The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 1 by Cao Xueqin

Metaphysical, allegorical, and vividly realistic, the immense scope of The Story of the Stone provides something for everyone.Ī rich family saga, a tragic love story, and a philosophical meditation it is one of those rare huge books in which one can lose oneself completely. This classic novel from the Qing dynasty, considered the greatest work of Chinese fiction, is a brilliant achievement and a marvelous read. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.įew books can even be considered for the title of 'Book of the Millennium', but The Story of the Stone surely is a strong contender. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Hawkes's scholarship is prodigious but always human.' - Anne Lonsdale, Times Literary Supplement The language of the original is notoriously difficult and there are many obscurities, but none of this is apparent in the flexible but highly finished language ofthe translation. It has a fin-de-siècle preciosity about it which is perhaps too seldom relieved by its interludes of down-to earth humour (.) It would be presumptuous to talk of the quality of the translation.

(.) (J)ust as it is possible to admire Proust's art while feeling no attraction to the world he creates, so there will be some who are not attracted to the dream-world of Cao Xueqin. 'The reputation of The Story of the Stone has been daunting but tantalizing, because its previous translation into Western languages have been so inadequate.Chinese title: 石頭記 (but also widely known as 紅樓夢 ('Dream of the Red Chamber')).David Hawkes/John Minford) under review here is the standard English edition. There are a number of translations of this work available, generally pared down versions that omit much of the text.General information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs. The Story of the Stone (The Dream of the Red Chamber) - Cao Xueqin

The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 1 by Cao Xueqin