Should I read dream of the red chamber?

Quote from Lulu_Key

yeah

I was thinking more along line of sth in 2000s

you can watch those and obviously they'll be better in terms of quality but from an authenticity and performance and remaining loyal to the book perspective nothing beats the old 1987 version

Quote from Yinye

I've read the English translation version of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' by David Hawkes. It was recommended to me by my Chinese history teacher back in my university days when I was studying Chinese history and I highly recommend it. I only wish I knew enough Chinese to read the original, because it's infused with poetry, philosophy, and social commentary of China written originally in the mid-to later 1700's. Brilliant authors have a way to really bring to life the world as it was back then -- even better than any modern drama can portray etc. But it's not an easy read and has a HUGE cast of characters. I truly enjoyed it and I loved the wisdom it contained in the writing.

For example in the beginning, there is this inscribed in a stone archway in the story:

假作真時真亦假，

無為有處有還無。

Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true;

Real becomes not-real where the unreal's real.

— The Story of the Stone

This stuck with me a long, long time and I started to think how much facts are really embedded in fiction and where the lines blurred. A history lover like myself, just really enjoyed contemplating it. People make fun of history but there were truly brilliant minds and people back in the days - living their lives. Shout out to the original author: Cao Xueqin - he's a genius.

For me, it was a bit personal too because I wanted to connect and learn more about my Chinese side of the family and understand what it was like for women especially in the that time period. Dream of the Red Chamber is consider one of the great classics of Chinese literature.

Adding the link to the version I read: https://www.amazon.com/Story-S…Chamber-Vol/dp/0140442936

BTW - David Hawkes devoted his life to translating this novel...there's even a specific academic field of study devoted to Dream of Red Chambers, called Redology.

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This post alone is making me heavily consider reading this book, I've only heard of it from this thread as well!

Quote from Lulu_Key

well I read the intro apparently there are 40 main characters and over 300 characters overall

I hope there is a chart out there that helps me keep track

I read that in a summary, I'm predicting the characters will fall in and out of relevancy. I hope at least. I'm gonna try and buy a copy of the book, I have a feeling it's not gonna be cheap

Quote from Lulu_Key

Im not sure if its globally published?

you can find a pdf on internet, I mean the author died even before the book was published so no copy rights.

If you like audioboooks there is also librovox app, again free

I prefer physically reading a book, but the pdf's a good safety net! Great to know there's no copyright on the domain.

I've found a david hawkes version for like 20 bucks so I may get that

actually nah pdf's free imma read that lol

Thank you russianvelvet. Happy to share the info.!

It is published in English via Penguin Classics and there’s a 5 volume translation into English by David Hawkes that I recommend. Each book is about $10-15 on Kindle. I just purchased the whole set to re-read over the holidays.

There’s a whole true life mystery about the ending and which one is the legit versions too. Also, the author was born in a noble family but by the time he was a child, the entire family lost favor and the Emperor demoted them. The author became poor and wrote this as an adult remembering how his family fell from grace and especially all the women in his life etc. So many key characters are women.

Quote from Yinye

Thank you russianvelvet. Happy to share the info.!

It is published in English via Penguin Classics and there’s a 5 volume translation into English by David Hawkes that I recommend. Each book is about $10-15 on Kindle. I just purchased the whole set to re-read over the holidays.

There’s a whole true life mystery about the ending and which one is the legit versions too. Also, the author was born in a noble family but by the time he was a child, the entire family lost favor and the Emperor demoted them. The author became poor and wrote this as an adult remembering how his family fell from grace and especially all the women in his life etc. So many key characters are women.

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I do not have kindle If I do get a physical copy I'll make sure it's the david hawke translation!

The ending sounds more and more interesting now! And so there's also personal hints in there, sounds like one great read. Knowing this was published in the 1700's it could be a reflection of the Qing dynasty, though. their fall wasn't until 1850's-early 1900's. I'm thinking out loud. Thank you for the info <<3