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Post by kyc on Sept 7, 2018 5:13:34 GMT
i was teasing. you could not have written the review you did if you loathed him. thanks for he reminder about madame gao--honestly couldn't remember. and would you care to elaborate on why you had a love-hate relationship with JY? killer clans is one of the best shaw bros wuxia productions ever, IMO. I should have guessed. Anyway, I will certainly check out Killer Clans, based on your and reinafu's recommendations. As for my love-hate relationship with JY once... there was a point in time when I felt some aspects of his writings annoy me. For example the unrealistic fight scenes ("how could someone become a kid again after practicing some kung-fu"). But the main thing was the overused trope of a woman so in love that she would do anything for her lover. The "undying love despite the man loving someone else and/or treating her like a doormat" would get to me. I would roll my eyes up and think, "Here it goes again..." In my opinion it's a rather chauvinistic offshoot of certain older Chinese writers. Another thing was the "she's so beautiful, she's impossible to hate" descriptions of some women. Eventually I grew out of it. I guess if you write such intricate plotlines as JY, unrealistic or illogical parts will be there. Also, the last time I read Feihu Waizhuan, that trope (eg. Ma Chunhua) didn't annoy me as much. Maybe it's because the two love interests weren't like that. At times this still annoys me, but I very graciously choose to forgive Jin Yong.
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Post by reinafu on Sept 7, 2018 17:12:19 GMT
I have the luck to have watched the series with Adam Cheng (and also the Shaws' Killer clans) and I confirm that the girl playing his daughter was totally insignifiant in the series ! Also, the other girl (the one who played Norman Tsui's daughter) was absolutely annoying, always being capricious and runnig after the assassin, even knowing that he loved Hudie !
The only woman interesting in this series was the boss of the assassins, who had raised and trained them. I'm not sure, but it seems to me that she was in love with one of them...I don't know how is her character in the book, but at least, she was able to fight and had an interesting role.
Also, how is the last assassin's character in the book ? In the series, he appear in the very last episodes and should have deserved a bigger on screen time in my opinion.
I would love to watch the 1978 series with Luo Le Lin, just to see how they adapted the book in these early years, and with Luo Le Lin in it, it must be a great one !
I wonder if it's worth watching the modern series with Huang Wei De...
adam cheng starred in a tv adaptation of LXHDJ?! is it a taiwan or mainland production? for the HK productions, i can only recall the CTV one. it's been a while since i read the book, but i think the boss of assassins was in love with the drunkard assassin, but maybe i'm misremembering.
Yes, Adam Cheng and Norman Tsui play in a tv adaptation of this book, and a very good one, though the main lead are more the young actors playing the assassins than them, but they still have great scenes.
Actually, I had watched the Shaws' Killer clans in the early 2010's years, and I remember that I had enjoyed it a lot, but I had found the plot a little bit obscure at that time. Then, years later, I watched Adam's series, and it didn't ring a bell to me at all !! It's only when I rewatched the Shaws' movies a few months ago that I immediately recognized the plot of the series, which curiously helped me to better uunderstand the movie, though there weren't any subtitles in the series !
If I'm not mistaken, it seems to me that in the series, the last assassin Shi Qun ends with Norman Tsui's daughter, but maybe I'm mistaken. What I'm sure of, is that they both help Adam Cheng's character to get rid of his traitorous "lieutenant"'men together with Hudie and her lover, and that the lieutenant is killed by the boss of the tavern (and nobody had suspected that he was working for Adam or Madam Gao, I don't remember.
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Post by siuyiu on Sept 8, 2018 0:02:21 GMT
i was teasing. you could not have written the review you did if you loathed him. thanks for he reminder about madame gao--honestly couldn't remember. and would you care to elaborate on why you had a love-hate relationship with JY? killer clans is one of the best shaw bros wuxia productions ever, IMO. I should have guessed. Anyway, I will certainly check out Killer Clans, based on your and reinafu's recommendations. As for my love-hate relationship with JY once... there was a point in time when I felt some aspects of his writings annoy me. For example the unrealistic fight scenes ("how could someone become a kid again after practicing some kung-fu"). But the main thing was the overused trope of a woman so in love that she would do anything for her lover. The "undying love despite the man loving someone else and/or treating her like a doormat" would get to me. I would roll my eyes up and think, "Here it goes again..." In my opinion it's a rather chauvinistic offshoot of certain older Chinese writers. Another thing was the "she's so beautiful, she's impossible to hate" descriptions of some women. Eventually I grew out of it. I guess if you write such intricate plotlines as JY, unrealistic or illogical parts will be there. Also, the last time I read Feihu Waizhuan, that trope (eg. Ma Chunhua) didn't annoy me as much. Maybe it's because the two love interests weren't like that. At times this still annoys me, but I very graciously choose to forgive Jin Yong. ah, understood. yes, with certain genres and period novels, you have to take certain things reflecting social attitudes/norms of the time with a grain of salt. suspend disbelief/disgust for a bit. sort of like how you have to accept that magic and dragons are part and parcel of most fantasy novels. hmmm... you may have similar issues with LYS's characters being too beautiful and too perfect... haha, let us know what you think of killer clans when you get around to watching it! you'll have to forgive the datedness of the fight choreography--the matrix wasn't in existence yet.
