Gao E
Author of The Debt of Tears
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The last couple of chapters contain an absurdly happy ending — notwithstanding all the unhappiness already recorded — but in general I have a lot of sympathy for Gao E’s production of chapters 81-120. Considering the magnitude of his task, to wrap up a story that seemed to be going nowhere yet everywhere, to document the dissolution of a dynasty, to please the fans — he did OK.
For much of my trip through DoRC I was focused on various supporting characters. Xi Feng, Skybright, Xue show more Pan, Tan Chun all won me over. But looking back on it all, the one I miss most is young Bao Yu. I loved his haplessness, his last-minute excuses and dissimulations, his sudden “aiyos” whe he realises he’s screwed up which are like Bart Simpson’s “d’oh”. His kindness and real concern for his servants, not an educated veneer but real humanity. And in the end this is what tears him away from the world, his connection to it.
It’s been a wonderful, enriching experience. The second volume is on a par with the second volume of Proust, very similar in its themes too. The slowly melting ice of the third book with its sudden violent cracks is brilliant. The sheer confusion of who’s who, replenished by infusions of new characters who inevitably fall ill, have their pulses taken through curtains, are prescribed incredibly complicated compounds and then either recover or perish. To quote Blackadder, “the endless, bloody, poetry!” Although the poetry translated by Hawkes was generally amazing. The earthly paradise of the garden in its halcyon days.
Sometimes boring, sometimes compulsive, almost always convincing, the Story of the Stone, like all great stories, is the story of life itself. show less
For much of my trip through DoRC I was focused on various supporting characters. Xi Feng, Skybright, Xue show more Pan, Tan Chun all won me over. But looking back on it all, the one I miss most is young Bao Yu. I loved his haplessness, his last-minute excuses and dissimulations, his sudden “aiyos” whe he realises he’s screwed up which are like Bart Simpson’s “d’oh”. His kindness and real concern for his servants, not an educated veneer but real humanity. And in the end this is what tears him away from the world, his connection to it.
It’s been a wonderful, enriching experience. The second volume is on a par with the second volume of Proust, very similar in its themes too. The slowly melting ice of the third book with its sudden violent cracks is brilliant. The sheer confusion of who’s who, replenished by infusions of new characters who inevitably fall ill, have their pulses taken through curtains, are prescribed incredibly complicated compounds and then either recover or perish. To quote Blackadder, “the endless, bloody, poetry!” Although the poetry translated by Hawkes was generally amazing. The earthly paradise of the garden in its halcyon days.
Sometimes boring, sometimes compulsive, almost always convincing, the Story of the Stone, like all great stories, is the story of life itself. show less
The plot moves along a bit more briskly now that we're outside the dilatory dreamscape of Cao's authenticated 80 chapters. Whoever wrote, arranged, or otherwise cobbled together the material in Book IV, I think they did a pretty good job of it. The chapters leading up to Bao Yu's wedding in particular are really propulsive in a way we haven't hitherto seen. The other major event here is the hopeless liability Xue Pan being arrested for murder for the second time, necesitating masses more show more silver to be disbursed in bribes. Looking forward to everything coming completely unglued in the last installment. show less
In the fourth volume of The Story of the Stone, tragic events long foreshadowed come to pass. The first half of [b:The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears|139820|The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4 The Debt of Tears|Cao Xueqin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172113533l/139820._SY75_.jpg|49685167] is somewhat lighter, featuring Bao-yu's attempts to keep his father happy and Xue Pan's show more latest way to shame the family. In a drunken fit of pique, he murders a man at a bar in front of many witnesses then, stupidly, confesses to it. His family have to make strenuous efforts at bribery to get the charge reduced from murder to accidental death, as otherwise he would be exiled or get the death penalty. That man is the worst. There is also some fascinating discussion of the Qin as Dai-yu takes it up again. I've only come across this instrument before while watching The Untamed, so it was lovely to learn something about it in a historical rather than xianxia context. The observations and plans of the maids were also enjoyable and insightful as ever.
