Reviews - The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West

513 reviews for:

The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West

A timeless literary classic inspiring culture across multiple countries. Maybe it's fated that I finish it on the day of passing of one of the great artists, Akira Toriyama whose creation Dragon Ball z, is an indirect adaptation of this story with the protagonist Son Goku literally named after the hero Son Wukong (Monkey awakened by emptiness).

A work of literary brilliance whose author remained unknown for millennia and which has inspired millions of people spiritually, intellectually and politically.

mmillerb's review against another edition

5.0

um it’s literally a classic

barbarianmacaque's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jofgood's review against another edition

4.0

An abridged version of the epic classic.
I enjoyed discovering the story and characters that have populated so many adaptations.

It's very enjoyable and easy to read, not at all a complicated epic to understand like some of the others you migh have read before.

paganel's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

eviealv's review against another edition

4.0

I read this mostly out of curiosity after hearing it was the inspiration for Dragon Ball lol, but I ended up having a lot of fun with it on its own terms! It was a lot sillier than I expected, basically a medieval Chinese road trip buddy comedy. This translation was great, extremely readable and fun. That being said, this abridged version was definitely enough for me; even though it was fun the "episodes" started to get pretty repetitive by the end.