Outlaws of the Marsh (4-Volume Boxed Set) in The Roundtable

Oct 10, 2012 Zadignose added it

Shelves: stuff-to-share, 14th-century, chinese

A staggering achievement, and a very odd book from cover to cover. It's greatly cynical, and one can perhaps read it on an infinite number of different levels. The book never makes its intent overt. It can be read as a grand adventure story and a tale of loyalty, as I believe many young readers enjoy the book (or retellings of some of the stories from within the book), but there is certainly an odd mix of sincerity and irony throughout. Facts contradict statements, ethics and loyalties are ever- A staggering achievement, and a very odd book from cover to cover. It's greatly cynical, and one can perhaps read it on an infinite number of different levels. The book never makes its intent overt. It can be read as a grand adventure story and a tale of loyalty, as I believe many young readers enjoy the book (or retellings of some of the stories from within the book), but there is certainly an odd mix of sincerity and irony throughout. Facts contradict statements, ethics and loyalties are ever-shifting, actions defy expectations, stated beliefs are routinely undermined. The most overt paradox is that of the emperor himself, who is routinely praised throughout the book (only once that I remember was an honest criticism of him spoken) yet he never seems to deserve the praise, and it is hinted that he is complicit in some of the most wicked betrayals even while the author and the characters who suffer injustice never dare claim that the emperor was wrong in anything.

But, as I say, that's only one overt example. We are constantly forced to evaluate, and reevaluate, and re-reevaluate all 108 of the major heroes, the countless "villains," and the various actors big and small who occupy an ever-shifting moral terrain defined mainly by violence and corruption. There are some heart-breaking moments, and I'd say there are an infinite number of challenges to the thoughtful reader.

Among other themes, I perceive the structure as a sort of massive game of repetition with variation, the permutations of hundreds of figures revisiting familiar situations, yet reaching surprising outcomes. Every time the book threatens to get tedious, it throws something odd and unexpected at us, and then when it seems chaotic, anarchic, absurd, it "surprises" us again by settling into an even, regular flow.

There are different phases of the book, so there's certainly narrative progress, it's just not a clear, straight-forward progress, but rather a meandering, winding flow. Only when you've completed reading the text and can see the overarching structure does it seem "straightforward," but when you get close to it and you're immersed in the details it's quite complex and even ornate. And so much of what is great about this book is in the details, not the grand scheme.

I've said elsewhere that I perceived a sort of taoist subtext in the early phase of the book, which deals with more of the individual stories. Here we see an acting out of what the Tao Te Ching describes as the progress from benevolence, through several intermediary stages, to corruption... quite an ironic and puzzling concept that what we usually regard as a positive quality--benevolence--could be the first step towards corruption! But it seems quite clear as we see it played out by human actors within the corrupt world. I particularly felt that the story of Panther Head Lin Chong illustrated this progress well.

I could probably ramble forever, but that's all I've got to say for now. Happy reading. ...more

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