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ninetalevixen 's review for:
A Hero Born: The Definitive Edition
by Jin Yong
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway and received a galley from St. Martin's Press for review. This does not affect my rating or opinions.
I was so excited to get this ARC in the mail, because the story intrigued me since it's quite different from what I usually read, I've been meaning to pick up more translated works, and just look at that gorgeous cover. Really I had no idea what to expect from this book; I did enjoy it, but I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped to.
My Chinese definitely isn't good enough to read the original, but I feel like there was a significant amount lost in translation. To be clear, I have the utmost respect for the art of translation and imagine that translating this book in particular was a challenge, considering the differences ranging from syntax to culture that had to be accounted for. That said, I'm puzzled by some of the translatorial choices made here, including translating and "flipping" some names and not others (ex: Guo Jing and Skyfury Guo, who are son and father and therefore share the last name "Guo"), the specific syntax of the poetry, and a few more little things that added up over the course of 400+ pages.
I also found the narrative structure slightly monotonous, a predictable cycle of battles (both of martial arts and, to some extent, of strategy) and training and travel. And this might just be a question of preference; I personally am not all that interested in fighting-focused anime (such as Dragon Ball and all its iterations) and martial arts movies, nor do I tend to favor books that emphasize action above all else. But I know plenty of people who like fighting anime and action-packed books, so I can see the objective appeal of this narrative.
This book took me quite a while to get through — partly because it was just long, but also partly because of the aspects I've mentioned above. As someone who typically gets through books fairly quickly, I was a little put off. But as I started to pick up on the nuances of the characters and the subtleties of the worldbuilding I found myself more and more engaged in the story and invested in the characters, so I don't regret the time I spent finishing this book. (I may even continue the series, we'll see.)
I was so excited to get this ARC in the mail, because the story intrigued me since it's quite different from what I usually read, I've been meaning to pick up more translated works, and just look at that gorgeous cover. Really I had no idea what to expect from this book; I did enjoy it, but I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped to.
My Chinese definitely isn't good enough to read the original, but I feel like there was a significant amount lost in translation. To be clear, I have the utmost respect for the art of translation and imagine that translating this book in particular was a challenge, considering the differences ranging from syntax to culture that had to be accounted for. That said, I'm puzzled by some of the translatorial choices made here, including translating and "flipping" some names and not others (ex: Guo Jing and Skyfury Guo, who are son and father and therefore share the last name "Guo"), the specific syntax of the poetry, and a few more little things that added up over the course of 400+ pages.
I also found the narrative structure slightly monotonous, a predictable cycle of battles (both of martial arts and, to some extent, of strategy) and training and travel. And this might just be a question of preference; I personally am not all that interested in fighting-focused anime (such as Dragon Ball and all its iterations) and martial arts movies, nor do I tend to favor books that emphasize action above all else. But I know plenty of people who like fighting anime and action-packed books, so I can see the objective appeal of this narrative.
This book took me quite a while to get through — partly because it was just long, but also partly because of the aspects I've mentioned above. As someone who typically gets through books fairly quickly, I was a little put off. But as I started to pick up on the nuances of the characters and the subtleties of the worldbuilding I found myself more and more engaged in the story and invested in the characters, so I don't regret the time I spent finishing this book. (I may even continue the series, we'll see.)