The Dream of the Red Chamber

by Cao Xueqin, Gao E, Tsao Hsueh-Chin, et al.

Book Overview

For more than a century and a half, Dream of the Red Chamber has been recognized in China as the greatest of its novels, a Chinese Romeo-and-Juliet love story and a portrait of one of the world's great civilizations. Chi-chen Wang's translation is skillful, accurate and fascinating.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385093799
• ISBN13: 9780385093798
• Release Date: November 1958
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

a beautiful story

"A Dream of Red Mansions" is a wonderful book to read over and over again you will come away with a different feeling every time you read it.

A Masterpiece!

Even though some may say that the translation is less then brilliant I still enjoyed the story very much. I was quiet sad actually when the story ended. It made me feel like no other book had ever made me feel. I've always cheered on the good guys like in "Outlaws of the Marsh" or "The Three Kingdoms", but this time I really cared about these characters. Shakespeare's got nothing on this story. The charcters expressed the way they felt through poetry and music. I was in the room and I knew these people. It accomplishes everything every other story never could. I'm just afraid I'll never have that same feeling again.

It's not about Romeo and Juliet

It's sad to know that most western readers regard this novel as a Chinese Romeo and Juliet story. This over-simplified conclusion misleads people and kills the greatness of the book. A most fascinating and complicated story about almost everything in life from the uglist to the most beautiful, unfortunately is mistaken as "two girls competing for a boy". The wisdom in the book is so vast that even if I've been reading the book since I was a teenager, each time the book entertains and educates me in new ways. I know that I won't be able to completely understand the book in my entire life time. Let's just say that no matter where you are from, how much you know about China, the book has something for everyone.

A wonderful novel

The 18th century novel, Hongloumeng, remains the greatest Chinese novel ever written, unsurpassed in its depiction of individuals and families, human striving, and stellar literary values. It may be read on many levels, as a love story or social history, as a philosophical musing on the futility of human existence, and a repository of Chinese artistic and literary values. The translation under review is a sharply abridged version that advances the plot line by eliminating many of the minor characters, most of the poetry, and a great deal of the detailed descriptions of daily life in an upper class Chinese family. Those seeking a full appreciation of the novel, especially its literary value, should turn to the full translation, which goes by the title Story of the Stone. However, the full complete translation is a multivalued piece, almost 2,000 pages in length. What you get with this translation is a good feel for the main characters, especially the love triangle, and for the social dynamics within the family. The result in a lovely read that will inspire you to compare this abridge version with a fuller version to see what you missed. I still use this translation in my history courses, but I use it for social history. My colleagues in literature prefer to use volume 1 of the Story of the Stone for their classes.

it's not only a love story

it is a story of a stone, of a family, of the society of old china. The romatic relations are only part of the story. it is a story difficult to start, cos too long, and too much old terms and especially for those non-chinese reader may find it really difficuit and even boring. you will find it boring not because it IS boring, but because you don't understand. try to put more time on it and try to read it agian and again. you will find more and understand more. for i myself, i have read it for 3 times. one of the greatest book i even read. if you are a chinese, u have to read it. if you are not a chinese, you will know more about chinese culture and chinese phillosophy. hopo you will be touch. at least i am.