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Post by kyc on Oct 2, 2018 4:20:04 GMT
This is a review of a Gu Long novel, Caihuan Qu (《彩環曲》), with minor spoilers.
Talk about a boring wuxia novel. Unfortunately, Gu Long's early 1962 novel Caihuan Qu ("The Song of the Colored Band") falls into that category.
This is Gu Long before The Godfather morphing, before he pruned his excesses and developed his trademark pithy style. The novel, while written in a somewhat modern style, uses a markedly extensive literary vocabulary, is verbose to a fault and sadly, is also quite boring.
That Fudan alumnus, I don't know whether he will go into hysterics reading this book which features quite extensive literary vocabulary. But this surely does not fall into the "masterpiece" or "must read" category.
Dullness is not something one would normally associate with Gu Long. Nevertheless, this novel is dull. It is clearly an apprentice work, written when Gu Long was still worshipping Jin Yong. True, there are themes which recur later in Gu Long, but some characters, like the Four Brothers of Qi (戚氏兄弟), were probably inspired by JY (e.g. The Six Immortals of Peach Valley 桃谷六仙).
The novel strikes me more like a series of episodes, almost unrelated, which are only tied up in the final chapter. The final chapter is alright, the beginning is quite ok as well, but the center is so long-winded that you remember what Gu Long later says about himself: "Long, choppy and tedious—these have always been the problems besetting my novels in the past." (Preface to Flying Daggers, the Flying Daggers Re-appear) You finally understand what he means after you read this novel.
Even after completing the book, I still don't understand why it is called Caihuan Qu (《彩環曲》, "The Song of the Colored Band").
Protagonist is a boring, if good i.e. upright man, with very good martial arts. Antagonist is a boring woman of great beauty. Gu Long spends much time prettifying descriptions of the woman and of nature etc., but all those nice descriptions don't add much to the novel unfortunately.
The plot is fairly predictable (i.e. unpredictable in a predictable way), with a somewhat smaller cast of characters than expected. Nothing to quicken the pulse and I find the middle parts a hard slog to complete. There are a few highlights, but they are too far and few between to be of note.
Conclusion: An early and fairly forgettable novel, which will do much better at 1/3 the present length. Only recommended for completists or for those wanting to read a novel to know Gu Long's early style.
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Post by reinafu on Nov 9, 2018 11:52:10 GMT
I recently watched the ovie Legendary strike with Angela Mao. I guess that it's not really a wuxia movie, but I saw in the credits that it was an adaptation of Gu Long's work. Does anyone can tell me from which novel this movie is an adaptation, please ?
The plot tells the story of Ming patriots trying to stp a bad Qing Prince to sell and/or steal (lots of twists in the plot !!) a pearl being Dharma's relic to the Japanese.
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Post by siuyiu on Nov 14, 2018 3:17:40 GMT
I recently watched the ovie Legendary strike with Angela Mao. I guess that it's not really a wuxia movie, but I saw in the credits that it was an adaptation of Gu Long's work. Does anyone can tell me from which novel this movie is an adaptation, please ? The plot tells the story of Ming patriots trying to stp a bad Qing Prince to sell and/or steal (lots of twists in the plot !!) a pearl being Dharma's relic to the Japanese. according to hkmdb, GL was the screenwriter. i don't know that the story is based on one of his novels. hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=5937&complete_credits=1&display_set=eng
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Post by yenchin on Nov 14, 2018 7:58:36 GMT
I recently watched the ovie Legendary strike with Angela Mao. I guess that it's not really a wuxia movie, but I saw in the credits that it was an adaptation of Gu Long's work. Does anyone can tell me from which novel this movie is an adaptation, please ? The plot tells the story of Ming patriots trying to stp a bad Qing Prince to sell and/or steal (lots of twists in the plot !!) a pearl being Dharma's relic to the Japanese. according to hkmdb, GL was the screenwriter. i don't know that the story is based on one of his novels. hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=5937&complete_credits=1&display_set=engAccording to a fan website it seems that the script from GL came first. GL wrote or provided storylines for some movies.
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Post by reinafu on Nov 14, 2018 22:42:12 GMT
I didn't know that Gu Long had also written for movies and I really enjoyed Legendary strike each time I watched it !!
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Post by kyc on Nov 15, 2018 2:38:45 GMT
I didn't know that Gu Long had also written for movies and I really enjoyed Legendary strike each time I watched it !!
