//lin chong/ edition
We should be done with chapter 7.
Link to ebook: my.mixtape.moe
I know someone else was supposed to make the thread but I got impatient.
What do you guys make of the book so far?
I think it's hilarious. The cliffhanger endings are funny too.
Maybe this is some linguistic difference but I feel the book moves with some ruckles. Like you always read some parts and it doesn't feel like flowing from the last section. Makes it easy to read but then again it doesn't feel like continuing reading. Can you post the schedule again? Is it one chapter a week?
I was supposed to make this thread but if you can make it earlier on Fridays feel free to keep making them.
Anyway, Sagacious Lu is based as fuck.
The schedule is 7 chapters a week.
Old thread 10561418
Sure, I can make the threads
Let's make that clickable
old thread is Sagacious Lu is alpha.
>doesn't even bother to hide his identity from the authorities
>does whatever he wants with no care for the consequences
>the living buddha himself considers him a great man
>so charismatic people become his sworn brothers on the spot
I'm wondering what old chinese soccer/football was like. Anyone know anything about that?
More generally, I think we could use some good secondary literature, there is a lot of cultural stuff I think are worth reading about. Like how the bureaucracy worked and so on. Why was Arms Instructor Wang so sure if he moved posts within the military that he'd be safe? Same thing with Sagacious Lu, why exactly does becoming a monk safeguard him? Why did Shi Jin think that bandits could be honourable even though he was planning to purge them earlier for raiding other places? Surely he shouldn't have done business with them at the very least even if he felt he had to let them go.
The concept of Jianghu is interesting as well. Reminds me somewhat of the chivalry of Europe.
I'm also curious if there's any historical precedent in Gao Qiu's appointment. How many other unqualified people climbed the ranks in a way similar to him. I can't tell how exaggerated his story is for comedic effect.
Also, what's the significance of the Living Buddha?
If anyone has a physical copy, does it come with footnotes? The ebook has nothing, and I want to make sure I'm not missing out.
Funny moments anyone?
Lu Da collects money to deal with the innkeeper problem. Takes out some silver coins. Shi Jin produces a heavy silver bar.
What about you Li Zhong?
>two coins
>Lu Da thinks Shi Jin and the bandits are being stingy so he just steals as much as he can carry then literally rolls down the mountain on his own stomach fat
Have only read to chapter 3 so far but it is good. It is lively and charming. The stories are well written and easy to read. I can really imagine the setting/atmosphere because I have Chinese ancestors. Some of the culture is still within me I guess.
Wiki tells me that "Cuju" used to be the football game the author might be referring to. It was used as a military exercise and is officially the oldest form of football in the history.
I always keep up a tab opened to google some words that sound interesting and read a short excerpt about it to get a feeling about it. It is fun reading something so far away from one's own culture.
Lu Da is imegined to be quite a boar and strong as one! He seems to be a man without problems and if there is one he will just beat the hell out of it!
Sick tales. Didn't expect it to be such an Illias or Ulysees like story telling. Here is Lu Sagacious pulling out a tree to destroy the bird's nest.
How would you rate the indiviual chapters so far?
I first thought that it would be individual stories of several outlaws but slowly the protgonists are getting connected. I wonder how they plan on make this chain of events believable.
Best character so far? Shi Jin hands down.
Do the chapter endings remind anyone else of
>next time on dragon ball z
?
I wonder if Journey to the West is written in the same way, and if dragonball just picked that up from there as well.
What a coincidence, I've been reading this over the past few weeks! I'm on the truly great Sidney Shapiro edition. It's so fun to read something like this after Romance of the Three Kingdoms as it's so much more individual and slimy, especially since half of the situations involve wine.
As a student of mandarin over the past years it's still rough diving into the source text. But I had to look up what Sagacious Lu said when he was about to fight off the bandits after pretending to be Old Man Liu's daughter that was going to be married in the bridal chamber. When he was about to fight the bandits, Liu asked him why he was drinking so much wine. He replied:
「洒家一分酒,只有一分本事,十分酒,便有十分的氣力。」 -- "When 1/10ths drunk I only have 1/10ths skill, but when 100% drunk have 100% strength.
