Okay, not really...
So, I'm just finishing up The Count of Monte Christo, which I finally got around to reading for the first time, and I read it after coming off reading a lot of translated Jin Yong works.
All I can say is, if you could copywrite style, Jin Yong owes Alexandre Dumas Royalties!
While the emphasis of their works is very different (Kung Fu vs. Chivalry), to say that Jin Yong was influenced by Dumas has got to be one of the biggest understatements I've ever heard. In terms of pacing, description, word choice, characterization...Jin Yong is practically Dumas's apprentice.
Now, I am not for a second calling Jin Yong's work less that Dumas's, in fact I'd say he's equal, and at his best, maybe even better than Dumas as a writer. But I was really shocked by how close they are to each other in style and technique.
Anyone who hasn't read The Count of Monte Christo or The Three Musketeers and is itching for their Jin Yong translation fix really needs to hit the local bookstore and read some Dumas. Especially Three Musketeers, which is filled with action, romance, sex, and is almost nothing like the pale versions of it which were censored, cut down, and made into the movies most of us know.
Then you can wonder who would win...Yang Guo or D'Artagnan!
Rob