Book of the year 2024: 射鵰英雄傳 by 金庸

[lordsuso]

I just finished chapter 10. This is the end of volume 1 but as I suspected the story doesn't really come to a resting point, so I'll move straight into volume 2. Btw the book was originally published between 1 January 1957 – 19 May 1959, so the original readers followed the story for 2+ years!

 

So far I am loving the book, it is remarkable how he manages to tell different stories that take place at different space-time planes and yet it's not confusing to read and he ties them together nicely. There are only two things that I could nitpick, but don't really bother me. One is that there are too many characters. Every clan has 5+ masters or generals, and for the most part they have clear personalities, but some of them are hard to tell apart. The other one is that the action scenes are too detailed. Some fights like 

Spoiler

Huangrong vs the masters hired by Jin

are really fun, but I found others like 

Spoiler

the 比武招亲

to be lengthy and boring.

 

CHAPTERS 6-10 VOCAB

Spoiler

proper nouns
西辽    西遼    xīliáo    Western Liao, Khitan kingdom of central Asia 1132-1218
成吉思汗    成吉思汗    chéngjísīhán    Genghis Khan (1162-1227), founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire
李广    李廣    lǐguǎng    Li Guang (-119 BC), Han dynasty general, nicknamed Flying General 飛將軍|飞将军 and much feared by the Xiongnu 匈奴
大宛    大宛    dàyuān    ancient state of central Asia
汾酒    汾酒    fénjiǔ    Fenjiu (sorghum-based Chinese liquor)
昆仑    崑崙    kūnlún    Kunlun (Karakorum) mountain range in Xinjiang

 

other words
焉知    焉知    yānzhī    (literary) how is one to know?
极目    極目    jímù    (literary) to look as far as the eye can see
险诈    險詐    xiǎnzhà    sinister and deceitful
静修    靜修    jìngxiū    contemplation; meditation
歉仄    歉仄    qiànzè    (literary) apologetic; sorry; regretful
炫技    炫技    xuànjì    to show off one's skills; to put on a dazzling display of one's talents
妖孽    妖孽    yāoniè    evildoer
急智    急智    jízhì    quick witted; able to think fast in an emergency
跨上    跨上    kuàshàng    to mount (a horse, bike, flight of stairs, rickshaw etc)
煽惑    煽惑    shānhuò    to incitate; to agitate
斫    斫·斲·斵    zhuó    to chop; to hack; to carve wood; to chop; to carve wood
涩滞    澀滯    sèzhì    (literary) not smooth; obscure
拟合    擬合    nǐhé    to fit (data to a model); a (close) fit
抵数    抵數    dǐshù    to make up the number; to serve as a stopgap
犒    犒    kào    to reward or comfort with presents of food, drink etc
旁骛    旁騖    pángwù    to be inattentive; to be distracted by sth
健旺    健旺    jiànwàng    robust; healthy; vigorous; energetic
赘婿    贅婿    zhuìxù    son-in-law living at wife's parent's house
脚色    腳色    jiǎosè    role; part · type of role (in traditional Chinese drama) · variant of 角色[juésè]
邀击    邀擊    yāojī    to intercept; to waylay; to ambush
投契    投契    tóuqì    to get along well (with sb); congenial; to speculate (on financial markets)
左近    左近    zuǒjìn    nearby
荡秋千    盪鞦韆    dàngqiūqiān    to swing (on a swing)
少说    少說    shǎoshuō    (coll.) at least
罗汉拳    羅漢拳    luóhànquán    luohan quan; arhat boxing (kungfu style)
戒刀    戒刀    jièdāo    Buddhist monk's knife (not used for killing)
见谅    見諒    jiànliàng    please forgive me
下阴    下陰    xiàyīn    the genitals
家数    家數    jiāshù    the distinctive style and techniques handed down from master to apprentice within a particular school
肉瘤    肉瘤    ròuliú    wart; sarcoma; superfluous; useless
兼之    兼之    jiānzhī    (literary) furthermore; besides; in addition; moreover
纳罕    納罕    nàhǎn    bewildered; amazed
名帖    名帖    míngtiě    name card; business card
不忿    不忿    bùfèn    unsatisfied; unconvinced; indignant
打秋风    打秋風    dǎqiūfēng    (dialect) to sponge on sb; to impose on another's hospitality or generosity · variant of 打抽豐|打抽丰[dǎchōufēng]
酒筵    酒筵    jiǔyán    feast; banquet
罔顾    罔顧    wǎnggù    (literary) ignoring; in defiance of
扁舟    扁舟    piānzhōu    small boat; skiff
世子    世子    shìzǐ    crown prince; heir of a noble house
切责    切責    qièzé    to blame; to reprimand
吹胡子    吹鬍子    chuīhúzi    形容发怒。
权谋    權謀    quánmóu    trickery; tactics
哑谜    啞謎    yǎmí    puzzle; mystery
冶艳    冶艷    yěyàn    bewitching; beautiful
端的    端的    duāndì    really; after all; details; particulars
劈头    劈頭    pītóu    straight away; right off the bat; right on the head; right in the face
知交    知交    zhījiāo    intimate friend
掮    掮    qián    to carry on the shoulder

 

[Lu]

Wow you're fast, I'm on chapter 6. Funny about the fights, I'm realising I like the plotting & scheming and stupid misunderstanding bits actually better than I like the fights. The fights are spectacular, but perhaps I'm too invested in the outcome and there are only a few possible outcomes in each case (fewer if the heroes of the story are on one side of it).

[honglam]

On 4/9/2024 at 5:29 PM, lordsuso said:

汾酒    汾酒    fénjiǔ    Fenjiu (sorghum-based Chinese liquor)

Well, sorghum is a widely used raw material in brewing, so I think "a famous brand of sorghum-based Chinese liquor" would be more exact.

