Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Folio Society (2019). 384p. Bound in foiled and printed green paper. Set in Albertina. Frontispiece and 6 colour illustrations, including 2 double-page spreads. Printed endpapers. Blocked slipcase. 10˝ x 6¾˝
Description
The epic Chinese classic and phenomenon published in the US for the first time! A fantastical generational saga and kung fu epic, A Hero Born is the classic novel of its time, stretching from the Song Empire (China 1200 AD) to the appearance of a warlord whose name will endure for eternity: Genghis Khan. Filled with an extraordinary cast of characters, A Hero Born is a tale of fantasy and wonder, love and passion, treachery and war, betrayal and brotherhood. And then a hero is born... After his father, a Song patriot, was murdered, Guo Jing and his mother fled to the plains and joined Ghengis Khan and his people. Loyal, humble and driven, he learned all he could from the warlord and his army in hopes of one day joining them in their cause. But what Guo Jing doesn't know is that he's destined to battle an opponent that will challenge him in every way imaginable and with a connection to his past that no one envisioned. With the help and guidance of his shifus, The Seven Heroes of the South, Guo Jing returns to China to face his foe and carry out his destiny. But in a land divided by treachery and war, betrayal and ambition, he'll have to put his courage and knowledge to the test to survive.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bemislibrary
Translated from Chinese, this is an epic tale of marital arts that took place over 800 years ago in the days of Genghis Khan. There are rules for competitions that are ignored by the arrogant and ruling class that lead to conflict after conflict. Not all relationships are what they seem. There is a
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thread of romance and many secrets that surround Guo Jing, his mother, and a Jin prince. Show Less
LibraryThing member dmclane
I was not sure how I'd like a translation from Chinese to English as a story, but was greatly impressed by the ability of the tale and translation to appeal to an English speaker. There are, of course, many things that did not translate, for instance the fight scenes were simply translated by using
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the martial arts terms, for instance 'Lazy donkey roll" as opposed to attempting to describe the event in English. Once you adjusted to that aspect, the story had universal appeal. Show Less
LibraryThing member dmmjlllt
1st book in a projected 12(!) volume translation of the Legend of the Condor Heroes., apparently a founding wuxia story. Also described (somewhere by someone I don't remember) as the "Chinese Lord of the Rings".
Sold.
Sold.
LibraryThing member sensitivemuse
Despite what you read on the covers (e.g. “It’s like Lord of the Rings”) ignore all of that. It’s nothing like it. There is no epic adventure to fight evil (at least not yet - this is the first book in the series). So before you get all disappointed in what the outside quotes say,
Translation will always be an issue with these kinds of books. It’s hard to keep it true and coherent. Sometimes you get a good one that is completely comprehensible and makes the reading a journey well worth it. Then you get one like A Hero Born and it’s not the greatest translation. The writing style is dry and hard to get into. Sometimes it gets too descriptive, but other times it’s not descriptive enough. It can be a little long winded at times and it drags - I’m not too sure if that’s because of the run on writing style or the plot itself. Either way by the last third of the book it was getting to be tiresome.
Speaking of the plot, it was good! There’s plenty of action, a bit of intrigue here and there. If you don’t mind something akin to Chinese historical fiction movies with classic martial arts fighting then perhaps this is for you. There are small elements of political intrigue which keeps the story interesting, however keep in mind there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but luckily there is a cast of characters in the beginning of the novel so that should not be a problem. This isn’t a book to put down and turn back to later, this needs to be consistently read you will easily lose your place.
There’s also several plot arcs that happen throughout the novel so it’s best to keep track of them carefully. They are all intertwined at some point. It’s a great plot and if it wasn’t for the horrible writing/translation.
I don’t know if I could recommend this one to anyone. I would under normal circumstances but the writing just do the plot justice. It’s too bad, it would have been such a great series.
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completely disregard them. Translation will always be an issue with these kinds of books. It’s hard to keep it true and coherent. Sometimes you get a good one that is completely comprehensible and makes the reading a journey well worth it. Then you get one like A Hero Born and it’s not the greatest translation. The writing style is dry and hard to get into. Sometimes it gets too descriptive, but other times it’s not descriptive enough. It can be a little long winded at times and it drags - I’m not too sure if that’s because of the run on writing style or the plot itself. Either way by the last third of the book it was getting to be tiresome.
Speaking of the plot, it was good! There’s plenty of action, a bit of intrigue here and there. If you don’t mind something akin to Chinese historical fiction movies with classic martial arts fighting then perhaps this is for you. There are small elements of political intrigue which keeps the story interesting, however keep in mind there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but luckily there is a cast of characters in the beginning of the novel so that should not be a problem. This isn’t a book to put down and turn back to later, this needs to be consistently read you will easily lose your place.
