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Bridge of Birds
Jan. 17th, 2010 05:53 pmOn ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eccentrific and vvvexation 's collective recommendation, I read Bridge of Birds,a Novel of Ancient China that Never Was, starring Li Kao, an old man who always introduces himself as a Sage with a Slight Flaw in His Character. You probably already have a sense for the tone of the book from the previous sentence. In any case, the book starts using a wide range of fantasy tropes and then co-opts them in strange and hilarious ways. Shrek and the Princess Bride sort of do the same thing, but Bridge of Birds ends up using the tropes in a way that fits in perfectly with the plot while explaining why they are there. I can't give away much more without giving away the ending so I'll stop.
I think someone could make it into a fantastic cult classic fantasy movie.
Here's what Amazon says about it:
eccentrific and vvvexation 's collective recommendation, I read Bridge of Birds,a Novel of Ancient China that Never Was, starring Li Kao, an old man who always introduces himself as a Sage with a Slight Flaw in His Character. You probably already have a sense for the tone of the book from the previous sentence. In any case, the book starts using a wide range of fantasy tropes and then co-opts them in strange and hilarious ways. Shrek and the Princess Bride sort of do the same thing, but Bridge of Birds ends up using the tropes in a way that fits in perfectly with the plot while explaining why they are there. I can't give away much more without giving away the ending so I'll stop. I think someone could make it into a fantastic cult classic fantasy movie.
Here's what Amazon says about it:
Bridge of Birds is a lyrical fantasy novel. Set in "an Ancient China that never was", it stands with The Princess Bride and The Last Unicorn as a fairy tale for all ages, by turns incredibly funny and deeply touching. It won the World Fantasy Award in 1985, and Hughart produced two sequels: The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen. All present the adventures of Master Kao Li, a scholar with "a slight flaw in [his] character", and Lu Yu, usually called Number Ten Ox, his sidekick and the story's narrator. Number Ten Ox is strong, trusting, and pure of heart; Master Li once sold an emperor shares in a mustard mine, because "I was trying to win a bet concerning the intelligence of emperors."
Number Ten Ox comes from a village in which the children have been struck by a mysterious illness. He recruits Master Li to find the cure and comes along to provide muscle. They seek a mysterious Great Root of Power, which may be a form of ginseng. Of course, nothing turns out to be as simple as it seems; great wrongs must be avenged and lovers separated must be reunited, from the most humble to the highest. And even in the midst of cosmic glory, Pawnbroker Fang and Ma the Grub are picking the pockets of their own lynch mob, who are frozen in awe and wonder. --Nona Vero
