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Thread: Deer and the Cauldron worth buying?

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    Default Deer and the Cauldron worth buying?

    Is the translation of the Deer and the Cauldron by John Minford as good as those done in the translation forums? Those are superb. Just wanted a few personal reviews from anybody who has read it since it'll be about $100USD total to buy all 5 books. Thanks.

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    Senior Member endo's Avatar
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    it is if you can get over his literal translation of chinese characters....

    he translates Sui Bo's name as Little Trinket
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    Senior Member The Khan's Avatar
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    It's Jin Yongs best work ever. so yeah it's worth buying

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    If you want to read it first hand, yes it is worth it. I doubt anyone will translate the book here, since it is already done.

    There are only 3 books.

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    Senior Member Yang Guo's Avatar
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    they are expensive >.<

    I was cheap and borrowed from the library

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    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    I've been debating about buying also. I tried to borrow from library but the best Chicago public library could do was find me Book 2 and that took about a month. As a comparison, I find the translations on the forum and wuxiapedia much more exciting and some of Book 2 (Minford) to read like textbook. That being said, its still my favorite so I hope to own the whole set one day.

    side note - i've been hoping my fiance would get me the set for birthday or christmas gift. i've even joked to friends about getting completed translated works in lieu of wedding ring -- but no one understood (Americans uniniated in wuxia) and just stared at me as if I was crazy.

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    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    I had all three.

    They are not really expensive at all.

    Quality wise, they do not meet our strict forum translators standard, but it is generally pretty good, except for book 3 which i believe must be abridged.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Han Solo View Post
    I had all three.

    They are not really expensive at all.

    Quality wise, they do not meet our strict forum translators standard, but it is generally pretty good, except for book 3 which i believe must be abridged.
    I think as a whole, the set cost me about $100.. Of course I jumped on the bandwagon when Book 1 came out and was about ready to die when Book 3 finally came out 5 years later. Book 3 is abridged and the author stated so in his intro.

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    Well I definitely think it's worth it, if not for that series I probably wouldn't be over here.

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    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    believe it or not - Amazon.com has pretty good overviews/reviews of this set of books. Should give you a good idea.

    maybe Christmas this year???

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    Senior Member Son of Light's Avatar
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    Don't really like this Novel.
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    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    I just wanted to say **ahem, brag** that I finally tracked down all three books and they are now in my posession!!!

    yippee!

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    Senior Member shenlong's Avatar
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    It depends, are you doing it just to read the story a couple times or do you really want to own it?

    You can probably get it on the internet, but I've always liked the books better, so it's up to you.
    秋风清,秋风明;落叶聚还散,寒鸦栖复惊。相思相见知何日,此时此夜难为情

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    Senior Member smurf120's Avatar
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    i tried to find the English online but all the sites I found with translations got locked down because the books were out.

    either way, i've wanted to own the English set forever...just wish there was cantonese audio version so I could listen and read the Chinese, but that sounds like expensive option too.

    i just met someone yesterday with complete set of JY novels signed by Jin Yong -- they moved and misplaced all the books.

  15. #15
    Senior Member shenlong's Avatar
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    Ohhhh you're buying the english version, never mind then, I meant the Chinese version is all over the internet.
    秋风清,秋风明;落叶聚还散,寒鸦栖复惊。相思相见知何日,此时此夜难为情

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