Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain: Martial Arts Fiction in Contemporary Chinese Literature [Paperback]

Jin Yong (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jin Yong is one of the best-known Chinese writers of this generation. He is an honorary fellow of St. Antony's College, Oxford and Wynflete Fellow of Magdalen College, also at Oxford.

Olivia Mok teaches translation at the City University of Hong Kong.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Coronet Books Inc (December 1993)
• ISBN-10: 9622015263
• ISBN-13: 978-9622015265
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,039,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK read but not the author's best, November 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain (Paperback)

This book is a pleasant read but certainly not amongst the author's better efforts. The translation perhaps does not do justice to the original work in Chinese. Anyway, if you can, grab The Deer and The Cauldron, of which 2 books were already released in the trilogy, (Oxford University Press in HongKong, not the other OXford Univ. Press sites which do not do justice to this great book by not listing it.). Another wonderful read in this genre is the Blades From the Willows trilogy by HuanZhuLouZhu (publisher: Wellsweep, in UK, sold in US by Cheng and Tsui), translater: Robert Chard. Again 2 of the 3 books are available, although only 1 is available in the US. If you can grab a hold of either of these gems, be prepared for a treat. I have read many, many science fiction and fantasy books, from Tolkien to McCaffrey to Pratchett etc., and found that the Chinese Martial Arts novel genre is just as engrossing and entertaining as any I've read. Works like these should not be limited to the Chinese-literate but be translated to English to be enjoyed by the Chinese-illiterate as well.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Appalling translation, April 1, 2002

By 

Jonathan Harris "schelf" (Central Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain: Martial Arts Fiction in Contemporary Chinese Literature (Paperback)

The translation of this work is at best clumsy and frequently appalling. As a previous reviewer notes much appears to have been carried out using, poorly, a dictionary. Thus we have "knife" used to refer to what in English is commonly called a sabre. The reason being (I assume) that the character used to describe the weapon commonly means knife. Frequently, she has chosen arcane language. Thus we get "myrmidon" to describe a senior captain/bodyguard; the translater not appreciating that the term when used in English literature is either jocular or derogatory. Some phrases and clauses are meaningless. It all reflects badly on the editorial team at the Chinese University Press in Hong Kong and, unfortunately, tells one much about the standard of English here. Where does this leave the reader? Frankly, I cannot understand how anyone could give this book a high rating other than out of a desperate desire to read something of this genre. The Deer and the Cauldron is far superior. This book can only be recommended to somebody who is prepared to persevere with the translation out of an interest in martial arts literature.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, lousy translation, November 30, 1999

By 

Fred Lit Yu (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain: Martial Arts Fiction in Contemporary Chinese Literature (Paperback)

I almost threw the book in the trash when I read the first page - I was so disappointed with the translation. How could anyone use a dictionary to translate martial arts terminology. Fortunately, I stuck around to read to page three, and could not put the book down afterwards. Such a unique plot, simple yet powerful characters with a conciseness in writing style rarely seen in Western works. Must read.