Gu Long wrote several original screenplays before he penned their novelizations. If I'm not wrong, The Eleventh Son (蕭十一郎) was one of them.
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Post by kyc on Dec 28, 2018 11:12:58 GMT
A review of a volume of Gu Long's short novels including Jianhua, Yanyu, Jiangnan (《劍花。煙雨。江南》, "Sword Flurries (?), Misty Rain, Jiangnan"), The Hunting Hawk (《獵鷹》) and The Bets (《賭局》). The first of the three short novels was published midway during Gu Long's career--more of a love story with a twist at the end. The novel may not be as famous or well written as LXHDJ or TYMYD but it will give pleasure. It concerns a man whose family was killed in a vendetta; he sends his pregnant girlfriend away before that; another woman falls in love with him and two men fall in love with his girlfriend. The middle sections may sag a little but the ending is more tense and of higher quality than the middle parts. So if you can persevere, it's definitely still worth a read. After all, the title is so poetic. The Hunting Hawk and The Bets constitute the last book that Gu Long published in 1985. The first is written like a detective novel and revolves around a case which is eventually solved by Bu Ying (卜鹰), a balding martial artist and puzzle solver like Chu Liuxiang. It has the usual late Gu Long virtue: its style is polished. However, I feel the story drags a little in the middle and in the ending as well. And the conclusion, when he explains how he resolve the puzzle, doesn't really convince me. Some of the logic seem a bit forced. The Bets is really a series of four short stories about Bu Ying again, this time as an inveterate gambler who bets on four different occasions. The last two bets are the most memorable, but there's a little erotic element in both. In the third story, a man is raped by several nuns; in the last, Bu Ying is stranded on an island with women, one of whom is naked when she meets him. The Bets is of high quality and I prefer these stories to The Hunting Hawk.Ratings: Jianhua, Yanyu, Jiangnan (《劍花。煙雨。江南》) 3.5/5; The Hunting Hawk (《獵鷹》) 3/5; The Bets (《賭局》) 4/5. They are contained in one volume in my reading edition. It does not contain "The Silver Sculpture" (《银雕》), which was only re-discovered recently.
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Post by kyc on Jan 10, 2019 10:15:30 GMT
I have finished Eleventh Son Xiao (《蕭十一郎》) a couple of days ago.
If there is any doubts that there are some things Gu Long can do but Jin Yong can't, this book is the proof.
It is so good that I doubt any other wuxia, never mind by Gu Long or Jin Yong, could better it. It's that good.
This book is a bit like The Smiling, Proud Wanderer in that there are many hypocrites; yet it is overall a sadder book than even that Jin Yong masterpiece.
I'd probably say a bit more about it, but am still reeling from the effects of completing this book. One prominent Taiwan critic even went so far as to call it the best Gu Long novel ever. I doubt that Gu Long ever wrote better; I hope that he had written many as good.
Also, this book changed my opinion that Gu Long could only portray one kind of women.
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Post by kyc on Jan 11, 2019 5:01:09 GMT
A longer review of Xiao Shiyilang (《蕭十一郎》) by Gu Long. It is a one-volume wuxia novel, translated as The Eleventh Son by Rebecca Tai. I cannot comment on the translation but I once flipped through it and thought it was pretty well translated. However, I had not yet read the original then. XSYL was originally written first as a movie screenplay then a novel. However, Gu Long explains that the original plot has been fermenting in his mind for a long time: he had wanted to write the novel first. Anyway, he ended up writing the screenplay first, but I haven't heard of the movie. It doesn't seem to be a famous one. XSYL is not really that long a novel but its impact is for me great. The novel revolves around the protagonist Xiao Shiyilang who is a highly skilled bandit often maligned by the martial arts fraternity. In fact, he is a free spirit with a set of principles of his own. The novel first starts with Feng Siniang (風四娘), who is (or maybe not) a former romantic/sexual interest of Xiao Shiyilang but who is definitely in love with him. They go together to hunt for the Deer Carving Saber. The main story involves Xiao Shiyilang's involvement with the great beauty Shen Bijun (沈壁君) who is already married to Lian Chengbi (連城璧), a young, influential martial hero. Their relationship is an entangled and painful one. Also, later they become entangled with the evil, mysterious villain Count Carefree (逍遙侯), with his concubine Little Young Master (小公子). The novel ends tragically and somewhat inconclusively: Gu Long had apparently not thought of writing its sequel when he first completed XSYL, but the story is later taken up in Battling Xiao Shiyilang. However, if you ignore the sequel, this novel also works well as a tragic standalone. There are things Gu Long does here which surprise me. First, he goes into the dynamics of a love relationship more deeply than even Jin Yong does. Jin Yong's love stories always have an idealistic, fairy-tale feel to it; not so Gu Long's here. The main couple in XSYL is a tragic couple, but he also asks pertinent questions: what will you do if you find out that your