Head is a Hot Potato

Chapters 76-77

With the biggest death of the book so far, and likely one of the biggest in the book overall, we really get the sense of the end of a great one. Sun Quan beheads Lord Guan and quickly regrets it. Sun is advised that Liu Bei will pursue him relentlessly in revenge. Sun tries to send Guan's head to Cao Cao to blame him, but Sima Yi advises Cao Cao on what’s going on. Cao Cao gives Lord Guan the most proper burial that he can.

Lord Guan successfully haunts a few people before he goes. Liu Bei sees him. Cao Cao sees him. Sun Quan sees him when Lord Guan's spirit possesses Lü Meng, his general who had successfully defeated Lord Guan. The possession is fatal: “Lü Meng collapsed on the ground, blood ran out of his orifices, and he died. There was general terror.” (p. 1378) If Lord Guan had to get beheaded, he went out well and did some good work as a wraith. A good hero’s end.

Poetry Writing Constraints

Chapters 78-80 Tons of plot in these chapters. Most importantly, we get the deaths of a major character (Cao Cao) and minor characters (Xiahou Dun, Hua Tuo, Liu Feng). Hua Tuo’s death is one of my favorites, given my love of lost books. His “Book of the Black

The Devil Goes Down to Arabia

Nights 681-695 After the last couple weeks, I was worried that I was tiring of the Nights. But there was some good stuff here! My enthusiasm for the Nights has been restored. We can thank al-Asma’i, who the index says was a real-life expert on the

Seriousness replaced absurdity

Nights 649-680 It’s hard for me to say why I found this story so much more tiresome than what came before it. Maybe I’m getting tired of the Nights. Maybe work is particularly stressful right now. If I were to look for an objective reason, I’d

Bring Your Own Coffin

Chapters 74-75 Lord Guan continues to seem more imperious and arrogant. He is almost a new character, not the hero of the march we saw in Chapters 27-28. We are almost rooting against him in Chapter 74 when Pang De arrives to fight him. But it’s not

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Poetry Writing Constraints

The Devil Goes Down to Arabia

Seriousness replaced absurdity

Bring Your Own Coffin