I have a copy of collected short writings of the legendary martial-art novelist Jin Yong. This is collected from a column of newspapers from the 1950s.
I have not read a lot of Jin Yong myself, although I KNOW they are good as I love most TV series and comics based on the novels. I am a visual person: I can't focus on reading pages of pages of text, however beautifully written. Kung fu is best presented with actual action! (TV producers: don't over use that CG please). I enjoy reading (and writing) short chunks of text.
In this collection Jin Yong covered a lot of topics: history, travel log, and thoughts from movies and operas, and thoughts from the classic, including western literature such as Shakespeare. He even included a talk about Chinese discovery of π. You can this page here. I am glad I already know most of what he had to say about π.
Jin Yong writes in no-nonsense, sometimes more educational than entertaining manner, demonstrating his immense knowledge on a wide varity of topics. I wish he included more thoughts on Chinese literature.
A big section of the book is on Shakespeare as he shared his thoughts on Julius Caeser, Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Hamlet, and much more. Jin Yong gave big two thumbs up with Shakespeare's works, pinpointing what is great with them, how beautifully written are the conflicts among the characters etc. I am almost illiterate with Shakespeare, absolutely hated some of the endless dialogues.
I am certain that every Chinese love Jin Yong's works. He has achieved the greatness of a true master. Yet he enjoys Shakespeare so much. Perhaps I am just not an truly educated person.
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