Posted 29 September 2004 - 11:29 PM
Hey all,
The 108 heroes remind me of the X-men. Granted they (mostly) don't have super powers, but it's the similar style of characterization: giving each hero some idiosyncracy.
This novel is my all time favorite, but in certain areas it's also overrated. Think of just the characterization, for example: the novel is often admired for its characterization, and rightly it should be, as few authors have the ability to create so many diverse characters, and even characters of the same type (like Li Gui and Lu Chi Shin) can be easily distinguished (Li Gui is completely simple and straight forward, while Lu Chi Shin has a layer of sophistication.) But close examination shows that only about 30 (still a lot) of the heroes and some other non-heroes are so detailed -- the rest of the 108 heroes, and many of the characters outside of them are barely names with a short biography, an interesting feature, some special skill, or even just an interesting weapon! Lu Fong and Guo Sheng (incidentally the grandfather of Guo Jin of Jin Yung's novels) are such characters: seriously, aside from their clothes and their weapons, we can't really distinguish them from others. Some are even more difficult: Sung Wan and Du Chien, for example, are two of the helping founders of the Liang Shan Po lair, but we really don't know jacks about them!
Some suggested that the author tried too much when trying to keep to the number 108, when he could've made less heroes but make them all memorable. I'd nonetheless differ from this criticism: there's something special about the number 108, both in terms of its metaphysical meaning and its relation to the Shui Hu Chuan stories. I think, if I'm not mistaken, prior to the writing of the novel the legends gradually grew to the number of the 108 heroes. So having this number is a way of celebrating the diverse tales that are formed about them.
Peace,
Michael
9-29-2004
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