butt_chugga2001's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
book_bound_weirdo's review against another edition
2.0
Man, Li Po was such a drunk lol...but he did it in nature so it's not a problem.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
2.0
Li Bai (李白) didn't actually drown in the Yangtze while drunkenly attempting to embrace the reflection of the moon in the water, but it's a hell of an image. This review is of David Hinton's translation; Li Bai's poetry itself would get five stars.
As an example of Hinton's translation, here's his rendition of the poem《聽蜀僧濬彈琴》("Listening to a Monk's Ch'in Depths," as he calls it):
There are a couple of fairly obvious mistakes in Hinton's translation—he omits entirely the reference to the specific style of qin played by the monk, instead translating literally that the instrument is "cased in green silk"; the final line of the poem is a question, but Hinton turns it into a statement; he removes the reference to the monk's origin (i.e., Sichuan), only leaving "O-mei Mountain" (Wade-Giles for Mount Emei) as a clue as to the location. The overall structure of the poem is decent enough, but there are enough minor errors to add up to an overall misinterpretation. This style is consistent in Hinton's translations throughout.
[1] Sichuan Province.
[2] Literally silk material or damask; in literary terms, 綠綺 referred to, by extension, a particular 古琴 guqin used by the Western Han musician-poet Sima Xiangru (司馬相如) to court the poet Zhuo Wenjun (卓文君), or any qin styled after the original.
[3] 峨眉山 Mount Emei; here 峨眉峰 (the summit of Emei); a mountain in Sichuan Province.
[4] Together these two characters mean "beckon"; here it can be inferred to refer to the motion of plucking a qin.
[5] Sometimes the character 濬 is translated as "deep, depth" (i.e., profound, bassy, etc.) and sometimes as a name, Jun, presumably the monk's own.
[6] 古琴 (guqin) Chinese zither; the character 琴 resembles a seated musician playing the instrument.
As an example of Hinton's translation, here's his rendition of the poem《聽蜀僧濬彈琴》("Listening to a Monk's Ch'in Depths," as he calls it):
Carrying a ch'in cased in green silk, a monkAnd in the original language:
descended from O-mei Mountain in the west.
When he plays, even in a few first notes,
I hear the pines of ten thousand valleys,
and streams rinse my wanderer's heart clean.
Echoes linger among temple frost-fall bells,
night coming unnoticed in emerald mountains,
autumn clouds banked up, gone dark and deep.
蜀僧抱綠綺，西下峨眉峰；A character-by-character version (translation mine):
為我一揮手，如聽萬壑松。
客心洗流水，餘響入霜鐘。
不覺碧山暮，秋雲暗幾重？
Shu[1] / monk / hold / green / silk[2]The title of the poem, by character, translates to:
west / descend / E- / -mei[3] / peak
for / me / one / wave / hand[4]
like / listen / ten thousand / mountain valley / pine
traveler / heart / wash / stream / water
lingering / sound / enter / frost / bell
not / notice / blue, green, jade / mountain / dusk
autumn / cloud / dark / [how] many / heavy
listen / Shu / monk / deep[5] / pluck / qin[6]i.e., "listening to a Sichuan monk playing the guqin."
There are a couple of fairly obvious mistakes in Hinton's translation—he omits entirely the reference to the specific style of qin played by the monk, instead translating literally that the instrument is "cased in green silk"; the final line of the poem is a question, but Hinton turns it into a statement; he removes the reference to the monk's origin (i.e., Sichuan), only leaving "O-mei Mountain" (Wade-Giles for Mount Emei) as a clue as to the location. The overall structure of the poem is decent enough, but there are enough minor errors to add up to an overall misinterpretation. This style is consistent in Hinton's translations throughout.
[1] Sichuan Province.
[2] Literally silk material or damask; in literary terms, 綠綺 referred to, by extension, a particular 古琴 guqin used by the Western Han musician-poet Sima Xiangru (司馬相如) to court the poet Zhuo Wenjun (卓文君), or any qin styled after the original.
[3] 峨眉山 Mount Emei; here 峨眉峰 (the summit of Emei); a mountain in Sichuan Province.
[4] Together these two characters mean "beckon"; here it can be inferred to refer to the motion of plucking a qin.
[5] Sometimes the character 濬 is translated as "deep, depth" (i.e., profound, bassy, etc.) and sometimes as a name, Jun, presumably the monk's own.
[6] 古琴 (guqin) Chinese zither; the character 琴 resembles a seated musician playing the instrument.
lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
5.0
Legend says that Li Bai (Li Po) drowned by trying to embrace the reflection of the moon on the water. Since he lived in the 8th century CE, we won't ever know how true this is, but it's a pretty great story, and not necessarily a bad way to go, all things considered
anna_99l's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Very reflective. I presumed that this book would be quite stuffy but a lot of the content talked about was quite different to what I thought would be discussed. For example, I really enjoyed the poems on getting drunk with friends and on Li Po's perspective on war.
krisimir's review against another edition
5.0
So serene and beautiful. I'm really not into my Asian roots but this is some great poetry. It is a little monotone- nature, wine, Taoist stuff. The lack of rhyme and the even meter make it seem so sagey. Glad to have read this book!!!
silkelfheaven's review
5.0
Heartbreakingly beautiful. Such poetry spans time and brings Li Po alive.
eldang's review
4.0
Lovely collection of poems from a time that Britain calls the dark ages because so few written records survived from the other end of Eurasia. Wang Wei was particularly good at capturing small details of scenes - the way a canoe's paddle moves through the water, or subtle changes in a town with the seasons - but he must also have taken great joy in people because another rich seam in this collection is poems of farewell, greeting, and missing people in between.
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