Category Archives: Translated Literature

BOOKS: “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzhong

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Three Kingdoms (4-Volume Boxed Set)Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Website – Penguin

The edition that I read was the Penguin abridged version that fits this sprawling epic into a single volume of a little over 600 pages. This is one of the four Great Classics of Chinese literature (along with Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Dream of the Red Chamber.) It offers a fictionalized telling of a period of Chinese history featuring a three-way civil war, especially centered upon the Han attempt to maintain its Imperial line against challengers, a fight that would ultimately end in the reunification under the Jin.

I’ve loved reading the Chinese classics. While this book and Water Margin feature massive ensembles of characters and could become clunky and cumbersome to read, they don’t because stories are told in intense battle-sized chunks and with a profound capacity to build character hooks that maintain clarity despite so many characters.

I would break this book up into three parts. The first (and by far the bulk of the story) focuses on a trio of great warriors that form a kind of blood-brother pact: Xuande, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. Under Xuande’s leadership, these men fight to keep the Han imperial line intact. (It’s fair to say it could also be seen as focusing on the opposition to these men, notably Cao Cao.) The next bit continues the action as the masterful strategist, Kong Ming, tries to keep the wheels rolling on Xuande’s army after the dramatic deaths of the aforementioned trio, and finally there is a section in which it is as though all the great warriors are gone, resulting in an inevitable reunification as there are no longer those who can fight insurmountable odds. As I describe it, it might seem anticlimactic, but it is far so, but I would count it a tragedy.

To me, this book read more like historical fiction than did Water Margin, the latter (also excellent) is almost like fantasy: its characters are so much larger than life as to be veritably superhuman. That said, this novel does feature some magic, but the characters feel much more life-sized — if not without a measure of grandiosity.

I’d highly recommend this book for readers of historical fiction. It’s highly engaging and readable, despite being long and of epic of proportions.

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“Without desire everything is sufficient” by Ryōkan Taigu

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Without desire everything is sufficient.
 With seeking myriad things are impoverished.
 Plain vegetables can soothe hunger.
 A patched robe is enough to cover this bent old body.
 Alone I hike with a deer.
 Cheerfully I sing with village children.
 The stream under the cliff cleanses my ears.
 The pine on the mountain top fits my heart.

Translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Daniel Leighton in Essential Zen (1994) HarperSanFrancisco.

BOOKS: “The Obscene Madame D” by Hilda Hilst

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The Obscene Madame DThe Obscene Madame D by Hilda Hilst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Pushkin Classics

Release Date: May 27, 2025

This strange novella features a lot of stream-of-consciousness exchanges between the lead and her common-law spouse / lover. Hille, the protagonist, is a woman who’s decided to withdraw from her normal life and live a celibate, hermetic existence in a recess under the stairs of the home she shares with Ehud (her lover / long-time partner.)

It is a thought-provoking and philosophical work and will be most of interest to readers who like such books. On the other hand, it isn’t likely to have much appeal for readers of commercial fiction. It’s not story-driven and isn’t even deeply character-driven. [Except in the sense of showing thought processes that encourage the reader to drill down into the character’s psyche.] This book has been placed in the genre of (and titled as) erotica (or even pornography,) but I would say that it is much less accurately defined as such than other works of that category, including Hilst’s “Letters from a Seducer.” This isn’t to say the book doesn’t use graphic language or mention past sexual activity, but it’s not erotic at the core. It’s not shy about sex or “vulgar language” by any means, but it is a book about a woman who has given up sex along with other activities of ordinary life.

Ultimately, I’d recommend this book for readers of psychological and philosophical literary fiction. It is not intensely readable as a story and is not intensely erotic as erotica, but it does keep a curious person wondering about the motives and future of Hille.

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“A One-String Harp” by Lu Ji [w/ Audio]

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When an author composes too short a poem,
  it trails off with a lonely feeling
  like looking down at solitude with no friends
  or peering into the vast sky, disconnected.
 One string on a harp is crisp and sweet
  but sings without resonance and harmony.

Translation by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping in: The Art of Writing (1996) Boston: Shambhala Publications.

BOOKS: “Kokoro” by Natsume Sōseki 

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KokoroKokoro by Natsume Sōseki
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Pushkin Press

I first read this many years ago in college for a course on Japanese culture. I didn’t have a good reading experience then because this novel is too quiet to hold the concentration of a fidgety mind. However, on rereading it, I found it to be an intense and moving reading experience. It’s a brutally realistic piece of literary fiction, featuring quiet and unexpressive characters who are never-the-less experiencing a kind of agony of living.

