Shakespeare, Outer Space and Prostitutes
Nice find!
I was hoping somebody would challenge him with some proper 'literary' questions, although I guess that's just wishful thinking. But a couple of questions caught my eye (my translations):
Quote:
Q: If you were invited to travel into outer space on a spaceship, and were only allowed to take a single book with you, would you choose one of your wuxia novels? And if you would, which one would you choose?
A: I wouldn’t choose my own work. Reading one of my own would be boring. If I were only allowed a single book...well, er, maybe 'The Complete Works of Shakespeare'!
Also:
Quote:
Q: Have you ever studied martial arts, or associated with wulin experts or anyone who roams jianghu? And if you haven’t, how were you able to write so many epic wuxia tales?
A: Never studied martial arts, and never associated with martial artists. But that’s not important at all. For instance, you don’t need to be a woman to write a woman; to write a prostitute, there’s no need to go and become one. Just reading a lot, watching a lot, experiencing a lot...that’s enough.
This doesn't surprise me. Jinyong's fight scenes have always had the musty smell of academia rather than the visceral thrill of first-hand experience. The examples he uses to illustrate his point, however, are rather curious...