The MDZS novel readalong - chapters 1 & 2

[solo]

And here we are, our discussion post for Novel chapters 1 & 2, or web serialization chapters 1-5. The format might be refined as we go ^_^ - let's get started!

What happened?

- We got the general gloating at Wei Wuxian's death
- first info on the siege and how Wei Wuxian died
- Wei Wuxian's resurrection 13 years later
- an evil left arm running rampant at Mo Manor
- the introduction of Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi
- a glimpse of Mo Xuanyu's sad life
- Lan Wangji making an epic entrance
- and finally Wei Wuxian departing with the donkey.

How are we feeling about it all?

Any character observations? What did you make of the character intros?

Anything that surprised you even on re-read, or coming from the adaptations?

Spot any difference to other MDZS media?


Discussion notes

Spoilers for all adaptations are permitted.

The questions above are meant as potentially helpful starters, not mandatory. :)

Commentary and comparison with other translations is welcome, as is commentary on the original Chinese. (The readalong mods don't speak or read Chinese so this won't come from us, but any dedicated thread or un-dedicated observations will be received with delight.)

Jumping into threads and replying to other people's comments is not just encouraged, but part of the point.

Disagreement is fine. Keeping it friendly is encouraged, keeping it civil is required.

We encourage tracking the post or coming back to it over the week - the fun part of doing this on Dreamwidth is that discussion can happen over time and doesn't have to be instantly!

If you have any questions or concerns you want to ask the discussion mods, feel free to email us at haikuesque@gmail.com.


The reading schedule

Saturday 22 January: Chapter 1 Reincarnation + Chapter 2 The Intractable (web serialization chapters 1-5)
Saturday 29 January: Chapter 3 The Prideful (web serialization chapters 6-10)
Saturday 5 February: Chapter 4 The Elegant Flirt part 1 (official translation pages 119-168, web serialization chapters 11-(halfway through) 16.6, ending as the group set out for Caiyi )
Saturday 12 February: Chapter 4 The Elegant Flirt part 2 (official transllation pages 168-204, web serialization chapters 16.6-18)
Saturday 19 February: Chapter 5 The Sunny Pair (web serialization chapters 19-22)
Saturday 25 February: Chapter 6 The Malevolent (web serialization chapters 23-27)
Saturday 4 March: Chapter 7 The Morning Dew (web serialization chapters 28-32)

Comments

[sunshine304]

It's definitely an intersting way to start your novel! You've read the blurp on the back cover? Fun fact, the protagonist is dead! XD I think in retrospect they did well with adapting it for CQL, with the prologue text in part being used as story telling and us seeing the scene from that perspective. Evil YLLZ killed by his shidi, yay! But it was super confusing first time around.

I also like it quite a bit that WWX in MDZS is more morally grey and that not all of his actions can be excused. CQL absolves him a lot of the blame with JGY's interference, but sometimes a protagonist can have actual flaws and make decisions that are hurting people even if some of his intentions were good. I see that CQL had limitations by censorship and also by making the character attractive for a wide audience so that the show be successful (the hero must be good!), but it's more interesting if there are flaws that actually have serious consequences.
WWX really seems to lean into his reputation in MDZS from what we've seen so far. Interested in how this will continue.

[wearing_tearing]

There is a good chance I might have read the synopsis before starting the book? But if I did, I forgot all about it by the time I started reading XD

Re the show, what caught my attention right away was all the blood and violence \o/ but it took me such a long time to understand why everyone was fighting and what moment from the novel that scene was supposed to represent. It clicked eventually :D

I also like it quite a bit that WWX in MDZS is more morally grey and that not all of his actions can be excused. CQL absolves him a lot of the blame with JGY's interference, but sometimes a protagonist can have actual flaws and make decisions that are hurting people even if some of his intentions were good.

100% agree with you there.