Rating:  Summary: A masterpiece Review: This is a very good book, filled with brotherhood, strategy, battles, loyalty, chivalry, valour, heroic deeds, and treachery. Although quite long,it is still worth it. It is a cultural classic, just like the Iliad and the Odyssey are to the Greek culture. Although it has many misspellings, I recommend this to anyone who likes reading.
Rating:  Summary: spelling mistakes notwithstanding, an elegant translation Review: I don't want to waste space on what a great literary work this is (self-evident), rather this particular translation and edition from Tuttle press. The paper and cover is high quality and attractive, and Brewitt's translation captures a lot of the camaraderie and pride of the characters, as well as the small poems scattered throughout, although of course if one could read old style Chinese that is ideal (I can't). There are some spelling mistakes and inconsistencies (a name spelt differently 2x) but overall a fine edition and a great story.
Rating:  Summary: Overall i have pleasure reading it Review: I enjoying reading it except the following problems:- Typos are almost appeared in every 3 pages. - Stories are not link between paragraphs. There are pages that I have to read 4-5 times in order to picture what is going on and who and who die. How about describe more about the heros when introducing them like, how old, what weapon they used and how strong. I believe those will spice up the book a lot more. EQ
Rating:  Summary: 5 stars to the work, but only 4 to the translation! Review: I love the Three Kingdoms. However, having read Brewitt-Taylors masterful exposition, this translation seems lacking, in my opinion. First, I must confess, I hate the modern Pinyin system of romanization. I cannot abide in a system where letters do not have the proper values. I mean, an entire generation of Americans (and God help the ignorant French!) will pronounce names like Cao Cao as "Cow Cow", or the Qin dynasty as the "Kwin" dynasty. The Brewitt-Taylor translation uses the old Wade system, and while it can be hard on the eyes, the reader gets a sense of at least the rough pronunciation (Cao Cao is rendered Ts'ao Ts'ao, Qin is rendered Ch'in, etc). Also, Brewitt-Taylors translation is very beautiful to the ears, sounding almost of Shakespeare. "Empires wax and wane, states cleave asunder and coalesce"; the sound itself is beautiful, and yet still renders the sense clearly. The Roberts translation certainly succeeds in the latter, but the beauty is lost. However, Brewitt-Taylor requires a very great vocabulary, whereas Roberts is more tame in this regards. Still, this was a book for scholars, and the translation should at least reflect that. Again, if you have no familiarization with the events of this tale, the complete rainstorm of names is daunting indeed. Always keep in mind the three separate forces (Cao Cao of Wei, Liu Bei of Shu and the Sun family of Wu) as well as a few of the other players (Zhang Jiao of the Yellow Scarves, Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao. Liu Biao and Liu Zhang) and you'll do fine. The book itself, in my opinion, is the greatest book ever told, succeeding in being at once a work of strategy, psychology, government, warfare, and human emotion, and there is nothing like it in the lexicon of Western literature. Enjoy!
Rating:  Summary: Excellent Review: I reviewed the other volume in this unabridged re-publishing of the two volumes, and I highly recommend them. They are certainly must-reads for all.
Rating:  Summary: A great edition Review: It amazes me how many adaptations of this magnificent, generation-spanning work exist. The most popular may be the KOEI game Dynasty Warriors in any of its versions - my first RTK addiction - but I would also recommend the Chinese TV adaptations, which may be found on VCD, if you really enjoy the books. I cannot compare this translation to the original Chinese (not quite there yet in reading the lingo), but I can say that, in my opinion, it reads much better and is far more complete than English editions from other publishers and translators. Additionally, its romanization of the character names allow me to discuss them with Chinese friends (i.e. it uses the Wade system, which approximates the difficult sounds of Chinese, unlike Pinyin. Note that you aren't reading the current official romanization in this translation, though). It is very long: the first volume is over 600 pages, which may not seem like much until you see the large page size, small font, and find yourself pausing every other paragraph to take notes on the fascinating action (or to keep track of one of the many important characters!). So much makes this story worth the read: the valiant characters, the mighty but flawed ones, court intrigue, enormous battles, and most especially the cultural glimpses on nearly every page, ranging from mores and morals to astrology and sorcery to strategy and tactics. There is even a bit of romance, though women in general play a secondary and usually subversive role in the story (never would have guessed that by playing Dynasty Warriors). This edition unfortunately does have a number of misspellings and punctuation problems. They were really a minor distraction, and I wouldn't let that affect your decision of this edition versus the others.
Rating:  Summary: Great story but a very sloppy edition Review: The story is truly a classic and the translation is pretty good. However, the actual product is pretty sloppy. Volume one was less problematic than volume two, but both had a high number of instances. The main problem is that letters that are similar in shape, such as b and d, p and g, etc. get switched, almost once a page. Also, the names weren't proofread very well, as apostrophes get pretty regularly left out. In a translation system where an apostrophe is the only difference between the names to two characters or places, this becomes a source of confusion. Also, entire words are left out pretty regularly. I wonder if any highly fluent English speakers actually got to proofread this, because most of these errors are so obvious. These errors aren't so bad that it is unreadable, but they really take a person out of the scene while the confusion is dispelled.
Rating:  Summary: Great Book Review: This book is great for anyone who likes stories about courage, loyalty,and strategy. The names are a little cofusing at first but if you keep in mind the three kingdoms of Shu,Wei,and Wu you'll do fine. I recomend this book as a classic which all people should enjoy.
Rating:  Summary: Great Book Review: This is a very good book, filled with strategy, battles, loyalty, chivalry, valour, heroic deeds, and treachery. If you like Medieval type books than you will probably like this, even though it is Chinese, it still has a lot of aspects of something like that. Although Quite long,it is still worth it. It is a Cultural Classic, Just like the Illiad or the Odyssey is to Greek culture. I recommend this to anyone who likes to read.
Rating:  Summary: A masterpiece Review: This is China's great achievement in literature. The book retells history splendidly, although there may be some fabrications of what actually did happen. It tells of bravery amongst men, strategy, morality, and loyalty that withstands the test of time. The book has great men that take the role of heroes, and even the antagonists in the story are represented in somewhat of a valorous manner. The writing itself is just magnificent, historical literature is usually boring because of some much explaining, describing, and so forth, but in this piece the writing flows so well that even that is very enjoyable to read. As you read through it you will find yourself rooting for certain warriors and hoping that your personal favorite becomes the hero of the day. Some of China's greatest historical figures are major players in the book, mainly Zhuge Liang. A splendid read. I recommend it to the highest degree.
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