The second half of the book becomes exceedingly tragic.Bao-yu loses his magic jade, sending him into a withdrawn and unstable state. His relatives decide that marriage will bring him out of it and hatch an astonishingly cruel plot. They know he loves Dai-yu, who is ailing, so tell him that he will be marrying her. In fact, Bao-yu will be married to Bao-chai. (Both are his first cousins, incidentally.) When Dai-yu hears of this, she goes into rapid decline and perishes without even saying goodbye to Bao-yu or confessing her love. Bao-yu, meanwhile, only learns after the wedding has taken place that his expected bride is dead and he is actually married to someone different. This sequence of events is moving and extraordinarily compelling.
As ever in this long novel, there is a striking balance between practical matters of daily life (meals, clothing, medicine, etc) and existential considerations (fortunes foretold, prophetic dreams, previous lives, etc). The 1985 edition I borrowed from the library also contains a charming account in the preface of the translator searching for and seemingly finding the house where the novel's events take place. I wonder at what further sadness the fifth and final volume will bring. [b:The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears|139820|The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4 The Debt of Tears|Cao Xueqin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172113533l/139820._SY75_.jpg|49685167] continues to be fast-paced and highly readable, a fascinating domestic saga filled with psychological insight and historical details. show less
The second half of the book becomes exceedingly tragic.
As ever in this long novel, there is a striking balance between practical matters of daily life (meals, clothing, medicine, etc) and existential considerations (fortunes foretold, prophetic dreams, previous lives, etc). The 1985 edition I borrowed from the library also contains a charming account in the preface of the translator searching for and seemingly finding the house where the novel's events take place. I wonder at what further sadness the fifth and final volume will bring. [b:The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears|139820|The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4 The Debt of Tears|Cao Xueqin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172113533l/139820._SY75_.jpg|49685167] continues to be fast-paced and highly readable, a fascinating domestic saga filled with psychological insight and historical details. show less
The Story of the Stone: a Chinese Novel : Vol 5, The Dreamer Wakes (Penguin Classics) by Cao Xuequin
[b:The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 5: The Dreamer Wakes|139826|The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 5 The Dreamer Wakes|Cao Xueqin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348045613l/139826._SY75_.jpg|49685129] is the fifth and final volume of the epic Story of the Stone. In the previous volume, [b:The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4: The Debt of Tears|139820|The Story of the show more Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 4 The Debt of Tears|Cao Xueqin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172113533l/139820._SY75_.jpg|49685167] tragedy and disaster that had loomed upon the horizon began to unfold. In this volume, terrible events reach a long-foretold crescendo. The Jia family is beset by problems that compound each other. Falling out of political favour worsens the already fragile financial situation, damaging the health of many family members. Plans and decisions made in previous volumes produce unintended consequences in this one. It’s fascinating how gradual yet inexorable the shift in tone has been. While the second volume is full of joyful socialising and poetry composition, the fifth is replete with disaster, decline, and death. The one attempt at party games falls flat. Yet the five volumes don't compose an unequivocally downward narrative by any means. By the end, the Jia family remains, albeit diminished, with some hopes for recovery.
The progress of events is as compelling and carefully observed in this volume as the others, despite discussion in the preface about whether the book is complete. It certainly read as complete to me, which at least suggests excellent editing and translation work. The range of family reactions to disaster is striking to observe: denial, self-pity, rage, withdrawal, and hard work to try and improve things, among others. The ostensible head of the family Jia Zheng has not been aware of what state his household is in and is shocked when he realises:
I don’t consider Bao-yu’s uselessness in the face of financial problems to be a spoiler, as his characterisation throughout the books is very consistent: a dreamy, artistic, emotional, and wholly impractical young man. He cannot be relied upon to do his homework, let alone manage a household. By comparison, Grandmother Jia (the actual head of the family) reacts in a much more measured and pragmatic way to the prospect of household bankruptcy. However she is elderly and cannot turn things around herself.Her death while the family is still in turmoil and the theft of her belongings afterwards are particularly shocking moments of pathos. She was a stable and comforting figure throughout the previous four books, a matriarch overseeing her family. Xi-feng’s death is also shocking and includes the classic tradition of coughing up blood. Her illness becomes terminal due to the stress and overwork of attempting to manage the affairs of a family falling apart.
