Books I should read

The Journey to the West (西游记) on which the story is based is less famous than its iconic characters or even the TV series. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义), a tale of warfare and chivalry, has perhaps an even more immediate effect on contemporary culture: apart from numerous plots it has spawned for traditional theatre and opera, it has now become absorbed in the world of computer gamers.Other novels are less internationally famous, such as The Water Margins (水浒传),which sometimes has been compared to a Chinese Robin Hood tale. And then there is the most famous of all novels, The Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦), arite-of-passage novel that combines a stupendous array of genres making it a multi-layered work that rivals any of the great works of world literature.