"Nirvana in Fire"/"Lang Ya Bang" Group Read: Discussion Post for Chapters 154 - 161

[x_los]

Weeks 38 and 39 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 154 - 161 (inclusive). This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on January 30th.

I'll be doing a weekly post with thoughts on this community. Feel free to join in/discuss. If you'd like to join the Discord, contact superborb for an invite.

Chinese text: https://sj.uukanshu.com/book.aspx?id=17338
English translation: https://merelhyn.tumblr.com/post/641747965727358976/the-langya-list-epubpdf

SPOILER POLICY: I personally don't give a fuck or even like to give unearned credence to the concept, so since I'm writing the post, anything's fair game.

(If anyone is interested in dankodes running further poetry content during or after NiF, please let me know what you'd be keen to discuss. I'm happy to work with you on that. I'll probably ask this again once NiF draws to a close.)

 

Comments

Chapter 161

[x_los]

Is Xuanji being called a Prince despite being a woman for any particular reason? The next page uses Princess again, so I'm inclined to attribute the discrepancy to uneven editing rather than a textual gendered or role-based marker.

We're nearly done with the book now, and sadly I don’t feel like the novel is as successful as the show. I’m sure the meh translation is running interference, but the key issue seems to be that the novel just isn’t terribly invested in the emotional tensions/payoffs that make the show work for me. The issue might be that the show allows for a redrafting of the novel, another stage of editing. The medium change absolutely affords new resonance and perspective, but there again, the novel should have its own affordances. The novel's habit of limiting readers' access to information characters possess and holding you at a distance from their decision-making processes results in a curtailed, cool emotional register. Also, I think my coming to the show first has done the novel no favours. The plot developments have been deprived of novelty, and the ensemble is, comparatively, a bit lifeless on the page (again, that’s in part due to the translation). The show is about characters, and the novel isn't, really.

(Also the ‘no sex please, we’re Confucian’ vibe is way more palpable in the book. In the show, it was kind of deniable. In the book, anyone who ever wanted to fuck is a fool at best, and very likely an out-and-out reprobate. A whole series of Consequences befalls he who would fuck.)

Re: Chapter 161

[superborb]

Uneven editing, I think.