The book’s beginning revolves around the relationship between a young man just finishing college and an older, somewhat hermetic, man. By “relationship” I’m not talking about a sexual or otherwise intimate interaction. This strange relationship might best be made sense of by the fact that the young man calls the older, “Sensei” (i.e. “teacher.”) So, it is largely an informal mentor-mentee relationship, but the reader may not really understand why “Sensei” is a reasonable honorific for the old man until the end. The latter portion of the book is Sensei’s “confession,” or the telling of formative events of his life. It is in this confession that we learn that Sensei is not so much a teacher by virtue of conveying abstract scholarly information but rather he teaches by showing the young man his own life story as a cautionary tale.

You must be in a quiet state of mind to keep attuned to this book, but – if you can do so – it is well worth reading. I’d highly recommend it for readers of literary fiction.

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“Fortune-teller’s Song” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]

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The crescent moon hangs on a barren tree.
  The water clock has stopped and all is still.
  Who sees the sad man pace the shore alone?
  His shadow slants and curls into a swan.

The startled man stiffens and turns to look;
  His grief remains unseen by anyone.
  He passes on a seat of fallen log,
  And plops down on the wet and cold sandbank.

NOTE: The original title is: 卜算子.

BOOKS: “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio” by Pu Songling [Trans. by John Minford]

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Strange Tales from a Chinese StudioStrange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Penguin

This is a collection of short stories, almost entirely speculative fiction, dating from the Qing Dynasty (specifically, the late 1600’s to early 17oo’s.) Ghosts, folkloric creatures, and Taoist magic all feature prominently in the stories. The stories average about five pages, but with a wide deviation from stories scarcely longer than today’s micro-fiction to extensive pieces. The Penguin edition collects 104 out of a much larger collection of stories.

The best of these stories are clever and highly engaging, and there are many such tales. Being from Qing Dynasty China, the stories offer a perspective different from one’s typical horror and fantasy short stories. Many of the stories prominently feature eroticism, but not graphically so.

As for the weakness of the volume, even though it selects only a portion of Pu Songling’s original, there are many stories that blend together, failing to distinguish themselves. This is most notable among the fox-spirit stories, of which there are just so many. [A number of them are fantastically unique, but others are just variations on the same.] So, the book can seem a bit repetitive in that sense. However, before you get to the point where you feel you can’t read one more fox-spirit story, you’re quite likely to read a tale that blows your mind.

I greatly enjoyed many of the stories herein. Perhaps, the volume could have benefited from further abridgement, but it’s well worth the read.

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“Under the Trees…” by Ikkyū [w/ Audio]

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Under the trees, among the rocks, a thatched hut:
   verses and sacred commentaries live there together.
 I'll burn the books I carry in my bag,
   but how can I forget the verses written in my gut?

Translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider in Essential Zen (1994) HarperSanFrancisco.

BOOKS: “Essential Zen” ed. by Kazuaki Tanahashi & David Schneider

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Essential ZenEssential Zen by Kazuaki Tanahashi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Google Books Page

This is a collection of short writings (poems, koans, and prose excerpts) on Zen Buddhism arranged into loosely themed sections. The writings tend toward the artistic, creative, and metaphorical, with relatively few straightforward descriptions of technique or philosophy. The writings range from those of Chinese and Japanese monks who lived hundreds of years ago to present-day poets and Zen practitioners. Among the more frequently drawn from sources are: Hanshan, Ikkyu, Dogen, Ryokan, Hakuin, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken, Seung Sahn, John Daido Loori, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Peter Levitt. But there are many others, including some who have only a single piece included.

There’s a substantial “Notes” section that gives source, translation, and — in some cases — background information. Most of the translations (both Japanese and Chinese) are by the editors, Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider. There are illustrations, but they are all ensō (circular brush paintings) and related forms.

This is a highly readable and insightful collection of short writings, and I’d highly recommend it for individuals interested in Zen or Eastern Philosophy more generally.

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Death Poem of Ikkyū [w/ Audio]

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I borrowed these one month ago, yesterday.
 I'm returning them today.
 I borrowed five and return four --
 Repaid, but for Original Emptiness.

NOTE: This is one of three Death Poems attributed to Ikkyū, supposedly the middle one.