The Old Guys

Chapters 69-70

This is the time for some of the old guys to shine. In Chapter 69, the old sage Guan Lu gives some advice from the Book of Changes. He refuses to explain the fates of Cao Cao and his men, but he does reveal the fate of another character. Lu Su has died, offstage. It’s a big loss for Sun Quan, but we don’t get to see it from his perspective.

In Chapter 70, it’s time for the nearly septuagenarian Huang Zhong and his fellow old guy Yan Yan to take to the battlefield. Zhong’s age is mentioned several times (his “white bear bristling” p. 1265). After Zhang Fei defeats one of Cao Cao’s men, Zhang He, it’s the old mens’ turn to continue the battle against Zhang He. The old men win. I think Zhang He is supposed to be one of the main characters (he has a Magic card after all), but so far he’s just been beaten down by the other heroes.

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

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

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

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Poetry Writing Constraints

The Devil Goes Down to Arabia

Head is a Hot Potato

Seriousness replaced absurdity