Luo Guanzhong

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 15th-century novelization of the events of China's 3rd-century Three Kingdoms period. The novel revolves around Liu "Xuande" Bei and his chief minister Zhuge "Kongming" Liang as they combat Cao Cao, a Chinese prime minister who has made the Imperial family his puppet rulers. Mixed into this is the sometimes-ally sometimes-enemy Sun clan, whose Southland has declared independence from the declining Imperial court. While much of the book revolves around military tactics (which here is often outright trickery), the later stages of the book pit Xuande's loyalty to his two oath-brothers against his desire for good strategy and administration (the latter of which is almost always backed by Kongming). As historical novelizations do, this account attributes conversations and emotions to characters that could not possibly be known, but the author stays pretty true to historical events and timelines. Unlike in many modern novels, all of the main characters in this story grow feeble and die--not just in physical stature, but also in mental acuity, which is a little heartbreaking to read. While I generally gravitate toward more modern works, I definitely appreciated this book in its context as one of the great works of Chinese literature.… (mehr)

The epic adventure novel, The Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong was an excellent read for me. I have long had a knowledge of the characters of the book, picked up by years of playing both Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Kingdom Strategy games which were based on this traditional Chinese epic. Set in the years of 220 to 280 AD, China was, at that time, divided into three separate states, that of Wei, Shu and Wu. This era signified the crumbling of the Han Dynasty, and the book exposes the rivalry, intrigues and wars that were fought during the turbulent years that the three states were jostling for position.

I admit to feeling rather overwhelmed at first as the story opened up with the appearance of dozens of warlords and generals that were hard to keep track of. Thank heavens I persevered as what brings this book to life are these exciting and varied characters that the reader meets throughout the journey. Eventually a pattern emerges and the story narrows to follow certain characters which makes it much easier to absorb the story. The names of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Cao Cao may have little or no meaning to westerners, but these are just a few of the heroes that through their loyalty or treachery live on and have become cultural icons in China.

Other than having to keep track of a multitude of characters, the book was very easy to read and I quickly became absorbed in the adventure, culture and geography of the story. This is a book that I have long wanted to read and now, I am happy to say that I have completed this massive volume and was very satisfied with the historical and mythical aspects of this story that truly does romanticize the lives of these feudal Chinese warlords.… (mehr)