters. Superbly balanced and plotted - archaic though, superficially repetitive and difficult to follow the variety of similar Chinese names. However the repetition of battles in a war torn kingdom somehow doesn't pall.