The Story of the Stone, Volume I: The Golden Days, Chapters 1-26

Well, in my opinion anyway. David Hawkes has done an amazing job translating this brilliant 18th-century novel into colloquial modern English. I have read all the translations-- this is my favorite novel, and this is by far the best version for an English speaker who just wants a good book. I can imagine that a Chinese reader could pick holes in this translation, as I could nitpick at a translation of Shakespeare-- the wealth of the original is impossible to transfer whole into another language and culture. If you want a word-for-word translation so you can use this as a study guide while you read the Chinese, maybe the wooden Beijing Languages version could help you! But I have a hard time imagining any new translation being more vivid and fun to read than this one. Yes, it is littered with sometimes annoying Britishisms. That is the price of a colloquial translation! It's true that Hawkes does not explain all the references-- that would be another book in itself. And I am sure he made mistakes-- I help a French translator occasionally and even though he is very well-versed in English, it is so easy for him to miss something that only a cultured native speaker could pick up. But this translation is ALIVE. Until that perfect translation comes along one day, Hawkes's is still better than all the others. Be grateful to him! (2003)

I spend a lot of time wandering through bookstores. One particular book has caught my eye over the years, and the other day I bought it - Volume 1 of Cao Xueqin's eighteenth century epic, "The Story of the Stone: The Golden Days". As a developing eighteenth century scholar, I was doubly attracted to it. "The Golden Days" absolutely blew me away - used as I am to eighteenth century novels (British, French, American), this is wholly unlike anything I've read from the era. It bears structural similarities to the Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" and "Sentimental Journey," but aside from that bears more in common with ancient Greek novels like Longus's "Daphnis and Chloe" or Heliodorus's "Eithopian Romance," as well as the mysticism of the ancient Egyptian "Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor." And yet, Cao's attention to actual life experiences, and the detail he conveys about tradition and ceremony, along with frank dealings with human relationships and sexuality makes "The Golden Days" much more than any quick summary of style or content can relate. "The Golden Days" begins in amusing, but sympathetic fashion: the goddess Nü-wa is repairing the sky with 36,501 stones. When she finishes, one remains, which is cast off. Having been touched by a goddess, this stone has magical properties, able to move, change size, and even talk. One day, a Buddhist monk and a Taoist come upon the stone, and promise to let the stone have an adventure - to become human. As the stone waits by a pond, it falls desperately in love with a Crimson Pearl Flower, which is also selected for incarnation by the Fairy Disenchantment. The stone and the flower are incarnated as the novel begins in earnest, as a young minor nobleman named Jia Bao-yu, and a commoner related to the family, a girl named Lin Dai-yu - both unaware of their heavenly origins. "The Golden Days" centers around the daily events and occurrences in the lives of these two teenagers, as they come to grips, as we all must, with human life. The Rong and Ning branches of the Jia family, on opposite sides of Two Dukes Street, are the centerpieces of the novel's action. Like the "big house" fiction of the English eighteenth century, these ancestral manses provide a locus of activity, as the nobles, their extended families, friends, and servants mingle and interact constantly. Cao marks himself as a remarkable author by the way he handles a massive cast of characters, letting us into the private lives and concerns of all ranks of society, as well as the forms of etiquette that determine their relationships. Another terrific facet of the novel's construction is the almost stream of consciousness style Cao employs - as characters pass in and out of the immediate action of the novel, the narrative seems to choose the person it's most interested in and follow them for pages at a time, before seamlessly passing to the next character. It's really quite amazing, how, in this way, we come to understand the mo