Given the tragedies of this concluding volume, it isn’t surprising that the supernatural and theological has a strong narrative presence in relation to illness, mourning, attempts to forecast the future, haunted places, and religious vocations. Different characters evince various levels of scepticism and conviction around these matters, creating a very interesting tension for the reader. Bao-yu, as we know from prior volumes, has always had one foot in the spiritual world, while many of his relatives are doubtful of fortune telling.Near the end, Bao-yu’s prophecy from the first volume comes to pass and he disappears, returning to the fairy world of his dream. On the other hand, this final volume has fewer material details as the sense of abundance and luxury is gone.
The whole five-volume work is a remarkable and fascinating insight into 18th century life in a wealthy Chinese family, as well as an involving melodrama peopled with memorable characters. The inclusion of so many perspectives within the sprawling household, from kitchen maids to young masters to put-upon wives to gardeners, creates a wonderfully detailed sense of how things work or fall apart. The tone oscillates between joy and sadness beautifully. The reader both gets a feeling of interdependent community and keen psychological insight into individuals. I really enjoyed spending five books with the Jia family and their extended family, servants, friends, and hangers-on. As well as being interesting from a historical perspective, The Story of the Stone is a real page-turner. John Minford’s translation is highly readable and the plot full of constant incident. I highly recommend this reading experience to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or epic family sagas. show less
The progress of events is as compelling and carefully observed in this volume as the others, despite discussion in the preface about whether the book is complete. It certainly read as complete to me, which at least suggests excellent editing and translation work. The range of family reactions to disaster is striking to observe: denial, self-pity, rage, withdrawal, and hard work to try and improve things, among others. The ostensible head of the family Jia Zheng has not been aware of what state his household is in and is shocked when he realises:
"But both households must now look to me for their daily sustenance, and how can I hope to support them all? This latest revelation of Lian’s is another grievous blow; not only have we no reserves, we are seriously in debt. We have evidently been living under false pretences for years! And I have only my own stupidity to blame! How can I have been so blind? If only my eldest son were still alive! In Zhu I might at least have had some support. But Bao-yu, for all he is my son, and now a grown man, can offer my no help whatsoever."
I don’t consider Bao-yu’s uselessness in the face of financial problems to be a spoiler, as his characterisation throughout the books is very consistent: a dreamy, artistic, emotional, and wholly impractical young man. He cannot be relied upon to do his homework, let alone manage a household. By comparison, Grandmother Jia (the actual head of the family) reacts in a much more measured and pragmatic way to the prospect of household bankruptcy. However she is elderly and cannot turn things around herself.
Given the tragedies of this concluding volume, it isn’t surprising that the supernatural and theological has a strong narrative presence in relation to illness, mourning, attempts to forecast the future, haunted places, and religious vocations. Different characters evince various levels of scepticism and conviction around these matters, creating a very interesting tension for the reader. Bao-yu, as we know from prior volumes, has always had one foot in the spiritual world, while many of his relatives are doubtful of fortune telling.
The whole five-volume work is a remarkable and fascinating insight into 18th century life in a wealthy Chinese family, as well as an involving melodrama peopled with memorable characters. The inclusion of so many perspectives within the sprawling household, from kitchen maids to young masters to put-upon wives to gardeners, creates a wonderfully detailed sense of how things work or fall apart. The tone oscillates between joy and sadness beautifully. The reader both gets a feeling of interdependent community and keen psychological insight into individuals. I really enjoyed spending five books with the Jia family and their extended family, servants, friends, and hangers-on. As well as being interesting from a historical perspective, The Story of the Stone is a real page-turner. John Minford’s translation is highly readable and the plot full of constant incident. I highly recommend this reading experience to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or epic family sagas. show less
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