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Three Kingdoms: Chinese Classics (Classic Novel in 4-Volumes) | 
 enlarge | Author: Luo Guanzhong
Creator: Moss Roberts
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press
Category: Book
List Price: $44.95
Buy New: $26.59
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Rating:  101 reviews
Sales Rank: 8490
Media: Paperback
Pages: 2340
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.4 x 3.6
ISBN: 7119005901
Dewey Decimal Number: 895
EAN: 9787119005904
ASIN: 7119005901
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new in "Shrink Wrapping" 4-Vol Set. Ready for shipping in 24hrs and Email confirmation upon your order. ** No Slip-case & shrink-wrapping ** for your international orders!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 96 more reviews...
 Epic February 10, 2000
265 out of 270 found this review helpful
First off, you have to read the full translation of this book. I read the 1976 abridged version of Three Kingdoms translated by Moss Roberts first and thought it was pretty good, but felt that the story wasn't developed enough and lacked cohesion. Then a few years ago I finally found and purchased the full unabridged version published by the University of California Press and also translated by Dr. Roberts. This is the full-blown epic from start to finish with all the details and many of the translation errors of the previous editions eliminated. The prose was also improved and flows eloquently throughout the book's entire 3000+ pages. Three Kingdoms is the tale (part historical, part legend and myth) of the fall of the Later Han Dynasty of China. It chronicles the lives of those feudal lords and their retainers who tried to either replace the empire or restore it. While the novel actually follows literally hundreds of characters, the focus is mainly on the 3 families who would eventually carve out the 3 kingdoms from the remnants of the Han. The Liu family in the Shu kingdom led by Liu Bei, The Cao family in Wei led by Cao Cao, and the Sun family in Wu eventually led by Sun Quan. The book deals with the plots, personal and army battles, intrigues, and struggles of these families to achieve dominance for almost 100 yrs. This book also gives you a sense of the way the Chinese view their history: cyclical rather than linear (as in the West). The first and last lines of the book sum this view up best: "The empire long united must divide..." and "The empire long divided must unite..." If you are at least a little interested in Chinese history (ancient or modern) and culture this book is a must read.
Quite possibly the greatest book I've read July 29, 2002
Reza (Queens, NY USA)
123 out of 133 found this review helpful
I first became intrigued with the Three Kingdoms's historical events when I played the game Dynasty Warriors 2 for PS2. Afterwards I was desperately searching to find the best novel translation and finally bought the 4-volume box set translated by Moss Roberts which is the UNABRIDGED version(make sure to get this edition as it tells the whole story w/o leaving anything out).I then set out to explore the 2200+ pages of Chinese history and I must say, it was a fascinating experience. I initially grasped what was going to happen in time but there was so much other details to the story and idealisms portrayed. Leadership, loyalty, heroism, military tactics and warfare, treason, and even romance play such a significant role in this epic novel. "The empire long united, must divide" and "the empire long divided, must unite" pretty much opens and closes the novel perfectly. Heroes such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Gai portray such loyalty that it would be kind of hard to imagine in today's society. From the other reviews I've read, most people think Liu Bei (Xuande) is the protaganist of the novel and this seems very true since Roberts lauds Bei's characteristics and portrays Cao Cao of the evil and cunning type. Personally, I think anyone can choose their personal protaganist and for me that would be Zhao Yun because of his undisputed bravery and loyalty. Another character that I admired was probably Zhuge Liang for his awe-aspiring military tactics. Zhuge was the best strategist of his time and he wrote several books on warfare but unfortunately, most were destroyed but you can still buy one of his famous books, "The Art of War." Warning, spoiler ahead:
This book has its sad moments particularly when someone important or someone who contributed a lot to his lord dies. You'll feel sympathetic towards those who fought hard as well as the ones who died. When the book starts, it's during the impending collapse of the Han then around 220 is when the real three kingdoms come into play: Shu, Wu, and Wei. It's sort of like a battle to the death of who would emerge victorious and indeed there was. Military tactics are exploited on each side and betrayal is widespread. In the end, it would be Sima Yi's family who would unite China under one rule, the Jin Dyansty.
 A fine, if somewhat modernized, translation of the classic. January 8, 2005
D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA)
68 out of 72 found this review helpful
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is possibly the most famous and important novel in classic Chinese literature. Not only is it the earliest of the "Four Great Books" (as evidenced by its more archaic language), but it created a complete cultural phenomenon whose impact is still fresh today -- just ask all the young people today who, without having read a word of the book, still know the characters from the strategy and fighting video games released by the company Koei. And how many literary works can claim to have had a direct impact on history as this book, which was used as a strategy text by the great Manchurian leader Nurhachi and his son Hongtaiji?
I'd read the original archaic text when I was about eight years old, so obviously my views will be heavily slanted by my familiarity with this text. On approaching this translation, what I find is a well done, respectful and informative translation that doesn't quite nail the tone of the original text, but will be a good read for modern readers who don't read Chinese.
And to be honest, Chinese is extremely hard to translate into English. Just the fact that subjects, articles and pronouns are often omitted from a sentence is enough to cause nightmares for a Chinese-English translator. And even by Chinese standards, The Three Kingdoms is a work whose linguistic economy is staggering. In one page, this book can convey the deaths of half a dozen characters, three to four battles, multiple schemes, and include four or five "tribute" poems, to boot. Such is the style of this work, and it could not have been easy for translator Moss Roberts to adapt this style into English. And he has done the job remarkably, for though I don't think he was able to convey the flavour and rhythm of the original language (the question is, also, whether that would have been possible), his translation makes a good read, and strives to be faithful to the original text, down to the chapter divisions and the inclusion of the "tribute" poems which frequent the book. This was an essential piece in the style of the book and I was joyed to see the device retained.
