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Thread: Does DGSD feel anticlimactic after the Heroes' Conference at Shaolin?

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default Does DGSD feel anticlimactic after the Heroes' Conference at Shaolin?

    After the Heroes' Conference at the Shaolin Temple, there was still quite a bit of DGSD to go, but do you think the story had already peaked and the remainder of the story was mostly a "lame duck" fade out without many comparable highs? Sure, there was still Kiu Fung's epic ending, but even that seemed a bit anticlimactic after what had gone down at the Shaolin Temple. The remainder of the story seemed to be just tying up loose ends.

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    Well, it is the same in real life, isn't it. After you climax, everything turns sharply boring.

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    Quote Originally Posted by hyoyatika View Post
    Well, it is the same in real life, isn't it. After you climax, everything turns sharply boring.
    In life, perhaps, but why Jin Yong would want to craft a wuxia novel in such a fashion is a mystery.

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    What's worse is that JY mentioned that after the Brightness Peak fight, the Ming army was already a million strong and unstoppable. Nothing after really mattered at all. As evidenced by the final scene, even if Wuji the figurehead died, it really didn't matter as they could just spin the story of their heroic leader dying and increase morale that way.
    Last edited by tape; 03-05-17 at 01:32 AM.

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    I think Jin Yong is not too fond of the "final boss fight" cliche so most of the time, his novels will feel anti-climatic (except for ROCH of course). I think I'm ok with this approach. We read Jin Yong for the intricate relationships between characters and in real life, relationships are just like this.

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    Senior Member Mandred Skavenslayer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EdenResident View Post
    I think Jin Yong is not too fond of the "final boss fight" cliche so most of the time, his novels will feel anti-climatic (except for ROCH of course). I think I'm ok with this approach. We read Jin Yong for the intricate relationships between characters and in real life, relationships are just like this.
    Agree. JY nearly never has the main antagonist killed/defeated by the main protagonist. While there is merit to this approach I often find it very unsatisfying as it builds up the expectation without any pay off. I find Gu Long much more satisfying in this regard.

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    Yes, I definitely felt this way as well. I also felt the whole novel was quite chaotic.

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    I feel the DGSD story could have wrapped up after the Janitor Monk took custody of Siu Yeun San and Mo Yung Bok. There would have been some loose ends with some of the characters, but I really think Jin Yong struggled to come up with a suitable encore after the Shaolin Conference, and who could blame him? He threw everything, including the kitchen sink, into the Shaolin Conference chapters and it was like the climax of not only DGSD, but Jin Yong's entire wuxia writing career. How could anyone follow that up?

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