Louis Cha (1924–2018)

I forgot I've attempted to read this once before - it all comes back to me once I start listening to the first chapter.

tl;dr - it's hard to get through (I'm still trying to finish it). My mind might change when I finally finish the book, but for now, I highly doubt I'll get the second book in the series.

(I should probably also preface that I've watched many TV remakes of this story, so I remember the gist of the plot even before I started the book. I picked up the book because I wanted to read all the details that might have been skipped in the TV series.)

Unlike more modern wuxia novels, this one takes itself very seriously (maybe I should blame this on the translator), which grates on my nerves a little. The story was originally published as a serial in a newspaper for the general public; it was supposed to be light entertainment, but the introduction in this copy of the book makes this out to be some deep work of literature.
I feel this puts readers in the wrong frame of mind - especially when considering the nature of the characters (I'll get to this later).

For some reason, the translator has chosen to translate some of the character's names, so you'll have characters named "Charity", "Ironheart" and "Withered Wood" next to characters named "Guo Jing", "Yang Kang" and "Qiu Chuji". The reason behind when translations happen seems to be arbitrary.
It's never a good idea to translate Chinese names into their English meaning - it just sounds dumb. Just use the Pingyin and give the explanation in an Appendix. Readers of Chinese novels would get used to recognising names over time.
So when you're listening to the narrator solemnly say, "Withered Wood understood the extent of the Taoist's kung fu, so tried another tactic..." - it just sounds (again), dumb.

This is also very much a novel of its time, the characters are simple, straight-forward people and they fight each other at the drop of the hat. This results in a lot of misunderstandings that drive the plot of the story.
In fact, 90% of the "plot" in this book could be avoided if people "talked" to each other instead of communicating with their fists.
This plot device was originally supposed to show the "righteousness" of the characters - that they can not sit still when they see injustice in the world, regardless of whether injustice was actually being done or who the actual culprit is.

I can't help but feel that this is a reflection of a time when "jocks" were valued above "nerds". Action in the form of fighting was seen as honourable.
However, modern-day sensibilities lean towards characters who are "smart" and who think before they act.
As such, when reading this book, I couldn't help but feel that all the characters are just... well... stupid.

Maybe the original aim of the story was to get its audience riled up at the actions of the characters - kind of like horror moviegoers screaming, "Don't go up those stairs!" or reality TV fans saying, "Oh no, she didn't!"
But this leads back to the introduction at the start of the book. The translator makes this out to be a work of literature that delves into the geo-political structure of ancient China from the perspective of jianghu heroes.
It would probably serve the story better to introduce the book as a martial arts version of The Kardashians.… (mer)

A Hero Born is the first in the classic Chinese epic Legends of the Condor Heroes by Yong Jin.

I have never read a kung fu epic before and I liked it. There were parts that were slow and I think that I should've gone for a physical book over audio. It's not the narrator's fault, he did a good job. There were just some things I found confusing and I couldn't rewind to listen again as I primarily listened to this one while driving. The fight scenes were a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed the indexes at the end explaining the history behind Chinese kung fu. Fair warning, this ends on a cliff hanger.… (mer)

Passende Fortsetzung von Band eins:
Sehr spannend, diesmal noch liebenswertere Charaktere, etwas mehr Humor. Nicht viel Tiefgang, macht aber Spaß. Unangenehm wieder der Fokus auf die Ehre, der stark übertriebene Heldenmut, die Idiotie der für den eigenen Ruf ausgeführten Handlungen, die Selbstverständlichkeit des chinesischen Nationalismus.
Insgesamt nicht schlecht, wahrscheinlich werde ich die weiteren Bände irgendwann lesen. Notfalls auf Englisch, auf Deutsch erscheint Band 3 erst im September 2022. Jetzt ist aber erst einmal Zeit für ganz andere Literatur.… (mer)