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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
The new (2021) translation and abridgment by Julia Lovell is the best thing I read this year. I've read other translations (Arthur Waley's abridgment, vol 1 of Anthony C. Yu's unabridged), and like the author of this review in the Los Angeles Review of Books, I think the amount of work Lovell did to develop this engaging and energetic new edition warrants calling it more than a translation. Highly recommended.
Considering roughly a third of their problems involve needing to find a way to cross some water, it would be nice if they ever remembered their horse is a fucking sea dragon.
I enjoyed this (much) abridged translation. I felt a little guilty for choosing it (and not a modern, unabridged translation) but truthfully, I think the length was just right for me. Though fun, I think it would have felt very repetitive to me had I read an unedited version. Of the four "sections", I really enjoyed the first part concerning Monkey's origins and battles with heaven. It was fun and often funny, and I liked Monkey's greedy, selfish nature. After the story shifted to the main character (in my translation, the monk is called Tripitaka) and his journey to India for the sacred scriptures, I found it a little less engaging. It became much more episodic, and each of Tripitaka's (and his disciples) encounters with various evil demons and enchanted kings became a tiny bit predictable.
As my knowledge of Chinese history, mythology, and history is nonexistent, I do think that I missed much of the satire and allegory this work is known for. I read it more as a collection of adventures, highlighting a time and place I don't know much about, and still found it very enjoyable.
As my knowledge of Chinese history, mythology, and history is nonexistent, I do think that I missed much of the satire and allegory this work is known for. I read it more as a collection of adventures, highlighting a time and place I don't know much about, and still found it very enjoyable.
I was surprised that I liked this but I did. Not so much that I would recommend it to everyone. However, the adventures were interesting, the characters were diverse and engaging, and the different commentary on religions were super cool. I feel like I had the opportunity to learn a lot from this text.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A whimsical, exciting, episodic, satirical Chinese epic featuring one of the very greatest trickster characters I've had the pleasure of meeting in fiction. This book was so much fun and helped me appreciate a lot of the tropes that appear in contemporary East Asian storytelling (particularly anime).
This translation is heavily abridged but beautifully told, and I appreciate that Waley leaves individual episodes fully intact in his abridgement.
This translation is heavily abridged but beautifully told, and I appreciate that Waley leaves individual episodes fully intact in his abridgement.
It’s worth noting that this is an abridged version of the book. While it was amusing and entertaining throughout, including modern anachronisms like “cashless economy” kinda pulled me out of the story. It’s a nice, approachable, modern translation despite this.
this story and all its adaptations have been crazy formative to me as a person so i must rate it a 5
waley’s translation preserves the humor and the wit of this classic story. his preface helps put into perspective much of the book—tripitaka represents the common man so he flails through the journey with his much more competent and jaded disciples who represent divine qualities. waley writes: “Monkey stands for the restless instability of genius. Pigsy…. the physical appetites, brute strength, and a cumbrous patience. Sandy… represents ch’eng, which is usually translated ‘sincerity,’ but means something more like ‘wholeheartedness’”. the common man must draw on these strengths that are as old as time though he is new and unfamiliar with them yet
waley’s translation preserves the humor and the wit of this classic story. his preface helps put into perspective much of the book—tripitaka represents the common man so he flails through the journey with his much more competent and jaded disciples who represent divine qualities. waley writes: “Monkey stands for the restless instability of genius. Pigsy…. the physical appetites, brute strength, and a cumbrous patience. Sandy… represents ch’eng, which is usually translated ‘sincerity,’ but means something more like ‘wholeheartedness’”. the common man must draw on these strengths that are as old as time though he is new and unfamiliar with them yet
A lot more engaging than I would've expected of a classic work. Lovell's translation makes for easy, engaging reading with sharp wit and jokes that connect surprisingly easily even centuries after the source material was written.