There are instances scattered throughout where I felt the tone of the language may have been misinterpreted, or diluted by the language barrier. Obviously, I'm not a Chinese professor (as Prof. Roberts is), but as a native speaker, I felt his translations sometimes didn't quite hit the mark. For example, in the original text, one poem on the character Cao Cao distinctly used a word which meant "deception" or "guile", but Prof. Roberts adapted it to "craft", which dilutes the disapproving tone of the original. When Yuan Shao refused aid to Liu Bei on account of his son's illness, his advice to the messenger was "if he is in trouble, he may seek refuge with me", which suggests patronage, not "find refuge north of the river", which suggests a tactical manoeuvre related to geography. These are but two examples and you can certainly argue that the meaning of the original text is up for grabs, but as a Chinese native speaker and reader, one who has grown up with this text and re-read the book hundreds of times, I still find the translation a little off. There is also no attempt at creating period flavour in the language -- the translation is modern, not aiming to add archaic English flavour to try to reflect the age of the original Chinese text. This may be a good point, however, since the use of archaic English added to the language barrier might have resulted in a book that's very difficult to read. I think Prof. Roberts sacrificed flavour for clarity, a fair tradeoff to the benefit of the translation.
Again, the question is whether an English translation (or any other translation) could ever be accurate in this way to the original. Personally, I do think many of the discrepancies in meaning could have been avoided, or ameliorated. However, as aforementioned, for a reader who's never read the original, this issue won't affect his/her enjoyment of the text. Just the fact that there is a translation of this extremely important work of Chinese literature is a cause for celebration, and for those people new to this realm, this set of books is a great discovery.
So well translated that you will have to ration out chapters November 14, 1998
44 out of 47 found this review helpful
Three Kingdoms is a terrific book on many levels. It can be read as a story book of the heroic culture of China in the past, or as a strategem. No matter how you may read the 3 Kingdoms, it is by far a book that almost any fan of literature will cherish. The book is centered around the destruction and rebuilding of a kingdom. The Shu in western China, led by Liu Bei; Wei in the northern heartland controlled by Cao Cao and Wu in the south that was established by Sun Jian, expanded by his son Sun Ce and later stabilized by his brother Sun Quan. The epic has at its core, filial duty, sacrifice, honor, and deception. I highly recommend reading Moss Roberts translation of the Three Kingdoms. By far it is the most comprehenisive edition translated into English. It is a must read to fully understand the ancient culture of China. By understanding the past culture of China, we can better understand the writings of post-modernist American-Chinese writers of the present.
Finally a well translated unabridged version! October 5, 2003
presypclhs (New Jersey USA)
38 out of 40 found this review helpful
And it's about time too. Moss Roberts does an excellent job of translating the epic novel by Luo Guanzhong in a full, unabridged four book series. Previously I had read an abridged version by the selfsame translator, and while I was impressed with the story, it was too choppy to satisfy me. I later found this unabridged version, purchased it at once and loved every moment of reading. This is it. The definitive "Three Kingdoms"."The Three Kingdoms" is based on the era known as The Three Kingdoms period, or San Guo Yan Yi. This period chronicles the decline of the Han to the rise of the Jin dynasty (circa AD 170-260). The story tells the tale of protagonist Zhuge Liang (referred to as Kongming throughout the story) and his efforts to help his lord Liu Bei (referred to as Xuande throughout the story) unite the land and restore the crumbling Han. You see, Liu Bei is a distant cousin of the child emperor, Liu Xian, who is manipulated by the malicious despot, Cao Cao. Bei, a poor mat weaver, steps up to the plate and helps to put down the Yellow Scarf rebellion under Zhang Jue and the story takes off from there. Zhuge Liang does not actually come into the story until much later and dies in the middle of the fourth volume, but his importance is immeasurable. This story is a must-read for history fans as well as fans of any of the video game series about the time period (Dynasty Warriors, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Tactics, etc.). Fans of the video game series will love to hear tales of their favorite characters, such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and many more. An important thing to keep in mind when reading Luo Guanzhong's novel is that it is a biased account of the events. Luo Guanzhong is what I call a pro-Shuist, or someone who supports Shu (the kingdom ruled by Liu Bei), so Shu feats may be embellished and fans of the other kingdoms (Wei, Wu) might be frustrated as many of their favorite characters will not be viewed as positively as they may deserve to be. With this in mind, "The Three Kingdoms" is a fun, if not lengthy, read and will keep you turning the pages. The story isn't terribly difficult to follow but some may have trouble keeping track of the cast of characters (some 600 plus characters in all) and all of their names. What I mean by 'all of their names' is that the chinese had the surname (Zhuge), the given name (Liang) and a style (Kongming). Some officers are called by all three names and it can be difficult to follow. Zhuge Liang is called many things over the course of the novel, in addition to his surname, given name and style, but it shouldn't be to hard to follow. Probably easier then following my explanation of it, at any rate. My major complaint with this edition (and it is minor) is the poor proofreading and the poor quality of the paper and binding. This book was published to Beijing standards and would not meet American standards. You will have to be a little careful with the book while reading it, but that's not too big of a problem. Also, the typos (two or three a chapter) can get annoying and make you wonder who was proofreading the book and make you think that you could do a better job (and you probably could). That aside, this is a very enjoyable story and you will not be disappointed in buying the four-volume unabridged set translated by Moss Roberts.
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