China's four classical novels still belong to the category of "ivory tower" works in the American book market, and are rarely seen in American bookstores. It seems that the rising "Chinese fever" and "China fever" have not yet reached the level of China's classical literature. When you walk into an ordinary American bookstore, you will find the most China books, such as Tao Te Ching, Sun Tzu's Art of War, Feng Shui and Cooking, as well as novels and informative books related to the Cultural Revolution.
Not long ago, the reporter went to the bookstore set up by the famous Smithsonian Museum in Washington to search the shelves of China literature. He only saw the English version of A Dream of Red Mansions published by Penguin Publishing House (the title of this version is Stone). The staff of the bookstore told me that according to the computer records, the bookstore had been to The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin and The Journey to the West before, but I don't know why I didn't renew the books after they were sold out. As only a few professional bookstores sell English versions of China's Four Classical Novels, some readers can only order them online.
Among the four classical novels, the most popular one is the Water Margin translated by American writer Pearl Buck that year, and its English translation is called All Men Are Brothers within the Four Seas. 1938 pearl s buck's speech of thanks at the nobel prize awarding ceremony, entitled "China's novels". She said: China's classical novels are as irresistible as those of any other country in the world. A truly well-educated person should know such classic works as A Dream of Red Mansions and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. All Men Are Brothers in the Four Seas was on the best-seller list in the United States at that time, but there were still many mistakes in translation. For example, the translation of book titles was criticized by Lu Xun. 108 The nicknames of generals are usually literal. For example, Flower Monk Lu translated as "Flower Monk", and Sun Erniang translated as "Nightmare".
In contrast, the Monkey King, who has a good sense of humor and kung fu, is more attractive to ordinary Americans. Many Americans know the story of Journey to the West. The English version is Monkey, and other translations include Monkey King, The Adventures of Monkey Brother, Monkey Brother's Learning from the Buddhist Scriptures, The Chivalrous Pig and the Adventures of Ghosts and Ghosts. Unfortunately, after Journey to the West was translated into English, many hidden allusions and implications were lost, which eclipsed most of his works. Various versions of The Journey to the West translated by Jenner and published by foreign languages press, China are very popular, but some American readers report that the printing quality and binding technology of the book seem to need to be improved.
As for Dream of Red Mansions, which ranks first among the four classical novels, American high school and university world history textbooks will mention it as one of China's greatest novels. These textbooks often describe the decline of the Qing Dynasty by introducing A Dream of Red Mansions. A Dream of Red Mansions is called Romeo and Juliet of China by some critics in the United States. Generally speaking, Americans don't pay much attention to the concept of clan, but the complicated family relations and the names of many characters in A Dream of Red Mansions confuse American readers.
For young American video game fans, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not very strange. A few years ago, a video game called Warrior II was all the rage among American teenagers. Warrior II of the Dynasty is based on the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The names of people and places are from the original works, and there is also a "martial arts" pinyin button on the control panel, but the language and music have been "completely westernized". However, Warrior II has led many American teenagers to "seek their roots" in the original work. Richard Kang, a young man living in new york, discovered The Romance of the Three Kingdoms in this way and was deeply attracted by the original work. He told reporters that he really learned what loyalty, heroism and military strategy are from the book, and understood the truth that China people "will be separated if they stay together for a long time, but will be together if they leave for a long time" from a historical perspective. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, translated by Moss Roberts and published in foreign languages press, China, is very popular in various versions, while the title of another translation is translated into Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
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