Customer Reviews

A Dream of Red Mansions (Chinese Classics, Classic Novel in 4 Volumes)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Yangs' translation of "A Dream of Red Mansions" is extremely accurate. That's about the best thing to be said about it.
Unlike David Hawkes and John Minford's masterful translation, which can stand on its own as a work of literature, this edition reads like...well, like a translation. The prose is flat, the puns of the original are translated literally, rather than being approximated as in the Hawkes-Minford version, and on the whole, the flavour of the original Chinese text is missing.
A person trying to read the original Chinese text of "A Dream of Red Mansions" might find this translation useful to keep at hand for a side-by-side comparison; it reads like a translator's crib. The Yangs of this edition take fewer liberties with jokes, puns, and poems than do Hawkes and Minford. (I should stress that when Hawkes and Minford deviate from the original text, it is only in minor and inconsequential ways, and is always in service of the text.) The Yangs failed to realise, apparently, that being faithful to the precise words of a book isn't necessarily the same as being faithful to the spirit, and their translation is no fun at all to read.

This book is like Anna Karenina in the following ways: Both are masterpieces of epic proportions. Both are considered contenders for being the greatest works of fiction in their respective languages. Both deal with large, upper class families and the lifestyle and intrigue involved. Both are works of realism and paint a complete picture of a society.

A Dream of Red Mansions focuses on the love between Baoyu, an unusual child in his early teens who is temperamental and spends most of his time with the girls in the family mansion and Daiyu, a delicate, sensitive and yet witty and extremely clever girl. The two grow up as children and live in the same mansion but the family does not hurry to marry them off as they have other plans for Baoyu.

This is the main thread that runs through the novel's amazing 120 chapters. The other sublots are very numerous - there are hundreds - but none of them are sustained for the whole book. The main part of the book is the set of characters. Again there are hundreds but a few main ones which become the most interesting in this drama. There's the conniving Xifeng, Baoyu's strict father, Baoyu's assertive "other love" Baochai and the like.

Unlike Anna Karenina, this book is full of humour, jokes and poems (which was where I think the translation failed the most as Chinese poetry rendered into English seems to lose the plot!). It contains moments of great sadness but also wit and quirkiness.

There's been controversy with the amazon reviews of this particular translation. I don't speak Chinese so can't judge it but reading the text, it seemed fine. I guess if I saw another or the original it would change my mind but this one isn't too bad.

The novel deals with so many topics that you really get an overview of what life in 18th century upper class urban China was about. It is VERY long but it's amazing how in relating heaps and heaps of seemingly trivial incidents you grow to love many of the characters. It's like most novels are like meeting someone and hence only seeing what they want to show while this novel is like living with them. And trivialities aside, it's very moving.

A must for all interested in Chinese society or who don't mind persevering through 1200 pages to read a one of the world's unusual and amazing dynasty chronicles and love stories.

One of the great classics of world literature. Having read both this translation and the David Hawkes' five volume translation of this novel, I personally prefer this one. Although the David Hawkes translation is smoother and more literary for the English speaking reader, I find that the Yang translation better conveys the atmosphere of 17th and 18th century China and the complex relationships between the various members of the upper class Chia household and their omnipresent bevy of slaves and servants. I even greatly enjoyed, from a tongue-in-cheek perspective, the "sayings of Chairman Mao" inspired introduction to this translation. I'm now ready to embark on my fourth reading of this book in about as many years.

There are two complete, unabridged translation of the greatest Chinese classical novel of manners "Dream of the Red Chamber". One is the Penguin classics version translated by Oxford doyen David Hawkes and his son-in-law John Minford, now available on paperbacks in 5 volumes under the alternate title "The Story of the Stone". The other is this China Foreign Language Press version made in the late 1970s by Chinese translators Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys.

With all due respects to the Yangs, their translation just isn't on par with the Penguin's. The original novel is a paragon of how the classical vernacular Chinese language should be written; Yangs' version is stodgy and half-hearted and captures none of the elegance and depth of the original. Their English borders on paraphrase at times and they don't appear to bother about stylistic recreation, eg. some sentences don't sound native at all - "The arrival of the edict rejoiced the hearts of all officials". Believe me, reading the original is much, much better.

The Yangs' works could be serviceable (as in their decent Lu Hsun) but this version of "Dream of the Red Mansions" is embarassingly outclassed by a far superior and more idiomatic rendition: David Hawkes's version is simply unparalleled and a labor of love. Given a choice between the two translations, it's a no-brainer: the Penguin is the winner anytime.

Even though some may say that the translation is less then brilliant I still enjoyed the story very much. I was quiet sad actually when the story ended. It made me feel like no other book had ever made me feel. I've always cheered on the good guys like in "Outlaws of the Marsh" or "The Three Kingdoms", but this time I really cared about these characters. Shakespeare's got nothing on this story. The charcters expressed the way they felt through poetry and music. I was in the room and I knew these people. It accomplishes everything every other story never could. I'm just afraid I'll never have that same feeling again.

I searched out this set because my teacher of Chinese medicine had told me that it was her favorite book as a teenager and that she still had the fondest memories of it - yet, she had never read it in English. When I gave it to her, she beamed, opened to a random page and said, "I know right where they are in the story although my English doesn't understand every word." When I saw her later she told me that her daughter was upset that she hadn't thought of this book for her mom as it brought her so much happiness!

This is the best edition you will ever read and great translation you can get in the market. The translators-Yang Xianyi and His British-born wife-Gladys Yang, both educated in Oxford University, keep the original flavor of the Chinese verison through their beautiful translation work. Must-read and
highly-recommended.

This Chinese classic still has the power to surprise and delight. This edition has good footnotes and good translation, and nice illustrations, though there are some typos and the print is smaller than I'd like. I bought it used, and it was in very good condition.

Was given as a Christmas gift to my mother in law. She was very happy with the set.

If you want to know the history of Qing dynasty of China, read it;
If you want to learn decent Chinese, you must read it;
If you want to enjoy the great Chinese culture, you defenitely must read it;

The translation is also the best one I have ever seen. But if you try to read the original Chinese edition,maybe you will be more agreed on what I recommended.