On 4/9/2024 at 5:29 PM, lordsuso said:

拟合    擬合    nǐhé    to fit (data to a model); a (close) fit

I doubt if this word would show up in 金庸's book. The given explanation is a term of modern mathematics and computer science. It's quite strange that such concept would appear in legendary stories. Where did it show up?

On 4/9/2024 at 5:29 PM, lordsuso said:

赘婿    贅婿    zhuìxù    son-in-law living at wife's parent's house

Well, in Chinese context, "赘婿" means that the offspring of the couple would be given the wife's family name as well.

On 4/9/2024 at 5:29 PM, lordsuso said:

肉瘤    肉瘤    ròuliú    wart; sarcoma; superfluous; useless

Wart and sarcoma tend to be medical terms. 肉瘤 can describe any lumps on one's body.

[lordsuso]

Thank you @honglam for the clarifications as always. Here is the context for 拟合, it's a combat scene, I think it loosely corresponds to the definition, as I understand 郭靖 doesn't need to match as precisely the attacks of his opponent:

 

那人枪法已渐见涩滞。郭靖把「南山刀法」使发了，已不用顾盼拟合，信手而应，纵横前后。

 

On 4/9/2024 at 2:20 PM, honglam said:

the couple would be given the wife's family name as well

that makes more sense I didn't understand what was the big deal

 

@Lu yes that's what happens to me as well, I want to see how the fight ends and don't always have the patience to read about the details. If I remember right chapters 6-7 are a bit slow, but then... I gasped out loud a couple of times, I won't say more haha.

[Woodford]

I'm currently on Chapter 10, and I hope to be finished with Book 1 towards the end of this week! I wasn't planning on reading all 4 books back-to-back, though I have indeed heard the rumors that Book 1 ends on a cliff hanger. The English translation of the book is sold as 4 separate stories under 4 separate titles, and a lot of English readers complain that the ending is unsatisfactory. At any rate, I think I'll have to finish all 4 books at some point. Other reviewers complain that the English translation destroys the subtleties/nuances of the Chinese version, so I'm really happy for the privilege of reading the original Chinese version.

I agree that the fights can be a bit boring and tedious, and the story sags a bit around chapter 6/7. But then the author brings out one crazy plot twist after another. 

 

Spoiler

For instance, the revelation that Huangrong is actually a girl, that Yan Kang is actually Yang Kang, and that the father who set up the 比武招亲 is actually Yan Kang's surviving father. All the different plot lines are brought together so wonderfully. Huangrong's contests with the Kungfu team allied with the Jin (sorry; I'm mentally blanking on the name) were also really amusing. Especially when she had a contest where it was agreed that the winner would push the loser out of a circle, and that if both contestants were outside of the circle (a tie), Huangrong would win. Then she simply stepped out of the circle, said, "You didn't push me out," and also, "If you step out of the circle to chase me, then you lose." Okay, that's funny. Also, while all the chaos is happening in the royal courtyard, the pharmacist guy is chasing Guo Jing and trying to suck his blood, because Guo Jing killed his pet snake and accidentally drank the valuable snake blood.

It was actually around chapter 7, I thought, where things got mildly confusing. I was starting to lose track of who was who, who was allied with whom, who was angry with whom (and why), etc. While some of the Kungfu masters have identifiable characteristics that make them easy to remember, others don't. I don't waste too much energy trying to remember them all, and I guess the story, on the whole, is simple enough to follow easily.

My experience with this book reversed a lot of my expectations:

I thought it would be impossible to read and horrendously literary (it isn't).
I thought it would be filled with ancient poetry and song lyrics, which cause me a lot of pain (it isn't).
I thought the multiple plot lines and bewildering cast of characters would cause the story to be impossible to follow (that was not the case; I found Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" to be worse).

I thought the story would require a lot of historical context/knowledge to understand (as it turns out, not really).

I have heard the language in these books is semi-classical, and out of curiosity, I've opened up my copy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" to see if I can begin to understand it, after all my experience reading these historical/literary books. And, surprisingly, it seems readable to me now! But maybe that's a challenge for later.
 

[honglam]

On 4/9/2024 at 9:23 PM, lordsuso said:

Thank you @honglam for the clarifications as always. Here is the context for 拟合, it's a combat scene, I think it loosely corresponds to the definition, as I understand 郭靖 doesn't need to match as precisely the attacks of his opponent:

 

那人枪法已渐见涩滞。郭靖把「南山刀法」使发了，已不用顾盼拟合，信手而应，纵横前后。

It does loosely correspond to the definition. Yet I felt like this word(顾盼拟合) could be interpreted as "to look around, plan for the next step and do so", which is actually a word by word translation.

[Woodford]

Just finished Book 1, and I think I'll take a break from the series! Chapter 10 has the most abrupt ending of any chapter I've read so far. Just stops right in the middle of the action. Really bizarre. I was told there would be a cliff hanger, but...it's not really a cliff hanger. It just suddenly stops.

[lordsuso]

@Woodford yes it doesn't work as an ending at all, I also want to take a break so I'll report back whenever I find the closest natural breakpoint. I really liked that last fight though, 

Spoiler

one thing is for sure: you can't underestimate disabled characters in this book haha blind and paraplegic? no problem

 

 

 

[杰娃娃]

I'll be starting chapter 8 today. It's very exciting, but I'll agree with previous sentiments that fight scenes are my least favourite section.

 

I think I would like to get to chapter 20 before taking a break, after reading what everyone has said about the ending of chapter 10.

[lordsuso]

If anybody else wants to take a break after the first volume, I strongly recommend you read until a bit past the halfway point of chapter 11 to have some sort of closure (you'll recognize it when you get there). I am going to take a couple of weeks off to restore my 内功.