Also as for pic related, it's a erotic adaption of Water Margin from around 1600. Thought yall would find the highlighted part interesting.
My favourite part was where Shi Jin burned his own mansion down for the sake of the three bandits, and then thinks about it and stops caring.
The Scholars, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Journey to the West all do this. It makes me wonder if these books were serialized like Dickens novels were.
>Sagacious Lu shoving meat in another monk's face
>the abbot telling Lu that he had a prophetic vision the night before, presumably as an excuse to send him away
Imagine being the scholar who has to write a footnote explaining the line "inserted his organ into her vagina."
Yeah that was quite cool. He sure had some progression in his chapters. He turns out to be a brigand later as well.
Yeah and Lu Da takes his gold like the big guy he is. This novel is comedy gold; I love it!
Serious question, why is that one character nicknamed "three inches of bark"? A penis joke, perhaps? I feel as though I'm not getting something obvious.
>adaption
What would be a better word to use, spinoff?
fanfiction
What chapter is this?
That sounds like he might just be ugly. Skin like bark or something, I dunno. I'd need to see the context to see.
Anyone read chapter 8 yet?
>Did Lin Chong live or die? Read our next chapter if you would know.
Lin Chong isn't very bright.
Hey, we're going into this forest notorious for being easy to get away with murdering people in. I'm going to let these guards tie me up instead of just making them take watch. I'm also going to waltz into the Inner Sanctum with a sword in my hand because this totally isn't a setup.
Yeah, I think that's the point though -- he's an honest military man who can't scheme. Seems to be a standard Chinese archetype from what I can tell.
I mean, look at Shi Jin. He burnt down his mansion for some bandits.
Probably quite a ways into the book. He was Golden Lotus' husband. Read an awful translation years ago (when I was probably too young to grasp what was happening). I was thinking of picking it up again, but my copy is practically unreadable. I think I've got the Pearl Buck adaptation somewhere around here somewhere, maybe I should read that. Couldn't participate in discussion, tho ;_;
There's an epub of the good Shapiro translation linked in the OP. That's what we're reading.
I wonder how much stuff is lost because people are too embarrassed to preserve it.
Anyone reached 11 yet?
This week might be fine but there might be times where I probably won't be able to reach the goals but I will read more whenever I have more time because this book is worth it. 11 chapters a week isn't that much but some chaptersgo up to 50 pages.
The chapter with Lin Chong being in prison sound so modern. The chapters are written like the prison could still be in today's China, if you didn't know the context!
Holy shit, am I dumb. Thanks, guess I should make more of an effort to read every post.
No problem, hope you'll stick around.
Huh, I might up the pace too; I'd been restraining myself to keep pace with the group.
What's the blue in this picture supposed to be?
...
I'm assuming that's Lu Da?
Do you have any other images?
For everyone wanting to find more stuff on google. The Japanese name for Water Margin is Suikoden. Some of you might now the name from the JRPG series Suikoden which is also based on 108 stars in the heaven.
i read this like 3-4 times during college, one of my favorites. Honor the emperor, kill the officials! kill travelers and turn them into dumplings!
Makes sense.
Just read Journey to the West, lmao
>Japanese interpretation of classic Chinese text
cute girls doing cute things
>classic Chinese text
fat slobs beating the shit out of everyone
really activates the almonds
I'm reasonably certain that image is from a Chinese interpretation of a Chinese classic using a Chinese interpretation of a Japanese interpretation of an American artstyle.
Sounds like you had fun. Care to join us again?
What do you mean by modern? What exactly made you think that?
Have you played it? If so, is it good? How closely does it follow the book?
It's getting even better. I like how all the stories are getting tied together.
The Chinese honor concept is still odd to me though. I wasn't expecting jousting; it almost feels Arthurian with all the chivalry references as well.
I ended up reading ahead to chapter 15, whoops.