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508 reviews for:
The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West
Wu Ch'eng-En, Anthony C. Yu
3.91 AVERAGE
508 reviews for:
The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West
Wu Ch'eng-En, Anthony C. Yu
3.91 AVERAGE
Abridged version. Going to pick up a fuller one later. Didn't detect much stiffness in the translation, and I laughed a lot.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
I decided to read this as a sort of cultural experience. I have a friend who's spending a year or more in China teaching & traveling, & she mentioned that everyone in China knows about this book & the tales from it! So I thought it would be fun to see what it was all about. I read the abridged version translated by Arthur Waley.
The story of Monkey's Journey to the West is a collection of folk tales that describe a spiritual quest and humorously, slyly portray the tension between Buddhism, Taoism and "real life" that existed in the 16th century when Wu Cheng'en wrote them.
The Monkey King is an annoying little scamp who tricks an old man into teaching him magic, makes trouble in Heaven, & becomes immortal by eating some magic peaches. He is punished for his hubris by being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years. There's no shortage of really extreme punishments meted out by all and sundry, in this book! Eventually, a god tells Monkey he can be released with credit for time served, if he accompanies Tripitaka, a Buddhist monk, on a dangerous pilgrimage to pick up some scriptures in India & bring them back. Tripitaka is able to control Monkey through a magic headband. (Peaches...headbands...what were these people smoking?!) Other than the magic headband, nobody puts Monkey in a corner! He has a magic cudgel that can turn into iron and grow many sizes. He has a cloud-trapeze he can fly around on. He can time travel. He can turn himself into anything & he can pluck out his own hairs & transform those into things! He is supposed to represent man's wit, intelligence, & military might but also the negative side which is anger, over-confidence & violence. There's plenty of that in the book, so if you think it's going to be a pleasant little fairy tale, it's not!
As they set out on the pilgrimage, Monkey & Tripitaka pick up two other disciples - Pigsy and Sandy. Pigsy is a half-man, half-pig monster who has been keeping a young woman prisoner & making her & her family miserable. Monkey fights & defeats him & takes him as a helper. Pigsy is very strong & he's supposed to represent man's baser impulses. Sandy is a man-monster who lives in a river & terrorizes all who try to cross. Monkey & Pigsy defeat him & take him as the third disciple. Sandy is strong but also diplomatic and intelligent. Tripitaka needs all their magic powers & strengths because he's just a mortal man & kind of weepy, whiny one at that. (Real pilgrims are never any fun.)
All the humor of the book is supplied by the adventures of Monkey & his friends. Once they get together & get going on their trip, the stories get a little repetitive. In each one they face a challenge, Monkey does some fighting, the other two help, Tripitaka wails, sometimes there's a little bit of rescue from an unexpected source. But Monkey with his cloud carriage, shafts of magic light, cudgel & transformative hair-plucking, always triumphs!
Hilarious and magical things: there's a Heavenly Ladle; a Jade Emperor; a Cave of the Water Curtain; a Dragon King; a Precious Hall of Holy Mists; and a White Turtle 40 feet around. (Who hopefully gets to become human, as he wishes to, in the unabridged version. Though why one would want to be human instead of a turtle, I don't know.)
It's really hard to keep straight who is who among the gods, Buddhas, Immortals, Emperors, emperors' sons, & all the various levels of Heaven. Apparently this mirrors Chinese society which, at the time, was all about knowing the social class of the person you were dealing with, treating them with respect (I love that this translation constantly uses the term, "kowtowing"). Apparently the view of Heaven is a common one in Chinese society, where they see it as a reflection of their own society where at the time, one had to find one's proper level & have all the right paperwork to move around! Very confusing to read about, though.
My favorite quote: " "I noticed a small door on the right as we came in," said Monkey. "Judging from the smell that came from it, I should think it must be a place of metabolic transmigration." " Ha! Toilet humor never changes, no matter the century or country!
My second favorite quote: " "Now then, you horrid earthworm, you scaly loach, how dare you help this Taoist by allowing a chilly dragon to hide in the cauldron?" " I am going to defeat my enemies with chilly dragons from now on!
Now that I'm done I'm glad I read it & I appreciate its fun, its magic and its view of a time and country I'm unfamiliar with. It was a little rough going for me from time to time though. It was a little too "Chinese Lord of the Rings" for me. Violent, repetitive and cartoonish. But - there was the humor, magic, & historical/cultural value. I'll say it all balanced out to a solid "3" for me.
