The reasons that Ken doesn't read the novels: an in-depth interview by tape

[Ken Cheng]

I just disagree with the reasoning given, as it is pretty biased against SPW.

When have you *ever* agreed with me on ANYTHING?

Quick, tape! The sun is bright! What do you say?

[tape]

When have you *ever* agreed with me on ANYTHING?

Quick, tape! The sun is bright! What do you say?

Hmmm aside from the prowess of Dugu, and random things I like about Yang Guo (which of course would be disagreeing with you), I don't think I disagree with you all THAT often....do I?

[Ken Cheng]

Hmmm aside from the prowess of Dugu, and random things I like about Yang Guo (which of course would be disagreeing with you), I don't think I disagree with you all THAT often....do I?

Well, not that I keep a running notebook on these things, but yeah...I've kind of noticed.

*Hides notebook with 3,798 separate entries of tape disagreeing with me.*

[tape]

Well, not that I keep a running notebook on these things, but yeah...I've kind of noticed.

*Hides notebook with 3,798 separate entries of tape disagreeing with me.*

Well, if we exclude any Yang Guo/Dugu related issues, would this cut down on 90% of our disagreements?

And no, this doesn't count that I'm disagreeing that we disagree !

[Ken Cheng]

And no, this doesn't count that I'm disagreeing that we disagree !

3,799 entries

[tape]

Well, however many times it is, just because you've noticed, I want to clarify that I have nothing against you nor do I make an effort to disagree with you.

My only pet peeves about you is your intense hatred for Yang Guo makes discussing him a bit hard, and your refusal to read the completely translated trilogy despite your obvious love and time dedication towards the novels! It is just boggling why you wouldn't do it.

[Ken Cheng]

It is just boggling why you wouldn't do it.

Much of it has to do with so many people putting so much pressure on me to do it. I have an incorrigible habit: the more people try to pressure me into doing something, the more adamant I get about refusing to do it.

The only exception is if you pay me a large sum of money, in which case I'll probably do almost anything you want me to.

[tape]

Hrm.

Wouldn't that just mean you didn't want to do it in the first place though? If you had done it, nobody would want you to do it. You didn't do it originally because you didn't want to do it, and now you're redirecting the blame to others for you not doing it/not wanting to do it.

The question though is, why didn't you want to do it originally?

[Ken Cheng]

Hrm.

Wouldn't that just mean you didn't want to do it in the first place though? If you had done it, nobody would want you to do it.

Actually, I originally wanted to do it. Not *desperately* wanted to do it, but thought it might be pleasurable if the opportunity ever presented itself. It would take years, however, because the translation process took several years (and I was serious in my earlier claim of not wanting to start the novels if all three were not finished; I really do hate not being able to finish a story I start from end to end).

While I was waiting, however, I continued to discuss wuxia topics as usual based on the scraps of knowledge I had from the 1980s adaptations and various things I've read off the forums and other sources over the years. People sometimes had to correct points that were inaccurate according to the novel...in of itself not a problem, but some people (not you, tape, but the people who did it...they know whom they are; I don't need to name names) just had to do it in the most rude and condescending manner, not suggesting that I read the novel, but actually *demanding* it in insulting terms.

That's when I began digging my heels in about not reading the translations. I won't do anything that I'm rudely ordered to do. Ever.

Besides all that, I've gotten busy writing my GUNDAM fanfic in the intervening time. I don't have enough free time to do the fanfic *and* read the CONDOR HEROES TRILOGY, even if I could ignore the rude condescension of some people (and I can't).

[tape]

That's entirely understandable, but coming from someone who watched all the series and then read them, they are a wonderful experience and really lets you see it in a different light. Not to mention the OHH moments when you realize certain details about certain characters that made a director do a scene or character portrayal a certain way.

You should try compromising and reading SPW -- nobody is asking you to do it, nor do you have any particular attachments to it. BAM nobody would expect it !

[Ken Cheng]

You should try compromising and reading SPW -- nobody is asking you to do it, nor do you have any particular attachments to it. BAM nobody would expect it !

Actually, I just don't like SPW.

I don't hate SPW the way I hate Yeung Gor, but SPW has always bored me. Two boring and incomprehensible adaptations (the TVB Chow Yun Fat TV series from 1984 and the Sam Hui SWORDSMAN movie from 1990) simply did not endear me to the story, especially when my father (a huge Jin Yong fan) always told me that SPW was the *best* Jin Yong story.

Also, I'm just a *bit* uncomfortable with the...er, sexual themes in SPW.

[tape]

Actually, I just don't like SPW.

I don't hate SPW the way I hate Yeung Gor, but SPW has always bored me. Two boring and incomprehensible adaptations (the TVB Chow Yun Fat TV series from 1984 and the Sam Hui SWORDSMAN movie from 1990) simply did not endear me to the story, especially when my father (a huge Jin Yong fan) always told me that SPW was the *best* Jin Yong story.

Also, I'm just a *bit* uncomfortable with the...er, sexual themes in SPW.

The first couple chapters of SPW is about Lin Pingzhi and his family; it's different to read about martial arts/wulin from the perspective of a respected but 20th tier fighter and see how powerful scrubs can be compared to even scrubbier people.

The funny thing about SPW is that I didn't really feel any bit uncomfortable or creeped out about the whole castration/shemale thing of DFBB but I was wincing quite a bit when Lin Pingzhi finally had to admit to Lingshan that he castrated himself while she's all like TONIGHT YOU DO ME!!

[kidd]

Try to find SOD96. This is one of the few 90's adaptations that many has acknowledged to be better than the 80's version.

[Ken Cheng]

Try to find SOD96. This is one of the few 90's adaptations that many has acknowledged to be better than the 80's version.

So I've heard, but I generally don't watch Asian TV series made or distributed after October 31, 1988 (again, for very personal reasons that I can't fully explain and don't expect others to really understand).

I made a once-in-a-lifetime exception for China's 2007 SHANGHAI BUND (remake of TVB's classic 1980 THE BUND series), and that was OK. Bits and pieces I've seen of the 1990s remakes of the Jin Yong adaptations have just turned me off, though. They just looked *wrong*, from my point of view. I'm not even saying they're bad...they just seem wrong to me because I already have a very firm image (embedded from childhood and adolescence) on what these characters and their martial arts should look like, and I'm so annoyed by the differences that I can't even look at the newer versions for long.

[wkeej]

more importantly, where's tape now?

[PJ]

I have an incorrigible habit: the more people try to pressure me into doing something, the more adamant I get about refusing to do it.

real life application of the DGSD Irony.

[Ken Cheng]

real life application of the DGSD Irony.

Not quite. The DGSD Irony is about humanity's helplessness in the face of fate; this, on the other hand, is very much the product of deliberate choice.

[Doc Kwok]

Not quite. The DGSD Irony is about humanity's helplessness in the face of fate; this, on the other hand, is very much the product of deliberate choice.

I'm pretty sure that the irony being referred to here is that the more you try to obtain something, the less likely you are to get it.

[PJ]

I'm pretty sure that the irony being referred to here is that the more you try to obtain something, the less likely you are to get it.

yep, and the converse too: the less you try, the more you get.

[Ken Cheng]

I'm pretty sure that the irony being referred to here is that the more you try to obtain something, the less likely you are to get it.

yep, and the converse too: the less you try, the more you get.

It's really not hard to refuse to do something that one is being cajoled into doing.

Other things are hard; this isn't.

Besides, I'm notorious for my endurance.