Why you like Jin Yong wuxia

[PJ]

Most of us dig Jin Yong wuxia. I do. But why do I like it? I thought about it.

Is it because of the intricate martial arts?
No.

Is it because of the fantastic adventures?
No.

Is it because it's great literature?
No.

Is it because of Jin Yong'e extensive descriptions of Chinese culture making it come alive?
No.

Is it because of the wonderful characters?
No.

Now, you say, it must be because of the ELOCs.
No!

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The main reason I like Jin Yong's novels is this: he makes every little detail so interesting. Characters' thoughts and actions are multifaceted; they are often random and unpredictable (but always logical with explanation), so you never know what will happen next, and characters don't get boring even after 500 pages. Jin Yong has an eye for personifying the mind of his characters, adding little (but no doubt painstakingly curated) details from many angles to their thoughts that really make his characters come alive. The same sequence of events might be dry and bland in the hands of a lesser writer.

[Snafu3721]

I think it's probably a combination of all of the facts you listed above.

no other writer has been able to put the perfect balance of martial arts, history, medicine, and literary fantasy together quite like Louis.

In fact, his stories tend to bring out emotions from readers that many other authors do not-- there are definitely many examples of these incidences on this board alone!

IMHO, Gu Long and other writers are more or less telling a great story but you only feel like a 3rd party bystander. You can logically understand how the chracters feel, but you don't quite feel it yourself. But JY puts you in the middle of the story and you're literally watching events unfold through the eyes of each unique character. With JY you empathize, with other writers you only sympathize.

A good example would be hearing a cool story from different friends about a crazy drunken bachelor party vs being one of the actual people there who is recollecting the story with the participants and hearing different aspects of the same experience.

[Dragon Heiress]

His characters are also very vivid and memorable. After a few hundred pages, you can still remember a character that hasn't appeared since the beginning.

[PJ]

IMHO, Gu Long and other writers are more or less telling a great story but you only feel like a 3rd party bystander. You can logically understand how the chracters feel, but you don't quite feel it yourself. But JY puts you in the middle of the story and you're literally watching events unfold through the eyes of each unique character. With JY you empathize, with other writers you only sympathize.

I partially agree. Yes, Jin Yong has the effect of putting me INSIDE the story. I feel like Gu Long TELLS the reader how he should feel by being heavy handed with his emotional descriptions, whereas Jin Yong SHOWS the reader how the characters feel.

Dear all, please feel free to share your opinions.

[Banh Mi]

I like how he suckers me into the Wulin universe with all it's vast intricacies and details.

The multitude of clans in existance. The complex interaction between characters. The different and unique martial arts available. I especially liked how he describes the martial arts in SPW. The history and little details of Huashan, Hengshan styles etc.

The scope of how powerful the top martial artists are. With their nicknames and ranks. The 5 greats, North Xiao Feng, Southern Murong etc.

Far too often in western movies and stories these days. It's just 1 good force vs 1 evil force. And the main character starts from scratch and goes all the way to being stronger than the number 1 evil guy. There's no one else there.

But in JY stories, there are a whole pantheon of powerful fighters contending for top position, or follow as close seconds.

And they behave in unconventional and romanticised ways in which we refer to their glorious moments. We are pleasantly surprised, and pleasantly surprised is one of the best emotions a medium can hope to achieve.

And unlike Western movies and stories, the main character gets his *** whooped pretty frequently throughout.

[pannonian]

LOCH: historical fiction in a setting few, if any other, writers cover.
ROCH: a vividly depicted protagonist. Some brilliantly memorable setpiece scenes.
HSDS: some exceptional setpiece scenes.
SPW: carefree Jin Yong, almost an oxymoron, but not here.
OTG: not really that impressed.

[Dragon Heiress]

Far too often in western movies and stories these days. It's just 1 good force vs 1 evil force. And the main character starts from scratch and goes all the way to being stronger than the number 1 evil guy. There's no one else there.

I agree with this completely! There's sometimes 7 books dedicated to defeating one guy *cough*Harry Potter series*cough*. When Harry and Voldemort are dueling, you need someone like Mei Chaofeng to jump in and help Voldemort, but then Huang Yaoshi comes too and helps Harry (because he's an moderately good guy) which causes MCF to immediately switch to her master's side. Voldemort is defeated but a plot twist causes the arrival of Ouyang Feng, who wants to kill Harry. But MCF is secretly in love with OYF. Now that is an interesting story.

[Cesare]

IMHO, Gu Long and other writers are more or less telling a great story but you only feel like a 3rd party bystander. You can logically understand how the chracters feel, but you don't quite feel it yourself.

I actually experience no trouble getting under the skin of GL's characters.
GL's style is incredibly dynamic and cinematic. Yes, at one point he tells you rather bluntly how you should feel about this or that, but the next moment he conjures up such a vivid scene that I find myself in the head of a character that is being referred to.
Whenever I read the first chapters of Sentimental Swordsman, I can totally feel the cold, the loneliness and the desolation.

JY hasn't quite done that for me - yet. Not even with my favorite characters (and I'm pretty passionate about my fave JY characters)... But given my very limited knowledge of JY, nothing is fixed - I might yet get to like him as much as I like GL...