Written in 1750, The Story of the Stone is an impressive and fascinating tale that incorporates otherworldly magic and mysticism with the saga of wealthy Jia family. The five-volume story chronicles the family's high-living glory days through their bitter decline, all the while immersing the reader in rich details of daily life in 18th century China. I completely agree with the following quote from the Times Higher Educational Supplement: "an astonishing book. It recreates a world that would otherwise be utterly lost." Anyone even mildly interested in Chinese history and culture will be enthralled by this glimpse into the privileged world of wealthy 18th century Chinese.Author Cao Xueqin was truly a creative genius - Story of the Stone is multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and superbly crafted. While reading the first chapter of the first book (Dream of the Red Chamber), I was struck with how utterly clever and imaginative the story is. You will instantly be aware that you are reading something that has endured almost three hundred years for a very good reason. The story is populated with dozens of wonderfully three-dimensional characters - many of whom are woven in and out of the story making for a most interesting read. Most notable is the spoiled and curiously effeminate protagonist Jia Bao-yu, who possesses a special, magical item that I won't reveal here (don't want to spoil your enjoyment of the book!).All of the elements that make traditional Chinese literature such a joy to read are embodied in Story of the Stone. Elaborate settings, delicate verse, and traditional symbolism (with a healthy dose of humor and bawdiness) create a beautiful and riveting story that will keep you wanting more. I highly recommend reading the entire 5-book series. It is impressive that a work can stand the test of time as well as Story of the Stone has. David Hawkes' fine translation is excellent. Although some have criticized him for using too much "slang," I feel that his translation is effective in expressing the character's true sentiments, and it is tremendously easy to read. Story of the Stone is an unforgettable and awesome read that I highly recommend.

This is the first volume of a 5 volume series, and does not stand alone. If you read it, and enjoy it, be prepared to read the other four volumes. The story is difficult to begin with, not for lack of interest, but because of the complexity of Chinese names for the western reader. The book is provided with a useful list of characters for each volume, and after referring to this during the first half of the first volume, all becomes clearer for the remainder of the book.The story itself is a fascinating picture of life in 18th century China, and portrays the development of a young boy who has otherworldly origins. The western reader needs to view dispassionately the Buddhist theme which pervades the novel, but when read with an open mind, the philosophy underlying the novel is both charming and practical (in its own way).I found the book addictive, though it has to be said that others of my acquaintance found it too difficult to cope with, and abandoned the story before the end of the first volume. If you persevere, it forms a wonderful introduction to classical Chinese literature, and those similarly addicted will find it leads into many other books of Chinese prose and poetry.

This is one of the most entertaining, satisfying "big baggy"-type novels of all time. Readers who like long Victorian or Russian novels, or got all the way through "Clarissa," will get many hours of enjoyment from "Story of the Stone" ("Dream of the Red Chamber" is the more common title). It is about a cultured, wealthy family in early Ching dynasty China, with a teenaged hero called Bao-yu. Bao-yu spends all his time in the women's quarters, which is unheard-of for a boy his age but allowed because his grandmother spoils him. Instead of fulfilling his filial duty by studying for the civil service exams, he indulges in the same idle pleasures as the women of the household, eating, dressing, gossiping, composing poetry, and/or playing drinking games with his many girl cousins, aunts, mother, doting grandmother, myriad serving maids, a troupe of actresses, and the occasional nun from a convent located on the grounds. Bao-yu is a dreamy, precocious romantic, very spoiled but charming, and always (usually platonically) in love with several girls at once. However, his deepest feelings are for his cousin Dai-yu, his soulmate, who is sickly, orphaned, frequently whiny, and not considered a good match by the family. It is hard to believe that Cao Xueqin wrote about 300 years ago on the other side of the world, because he gives such a touching, ironic depiction of romantic love unfolding between two sensitive, self-conscious, and precocious kids. His characterizations of women are also sympathetic and insightful, aware of the suffering that society's conventions inflict on them. And the rest of the novel is a fascinating portrayal of traditional Chinese culture, manners, religion, entertainment, food, clothes, interior decoration, medicine, and family values. Family members and servants go about their lives, putting on funerals, having birthday parties, intriguing for improved status within the family, casting spells on enemies, eating lavish meals, entertaining Imperial guests and poor relations, threatening or committing suicide to save face, scheming to take concubines behind wives' backs, etc. etc. Symbolism in names, metaphors, dreams, poems, etc. abounds. The novel has literally hundreds of characters (David Hawkes helpfully organizes them by letting the family members keep their Chinese names and translating the servants' names into English, the actresses' names into French, and the monks' and nuns' names into Latin). Caveat lector: "DRC" is challenging even for a Chinese reader because of its allegories, wordplay, poetry, and cultural references. It is full of allusions to Chinese literature and history -- which can be frustrating since Hawkes does not provide explanatory footnotes. (I was able to get my Chinese boyfriend and his mother to explain some of the allusions.) Also, although the translation is unabridged and usually idiomatic, it sometimes grated on my (American) ears. Hawkes sometimes