The Romance of the Three Kingdoms included in the collection of world classics I read as a child was an abridged version that condensed the long story into a single volume. It was the kind of book you could just skim through and move on from, to the extent that my only memory remaining was that Cao Cao was a cunning villain and Liu Bei was a good man. As I grew older, whenever I encountered a new edition of the Three Kingdoms, I would get sick of wondering why the story had been stretched out

Although it is said to sharply criticize Sinocentrism with a new historical perspective, I still didn't feel it transcended the limitations of the original text. Furthermore, perhaps due to the focus on a fast-paced narrative, there are some leaps in logic that make it less engaging in certain places. However, I did appreciate the parts where it was interpreted much more independently and autonomously than other versions of the Three Kingdoms.

Jang Jung-il and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms... to use a trendy phrase these days, it might sound absurd. However, comparing it to other versions of the Three Kingdoms, or reading Jang Jung-il's version from the beginning, will be meaningful endeavors in their own right. Above all, there is a clear difference because he approached this work as the author, not the translator. After seeing the first volume at the bookstore, I decided to read the entire series.