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[Audio Book] The Sanguo Yanyi

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About the Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook

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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 Yuan Xi (1)

Sunday

Nov082009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 33

Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 11:47AM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 33:

A Gallant Warrior, Cao Pi Marries Lady Zhen;

An Expiring Star, Guo Jia Settles Liaodong.

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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS.

Chapter 33 comes with a bit of a feeling of deja vu. Remember about 23 chapters ago when Lu Bu, having just assassinated the wicked Dong Zhuo, found himself facing the armies of four of Dong Zhuo's generals (Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Zhang Ji)? Lu Bu succumbed to what was essentially the tactics of a wolfpack, one attacking the neck while the other goes for the hamstring. Cao Cao is in somewhat of a similar situation, facing off against the remainder of Yuan Shao's once insanely large army, which is now under the command of three sons and a nephew: Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and Gao Gan.

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D.J. Raspe |