husband is a hypocrite? What if you fall in love with another man after you marry? Under what circumstances will a woman abandon her husband for another man yet not suffer from the moral chastisement of her conscience? These are questions Jin Yong doesn't even begin to ask. Also, Gu Long surprises me with his depiction of women here. A lot of readers tell me Gu Long can only portray sluts. Not so, from the evidence of this novel. Here he depict three very different women successfully: Feng Siniang, a probably promiscuous woman but one still with some moral principles and who knows who she really loves; Shen Bijun, who is caught in a dilemma, a beauty who never really knows what love is until she meets XSYL; and Little Young Master, an unscrupulous, sadistic woman who uses sex and power to kill indiscriminately. They are all memorable, living characters. Little Young Master is on the level of Kang Min in her wickedness and definitely trumps Azi's sadism. I was moved by this wuxia novel, something I thought very difficult to achieve. I feel for XSYL and Shen Bijun, Feng Siniang and Yang Kaitai (楊開泰). Yang Kaitai is just adorable--a bumbling, if highly skilled man who is deeply in love with Feng. Four very different characters, all memorable in their own rights. What is there not to like? In short, I like this wuxia novel even more than Tianya, Mingyue, Dao (which I already rated 5 stars out of 5). I doubt Gu Long wrote better novels. If he wrote many as good, I will be in seventh heaven. In a way, XSYL is as good as Tianlong Babu ( Demigods and Semi-devils) which I reread a few weeks ago. Note: there seems to be a new adaptation of Xiao Shiyilang in 2016. I do not usually trust TV series--I would urge anyone to first read the original novel (or translation) before watching the series, because I'm afraid the TV series might taint any good feelings for the book if it is bad. Rating: Of course, 5/5.
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Post by reinafu on Jan 11, 2019 20:25:13 GMT
XSYL was originally written first as a movie screenplay then a novel. However, Gu Long explains that the original plot has been fermenting in his mind for a long time: he had wanted to write the novel first. Anyway, he ended up writing the screenplay first, but I haven't heard of the movie. It doesn't seem to be a famous one.
Not a famous one ??!! It's Shaws' Swordsman and enchantress with Ti Lung.
There is a 1979 TVB adaptation whoch should be faithful to the novel (except the ending), but I haven't watched it as yet :
I also have the other version mentioned on specnet, Treasure venture ; I had began to watch it, but either I didn't like the actors, either I wasn't interested in the plot as it was shown in this series, either it was too modern for me, I don't know, but I stopped watching it. Reading your review makes me wonder if I shouldn't give it another try...
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Post by siuyiu on Jan 11, 2019 23:39:07 GMT
I have finished Eleventh Son Xiao (《蕭十一郎》) a couple of days ago. If there is any doubts that there are some things Gu Long can do but Jin Yong can't, this book is the proof. It is so good that I doubt any other wuxia, never mind by Gu Long or Jin Yong, could better it. It's that good. This book is a bit like The Smiling, Proud Wanderer in that there are many hypocrites; yet it is overall a sadder book than even that Jin Yong masterpiece. I'd probably say a bit more about it, but am still reeling from the effects of completing this book. One prominent Taiwan critic even went so far as to call it the best Gu Long novel ever. I doubt that Gu Long ever wrote better; I hope that he had written many as good. Also, this book changed my opinion that Gu Long could only portray one kind of women. feng siniang is an exception to the rule and an exceptional character. GL's women are generally written as bitchy, conniving, slutty, 2D, if they have personality at all. otherwise, they are weak and pitiful and uninteresting. but yes, FSN does not fall into that category. i've wondered if she was based on someone he knew. for me, X11Y isn't my fave but i agree it's well written. and yes, it's in the relationship bits where GL's style differs greatly from JY's and is, in that way, more modern. there are talks about relationship problems, of infidelity, etc. of course, having been married and divorced more than once, GL's perspective on relationships is at the same time realistic and cynical. not that many happy endings in his stories, overall. the story hasn't been as adapted as his other works (e.g., LXF & CLX) but i think X11Y is equally interesting as a male lead as the others. i certainly like that he's more proactive than GL's favourite tragic hero, LXH.
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Post by siuyiu on Jan 11, 2019 23:40:04 GMT
XSYL was originally written first as a movie screenplay then a novel. However, Gu Long explains that the original plot has been fermenting in his mind for a long time: he had wanted to write the novel first. Anyway, he ended up writing the screenplay first, but I haven't heard of the movie. It doesn't seem to be a famous one.
Not a famous one ??!! It's Shaws' Swordsman and enchantress with Ti Lung.
have to say, that's not even near my top 10 shaw wuxia movies.
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