There’s also several plot arcs that happen throughout the novel so it’s best to keep track of them carefully. They are all intertwined at some point. It’s a great plot and if it wasn’t for the horrible writing/translation.
I don’t know if I could recommend this one to anyone. I would under normal circumstances but the writing just do the plot justice. It’s too bad, it would have been such a great series.
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LibraryThing member MontzaleeW
A Hero Born
The Definitive Edition
by Jin Yong
I requested this book from Netgalley and the review is voluntary. I really wanted to like this book. I was excited to start it but I found it frustrating and confusing. There are long stretches of boring chapters that I really wanted to give up.
I usually think that the book is better than the movie but maybe in this case it might be the other way around.
The Definitive Edition
by Jin Yong
I requested this book from Netgalley and the review is voluntary. I really wanted to like this book. I was excited to start it but I found it frustrating and confusing. There are long stretches of boring chapters that I really wanted to give up.
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(Especially since I am having to read it on my phone since my tablet died.) There are way to many fight scenes. They all seem to be the same. The names of everyone except for the main characters were impossible for me to even try to keep straight.I usually think that the book is better than the movie but maybe in this case it might be the other way around.
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LibraryThing member Black-Lilly
I stumbled by accident over an old review of this book when it was first published in the UK and I was intrigued. I love wuxia movies, so wuxia books sounded very delightful.
I was not disappointed!
The beginning is maybe a bit slow but it is picking up pace quickly and I was engrossed in the
Seeing the hero slowly evolving from a slow learner into a hero of his own is truly the beginning of an epic saga.
The only drawback is maybe the sometimes wooden sounding translation, when the text was not as smooth flowing sounding as it most likely is in the original. (too bad I won't be learning Chinese in this lifetime anymore, as I would love to read the original.)
Calling it a Chinese Lord of the Rings of course is bogus and lazy marketing.
I was not disappointed!
The beginning is maybe a bit slow but it is picking up pace quickly and I was engrossed in the
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story.Seeing the hero slowly evolving from a slow learner into a hero of his own is truly the beginning of an epic saga.
The only drawback is maybe the sometimes wooden sounding translation, when the text was not as smooth flowing sounding as it most likely is in the original. (too bad I won't be learning Chinese in this lifetime anymore, as I would love to read the original.)
Calling it a Chinese Lord of the Rings of course is bogus and lazy marketing.
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LibraryThing member Arkrayder
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest and fair review.
I really wanted to like the story in this book. I know it’s translated from Chinese and that it would lose something from the original language, but I just feel that the prose is so
I really wanted to like the story in this book. I know it’s translated from Chinese and that it would lose something from the original language, but I just feel that the prose is so
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clunky and amateurish. The story seems to jump around and there is no flow to it. The characters seem stunted and I don’t find myself drawn to them at all. I would really like to see a better translation of the book with less clunky prose. Show Less
LibraryThing member Narilka
A Hero Born is the first in the classic Chinese epic Legends of the Condor Heroes by Yong Jin.
I have never read a kung fu epic before and I liked it. There were parts that were slow and I think that I should've gone for a physical book over audio. It's not the narrator's fault, he did a good job.
I have never read a kung fu epic before and I liked it. There were parts that were slow and I think that I should've gone for a physical book over audio. It's not the narrator's fault, he did a good job.
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There were just some things I found confusing and I couldn't rewind to listen again as I primarily listened to this one while driving. The fight scenes were a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed the indexes at the end explaining the history behind Chinese kung fu. Fair warning, this ends on a cliff hanger. Show Less
LibraryThing member vishae
I forgot I've attempted to read this once before - it all comes back to me once I start listening to the first chapter.
tl;dr - it's hard to get through (I'm still trying to finish it). My mind might change when I finally finish the book, but for now, I highly doubt I'll get the second book in the
(I should probably also preface that I've watched many TV remakes of this story, so I remember the gist of the plot even before I started the book. I picked up the book because I wanted to read all the details that might have been skipped in the TV series.)
Unlike more modern wuxia novels, this one takes itself very seriously (maybe I should blame this on the translator), which grates on my nerves a little. The story was originally published as a serial in a newspaper for the general public; it was supposed to be light entertainment, but the introduction in this copy of the book makes this out to be some deep work of literature.
I feel this puts readers in the wrong frame of mind - especially when considering the nature of the characters (I'll get to this later).
For some reason, the translator has chosen to translate some of the character's names, so you'll have characters named "Charity", "Ironheart" and "Withered Wood" next to characters named "Guo Jing", "Yang Kang" and "Qiu Chuji". The reason behind when translations happen seems to be arbitrary.