The story of Monkey's Journey to the West is a collection of folk tales that describe a spiritual quest and humorously, slyly portray the tension between Buddhism, Taoism and "real life" that existed in the 16th century when Wu Cheng'en wrote them.
The Monkey King is an annoying little scamp who tricks an old man into teaching him magic, makes trouble in Heaven, & becomes immortal by eating some magic peaches. He is punished for his hubris by being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years. There's no shortage of really extreme punishments meted out by all and sundry, in this book! Eventually, a god tells Monkey he can be released with credit for time served, if he accompanies Tripitaka, a Buddhist monk, on a dangerous pilgrimage to pick up some scriptures in India & bring them back. Tripitaka is able to control Monkey through a magic headband. (Peaches...headbands...what were these people smoking?!) Other than the magic headband, nobody puts Monkey in a corner! He has a magic cudgel that can turn into iron and grow many sizes. He has a cloud-trapeze he can fly around on. He can time travel. He can turn himself into anything & he can pluck out his own hairs & transform those into things! He is supposed to represent man's wit, intelligence, & military might but also the negative side which is anger, over-confidence & violence. There's plenty of that in the book, so if you think it's going to be a pleasant little fairy tale, it's not!
As they set out on the pilgrimage, Monkey & Tripitaka pick up two other disciples - Pigsy and Sandy. Pigsy is a half-man, half-pig monster who has been keeping a young woman prisoner & making her & her family miserable. Monkey fights & defeats him & takes him as a helper. Pigsy is very strong & he's supposed to represent man's baser impulses. Sandy is a man-monster who lives in a river & terrorizes all who try to cross. Monkey & Pigsy defeat him & take him as the third disciple. Sandy is strong but also diplomatic and intelligent. Tripitaka needs all their magic powers & strengths because he's just a mortal man & kind of weepy, whiny one at that. (Real pilgrims are never any fun.)
All the humor of the book is supplied by the adventures of Monkey & his friends. Once they get together & get going on their trip, the stories get a little repetitive. In each one they face a challenge, Monkey does some fighting, the other two help, Tripitaka wails, sometimes there's a little bit of rescue from an unexpected source. But Monkey with his cloud carriage, shafts of magic light, cudgel & transformative hair-plucking, always triumphs!
Hilarious and magical things: there's a Heavenly Ladle; a Jade Emperor; a Cave of the Water Curtain; a Dragon King; a Precious Hall of Holy Mists; and a White Turtle 40 feet around. (Who hopefully gets to become human, as he wishes to, in the unabridged version. Though why one would want to be human instead of a turtle, I don't know.)
It's really hard to keep straight who is who among the gods, Buddhas, Immortals, Emperors, emperors' sons, & all the various levels of Heaven. Apparently this mirrors Chinese society which, at the time, was all about knowing the social class of the person you were dealing with, treating them with respect (I love that this translation constantly uses the term, "kowtowing"). Apparently the view of Heaven is a common one in Chinese society, where they see it as a reflection of their own society where at the time, one had to find one's proper level & have all the right paperwork to move around! Very confusing to read about, though.
My favorite quote: " "I noticed a small door on the right as we came in," said Monkey. "Judging from the smell that came from it, I should think it must be a place of metabolic transmigration." " Ha! Toilet humor never changes, no matter the century or country!
My second favorite quote: " "Now then, you horrid earthworm, you scaly loach, how dare you help this Taoist by allowing a chilly dragon to hide in the cauldron?" " I am going to defeat my enemies with chilly dragons from now on!
Now that I'm done I'm glad I read it & I appreciate its fun, its magic and its view of a time and country I'm unfamiliar with. It was a little rough going for me from time to time though. It was a little too "Chinese Lord of the Rings" for me. Violent, repetitive and cartoonish. But - there was the humor, magic, & historical/cultural value. I'll say it all balanced out to a solid "3" for me.
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm hyperfixated on Sun Wukong as a myth so this was a very entertaining read for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
The origin of the shaggy dog story, One Piece, Naruto, Dragonball, and so much more. This is a classic that is equal parts enlightening, bonkers, bizarre and hilarious. A must-read especially if you're curious about who inspired centuries of journey tales all over the world.
[Note: This is an abridged version that translates about 1/4 of it, as the translator explains in the introduction, skipping high levels of repetition among other things.]
[Note: This is an abridged version that translates about 1/4 of it, as the translator explains in the introduction, skipping high levels of repetition among other things.]
fast-paced
