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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9787119016627
Format: Box set
ISBN number: 7119016628
Label: Foreign Languages Press
Manufacturer: Foreign Languages Press
Page Count: 2149
Printing Date: January 01, 2001
Publishing house: Foreign Languages Press
Release Date: January 01, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 19803
Studio: Foreign Languages Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
China's great classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh, written in the fourteenth century, is a fictional account of twelfth-century events during the Song Dynasty. One by one, over a hundred men and women are forced by the harsh feudal officialdom to take to the hills. They band together and defeat every endeavor of the government troops to crush them. Within this framework we find intrigue, adventure, murder, warfare, romance ... in a connected series of fascinating individual tales, told in the suspenseful manner of the traditional storyteller.
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Rated by buyers 
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I must confess that I read this book hoping for another Romance of the Three Kingdoms. While Outlaws of the Marsh starts strongly, following a number of interesting characters as they endeavor to escape from misfortune, I lost interest about half way through. The last 20 or so chapters (excluding the final chapter) were very boring and difficult to read and nothing exciting really happens. By the end of the 2000 odd pages it is easy to forget that the very first half was so exciting and fast-paced.
As for the translation itself, it is not too bad. Some translations make the characters out to be villains whereas Shapiro's translation takes a more neutral approach. The printing is on very thin, delicate paper with lots of typing errors and as such is a bit disappointing. There are also some paintings reproduced in the text but these are of very low quality.
Rated by buyers 
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Overview: Outlaws of the Marsh is an entertaining novel chronicling the lives of 108 men and women forced into brigandry by injustice.
Setting: The story takes place in China during the Song Dynasty.
Theme: While many criticize it for the brutal justice which the outlaws enact, one ought to acknowledge that Song China was a different place at a different time and thus the opinion on what is due to someone differs from the common view of the average English reader. With this acknowleged, one can view the book as an interesting way of learning the culture, beliefs, and character of both Song China and the China of when the book was created. While this novel (very lightly) touches on Buddhist and Taoist transcendental philosophy, it primarily praises justice, loyalty, and honor.
Characters: Although the novel has 108 protagonists, only about fifteen need to be remembered. Each of the main characters is wonderfully developed and his or her personality is learned through their speech and action rather than a tersely put paragraph about their personality and claim to fame. The author stays within bounds of making the badguys only as bad as they need to be.
Plot: With many interlocking plots, some are good, some are bad. The deepest vein of plot, that of leader Song Jiang, coincidentally follows the standard Nietzschean conflict of a man striving for excellence hated by those who envy and fear him, something which will endear the Western reader to this hero. At times, the author uses the deux-ex-machina excessively, replacing heroes deeds with the favors of gods. Some incidences are far fetched but comical and ought to be read that way. It could most easily be read as a light-hearted, sometimes farcical Robin Hood-esque tale. Nonetheless, it has the standard ending to a Chinese novel.
Style and Language: The language is relatively simple, probably about the level of a newspaper. This makes it accessible to a non-academic audience (including those unversed in Chinese traditions). The translator avoids excessive technical terms and those that he does use he explains in notes.
Recommended?: The novel is violent, but those with an interest in martial arts or military will find it exciting. Because of its importance to Chinese culture, it is worth the read.
Rated by buyers -
I'm only in the middle of the second book (out of 4), so take my review with that in mind.
The biggest problem I have is that the English translaction is extremely poor. It is not the content I'm complaining about, but the writing. It is so lousy that it will take away from your enjoyment of the story.
The story is compelling but there is a few things that bothered me about it:
1) whenever the main character (of the moment) gets in big trouble, his predicament is always bailed out by some incredible coincidence that his assailant (or antagonist at the moment) is actually a friend or knows a friend of his. It is ALWAYS like that, throughout the book.
2) the characters in the book, whether they are righteous or unrighteous, always get lauded as heroes. You can have a despicable character and yet he is respected among his peers...why? Maybe it is a cultural phenomena that I am not aware of.
anyways, I'm going to finish the entire series and see what happens.
Rated by buyers -
This book was a lot of fun to read. Having also read Three Kingdoms I have to say I enjoyed that book more but this one was still great. It's full of adventure and colorful characters. Sometimes the events building up to a new dramatic event are too drawn out but for the most part this book has hard to put down.
Rated by buyers 
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I couldn't believe this story was written in the 13th century! The structure read like a modern novel. You won't be disappointed with the adventures that these characters get into. It is also a nice insight into ancient Chinese thought about political legitimacy and virtue. While very gory at times, this book really shows you how the ancient chinese thought. The morals are also applicable to today.
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