It's never a good idea to translate Chinese names into their English meaning - it just sounds dumb. Just use the Pingyin and give the explanation in an Appendix. Readers of Chinese novels would get used to recognising names over time.
So when you're listening to the narrator solemnly say, "Withered Wood understood the extent of the Taoist's kung fu, so tried another tactic..." - it just sounds (again), dumb.
This is also very much a novel of its time, the characters are simple, straight-forward people and they fight each other at the drop of the hat. This results in a lot of misunderstandings that drive the plot of the story.
In fact, 90% of the "plot" in this book could be avoided if people "talked" to each other instead of communicating with their fists.
This plot device was originally supposed to show the "righteousness" of the characters - that they can not sit still when they see injustice in the world, regardless of whether injustice was actually being done or who the actual culprit is.
I can't help but feel that this is a reflection of a time when "jocks" were valued above "nerds". Action in the form of fighting was seen as honourable.
However, modern-day sensibilities lean towards characters who are "smart" and who think before they act.
As such, when reading this book, I couldn't help but feel that all the characters are just... well... stupid.
Maybe the original aim of the story was to get its audience riled up at the actions of the characters - kind of like horror moviegoers screaming, "Don't go up those stairs!" or reality TV fans saying, "Oh no, she didn't!"
But this leads back to the introduction at the start of the book. The translator makes this out to be a work of literature that delves into the geo-political structure of ancient China from the perspective of jianghu heroes.
It would probably serve the story better to introduce the book as a martial arts version of The Kardashians.
tl;dr - it's hard to get through (I'm still trying to finish it). My mind might change when I finally finish the book, but for now, I highly doubt I'll get the second book in the
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series.(I should probably also preface that I've watched many TV remakes of this story, so I remember the gist of the plot even before I started the book. I picked up the book because I wanted to read all the details that might have been skipped in the TV series.)
Unlike more modern wuxia novels, this one takes itself very seriously (maybe I should blame this on the translator), which grates on my nerves a little. The story was originally published as a serial in a newspaper for the general public; it was supposed to be light entertainment, but the introduction in this copy of the book makes this out to be some deep work of literature.
I feel this puts readers in the wrong frame of mind - especially when considering the nature of the characters (I'll get to this later).
For some reason, the translator has chosen to translate some of the character's names, so you'll have characters named "Charity", "Ironheart" and "Withered Wood" next to characters named "Guo Jing", "Yang Kang" and "Qiu Chuji". The reason behind when translations happen seems to be arbitrary.
It's never a good idea to translate Chinese names into their English meaning - it just sounds dumb. Just use the Pingyin and give the explanation in an Appendix. Readers of Chinese novels would get used to recognising names over time.
So when you're listening to the narrator solemnly say, "Withered Wood understood the extent of the Taoist's kung fu, so tried another tactic..." - it just sounds (again), dumb.
This is also very much a novel of its time, the characters are simple, straight-forward people and they fight each other at the drop of the hat. This results in a lot of misunderstandings that drive the plot of the story.
In fact, 90% of the "plot" in this book could be avoided if people "talked" to each other instead of communicating with their fists.
This plot device was originally supposed to show the "righteousness" of the characters - that they can not sit still when they see injustice in the world, regardless of whether injustice was actually being done or who the actual culprit is.
I can't help but feel that this is a reflection of a time when "jocks" were valued above "nerds". Action in the form of fighting was seen as honourable.
However, modern-day sensibilities lean towards characters who are "smart" and who think before they act.
As such, when reading this book, I couldn't help but feel that all the characters are just... well... stupid.
Maybe the original aim of the story was to get its audience riled up at the actions of the characters - kind of like horror moviegoers screaming, "Don't go up those stairs!" or reality TV fans saying, "Oh no, she didn't!"
But this leads back to the introduction at the start of the book. The translator makes this out to be a work of literature that delves into the geo-political structure of ancient China from the perspective of jianghu heroes.
It would probably serve the story better to introduce the book as a martial arts version of The Kardashians.
Show Less
Language
Original language
Chinese
Original publication date
1957 (Chinese)
2018-02-22
Physical description
384 p.; 20 inches
Local notes
It is 1200 AD and China is a land divided. The Song empire has been driven south by the fierce Jurchen peoples, and now corrupt officials scramble to save their own hides while ordinary men and women struggle just to survive. Yet in the far north, under the eye of Genghis Khan, a young hero is rising whose destiny it is to change history… Trained in kung fu by the Seven Heroes themselves, Guo Jing will face betrayals, mythical villains and an enemy as cunning as he is ruthless.
This edition uses the 2018 MacLehose Press (an imprint of Quercus Publishing Ltd) translation by Anna Holmwood.
This edition uses the 2018 MacLehose Press (an imprint of Quercus Publishing Ltd) translation by Anna Holmwood.