Sanguo - Books, Culture, Podcasts, and Revolution

Navigation

The Sanguo Yanyi

Email us! Email us Now!

[Audio Book] The Sanguo Yanyi

Links

Projects

Stuff I'm Working On
- Brookhaven
  
  A revolutionary story-based hip-hop podcast.
- Sanguo Yanyi
  
  An audiobook based on the legendary story.
- That's Our Curtis
  
  A Video Show Featuring the Original Curtis!
- Zombie Doom
  
  Building the zombie apocalypse.

Sanguo Yanyi Chapters

Online

RSS Feeds

[Blog] Recent Posts

Comments

About the Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook

RSS Feed - iTunes - Archive

By the Romance of the Three Kingdoms on Amazon

I have long been fascinated with the almost two millenia-old Chinese epic, the Sanguo Yanyi, or "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as it has been called here in the west. The book, written by various authors contributing to it throughout the centuries, is truly one of the finest examples of epic storytelling in the history of the world. I tend to refer to it, sometimes, when I'm describing the story to people, as "The Chinese Illiad". The term might be a tad bit imprecise, since the Illiad only covers, what, ten years or so? Whereas, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms covers 90+ years of Chinese history. Some time back, I got a bug up my ass or something, and decided to go out and find audiobook versions of all my favorite books. I have been very successful for the most part, but there were some glaring omissions that I could not countenance. For one thing, I've not yet been able to score an audio copy of "The Aeneid" by Virgil. And from all the information I've thus far been able to gather, there is no audiobook adaptation of the Three Kingdoms saga. (Perhaps this might have something to do with the fact that the story is 120 chapters long!) To say that I was a bit indignant to discover that no one had ever made an audiobook version of one of the best-selling books of all time, one of the greatest STORIES of all time would be a bit of an understatement. I looked and looked and looked for months to see if I could track down an audio copy, and found none. So I decided that I would make one myself.

By the way, I just want to say right here and now: I do not speak any of the Chinese dialects, so if I happen to mispronounce anything, my apologies, but I do the best I can. :p I realize that this is a project which will probably consume my entire lifetime. The book is, as I have said before, quite a long one. But I am resolved to finish this project, if it takes me forever, and when I'm done, the world will have this fine, fine story of loyalty, brotherhood, ambition, and betrayal in audiobook form! This version is adapted from the online version published by the good folks at Threekingdoms.com, featuring a musical score taken from the many Romance of the Three Kingdoms video games put out by Koei over the years. The music is courtesy of Kongming.net. If you're as much of a fan of the Three Kingdoms as I am, you'll have to check that one out! I have put a lot of work into this so far, and it's not going to stop, so I hope that each and every one of you enjoy this.

Entries in Long Slope Bridge (1)

Saturday

Jan162010

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 42

Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 1:46PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 42:

Screaming Zhang Fei Triumphs At Long Slope Bridge;

Defeated Liu Bei Marches To Hanjin.

Listen:

Download Episode

WARNING, I PUT A LOT OF SOUND EFFECTS IN THIS ONE...

That's right, I did. Chang Ban is, in my humble opinion, one of the most entertaining chapters in the entire novel, as it showcases the talents of not only Zhao Yun (Zilong) but Zhang Fei in their fullest glory. I have tried to use sound effects very sparingly in this audiobook, because I didn't really want sensationalism to take away from the actual words. The words in which this story, any story is told are what are really important. However, I feel that in this case, sound effects help to add an epic quality to the great deeds being performed in Chapter 42. The result, as you will hear, is truly an audible treat. An audiobook chapter that listens like a radioplay. :p

Click to read more ...

D.J. Raspe |