Into the Forest discussion

Just curious over how everyone is responding to the genre of the novel?

I really like it. It reminds me of other Chinese fictional books I have read (in writing style and attitude).

Compared to Romance it's quite appealing. The prose is unique, but flows so naturally that I had to check the nationality of the writer. I was surprised to find he's from the US.

Mawgojzeta wrote: "I really like it. It reminds me of other Chinese fictional books I have read (in writing style and attitude)."

Is the style authentic then? Not just our Western idea (mainly from tv/film) of how ancient Chinese wrote/spoke?

When I looked at reviews, some people had trouble with the style because it was too much like a fable.

I thought it was lovely writing.

I don't mind fable at all, but by the time I'd gotten about halfway in, the repetition began to feel tedious, and I thought 'This would be better as a short story.' I put it down for a bit and now once again it feels clever rather than pointless.

It is interesting how a break can help, isn't it? Does anyone know where one can find the source material for the story?

Wikipaedia says it's a mixture of original material and myth, including Cowherd and Weaver Girl. My friend Grey, who's interested in this subject, but hasn't been around the last few weeks, gave 3 stars to Myths and Legends of China. He thought it wasn't entirely accurate, but not bad.

I'm curious to know how authentic Bridge is.

Can't say I know a lot but some of the stuff is accurate. The cowherd and weaver girl (with the magpies thrown in for comical effect) is traditional. He makes a few other references. (Not sure whether this thread is supposed to be spoiler-free or not. I assume not, but just in case...)
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The bit where the August Personage of Jade refers to the scandalous affairs with Chang-Er and the white rabbit is a reference to the story of this emperor who was cruel and evil and wanted to be immortal, but his wife, Chang-Er, to save the world from suffering under his yoke stole the potion and drank it instead herself. She became a fairy and floated to the moon where she still lives. It's interesting because the Chinese don't see a man in the moon, but a fairy with a rabbit.

There's a reference in the book to the eight immortals - that's authentic. There's one to a white snake and green snake. That's authentic too - traditional folk tale of a Madame White Snake that fell in love with a human. A taoist priest comes along and breaks the happy couple up. It's kind of a star-crossed romance thing between demon and human.

Some of the historical stuff is real. The Duke of Chin was the first emperor of China. He was indeed responsible for the legalist tradition where harsh punishment was to act as a deterrent. He wasn't deposed though. He ruled till his natural death. His son was deposed when the people revolted. The stuff that he did with the Great Wall and the burning of books and scholars is authentic.

Thanks very much, Whitaker, I'm glad to know that so much of it is based on genuine Chinese myth or history.

Whitaker wrote: "Can't say I know a lot but some of the stuff is accurate. The cowherd and weaver girl (with the magpies thrown in for comical effect) is traditional. He makes a few other references. (Not sure whet..."

I totally forgot until you said it Whitaker, but there is a Greek myth about a female snake (a lamia) that falls in over with a human. They're going to get married until some wise old guy (who is famous, but whose name I can't remember) revealed what she really was. Keats wrote a poem based on the story. It also pops up in the Greek vampire tradition, though the lamia hadn't done anything to the guy.

Chris wrote: ".Keats wrote a poem based on the story. It also pops up in the Greek vampire tradition, though the lamia hadn't done anything to the guy.
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Is that the one about Christabel? 'Shield her, shield sweet Christabel.' Where a vampire-like, maybe lamia-like lady turns up to spend the night?

Hazel wrote: "Chris wrote: ".Keats wrote a poem based on the story. It also pops up in the Greek vampire tradition, though the lamia hadn't done anything to the guy.
."

Is that the one about Christabel? 'Shield..."

That's Coleridge. Keats' poem is The Lamia.

Yep. You're right!

Gee thanks! That's really interesting. I should go check it out. :-) I love the idea that the same motif crops up in different cultures.

Whitaker wrote: "Gee thanks! That's really interesting. I should go check it out. :-) I love the idea that the same motif crops up in different cultures."

Yes, the inference is that human imagination tends to use similar images and ideas. :-)

The novel's subtitle is something like, "A tale of a China that never was," which implies that it takes place in an imaginary version of China. So, although it has some Chinese culture in it, the voice is not authentically Chinese. It's more cartoonishly Chinese, and it sometimes gets accused of racism because of that.

Phil wrote: "The novel's subtitle is something like, "A tale of a China that never was," which implies that it takes place in an imaginary version of China. So, although it has some Chinese culture in it, the v..."

Interesting Phil. I had kind of wondered about that myself.

Phil wrote: "It's more cartoonishly Chinese, and it sometimes gets accused of racism because of that. .."

I can understand that. The first time I read this, that never occurred to me. The second time around, I definitely noticed how it could be perceived.