Erha Vol 1
Nov. 30th, 2022 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kutsuwamushiI finally finished the first volume. I would have finished it much sooner, but I'm stubbornly trying to finish another book that is hard for me to focus on.* Now I need/want the second volume.
It's going to be years until I can read the full story. ;_;
I tried to read the fan translations, but wasn't able to get access before they were pulled, so most of what I know about the series has been through fandom osmosis. Some initial thoughts:
1. Mo Ran is even more Mo Ran than I expected. The fact that he's the main point-of-view character is fantastic. He's an unreliable narrator, but in some ways also very honest; he's an asshole and knows this, but
I said this on Tumblr, but one of the things I enjoyed is that after his rebirth and his realization that he has a second chance, he doesn't just suddenly change into a good person. The encounter with Rong Jiu illustrates this perfectly: He chooses to be a better person and not ruin Rong Jiu's life by disfiguring him, by choosing the lesser revenge of just stealing his stuff. Then he lies to his sect about the theft when he's accused. You can see him becoming less vicious, but doesn't just suddenly rise above the need for revenge and he doesn't suddenly become honest.
Later, when Chu Wanning mentions that it's very hard to change human nature, I went, "hmm, a theme."
Also, is this ... top interiority ...
2. Chu Wanning is even more Chu Wanning than I expected. Honestly, my experience with fandom made me suspect that his woobie traits were exaggerated. No they were not. A++.
3. Overall, I am really enjoying meatbun's style. It's dynamic and humorous, but doesn't come across as shallow. The use of danmei tropes comes across to me as considered, like: I'm doing this because I want to and it works, not because I can't imagine doing it another way.
* That would be Gene Wolfe's Sword and Citadel, which is one of those types of books that gives me a pleasure to have read, because I have lots of thoughts about the worldbuilding and the craft, but is not so pleasurable to read because it's a lot harder for me to lose myself in a book these days, and the narrative and characters aren't compelling enough to keep my focus.
It's going to be years until I can read the full story. ;_;
I tried to read the fan translations, but wasn't able to get access before they were pulled, so most of what I know about the series has been through fandom osmosis. Some initial thoughts:
1. Mo Ran is even more Mo Ran than I expected. The fact that he's the main point-of-view character is fantastic. He's an unreliable narrator, but in some ways also very honest; he's an asshole and knows this, but
I said this on Tumblr, but one of the things I enjoyed is that after his rebirth and his realization that he has a second chance, he doesn't just suddenly change into a good person. The encounter with Rong Jiu illustrates this perfectly: He chooses to be a better person and not ruin Rong Jiu's life by disfiguring him, by choosing the lesser revenge of just stealing his stuff. Then he lies to his sect about the theft when he's accused. You can see him becoming less vicious, but doesn't just suddenly rise above the need for revenge and he doesn't suddenly become honest.
Later, when Chu Wanning mentions that it's very hard to change human nature, I went, "hmm, a theme."
Also, is this ... top interiority ...
2. Chu Wanning is even more Chu Wanning than I expected. Honestly, my experience with fandom made me suspect that his woobie traits were exaggerated. No they were not. A++.
3. Overall, I am really enjoying meatbun's style. It's dynamic and humorous, but doesn't come across as shallow. The use of danmei tropes comes across to me as considered, like: I'm doing this because I want to and it works, not because I can't imagine doing it another way.
* That would be Gene Wolfe's Sword and Citadel, which is one of those types of books that gives me a pleasure to have read, because I have lots of thoughts about the worldbuilding and the craft, but is not so pleasurable to read because it's a lot harder for me to lose myself in a book these days, and the narrative and characters aren't compelling enough to keep my focus.
