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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is an abridged and translated version of the Chinese classic Journey to the West. The book is a tale of a Buddhist monk and his 3 disciples traveling to India to get holy scriptures. This book was written in 1590 AD and is very well known by the Chinese, who even if they don't know the book would know the characters.
The star is the monkey disciple or monkey king who is mischievous but by far the most powerful character in the book, with supernatural powers (they all do) and able to beat the strongest opponent. The next character is the monk who cannot fight but is the master of the 3 and frankly seems weak and helpless. The next character is the pig, who is greedy in many ways but also able to fight. The last character is the stalwart Sandy monk who has the smallest part of the 3 but is reliable and able to fight at a pinch.
These characters are famous throughout Chinese culture and the story has been made into plays, operas, homages, parodies, films, cartoons, songs, and all sorts of media thousands of times from the time it was written until now.
2/3 of the book deals with the background of the monkey and the monk but the most interesting part of the book is the trip to India and their encounters. Basically this is the journey or trip part and one of the most popular plot devices used universally in books all over the world, for example The Odyssey, which is one of the most famous and earliest one in western literature. Anyway, during this portion of the book, the traveling party meets and defeats all sorts of creatures and encounters all sorts of problems. One extra problem is that eating the monk's flesh is supposed to give long life so all sorts of creatures try to eat the monk on his journey.
This is an abridged book. Unfortunately the author chose to abridge most of the journey, only leaving a small number of encounters and a large part of the book dealt with the monkey's and monk's background. The journey started at 40% of the book, this is the part that I wanted to read most, hence the 3 stars.
Overall I enjoyed the book which was easy to read and follow. It has a lot of fanciful, fantasy or culture characters and anything can happen - this was written in 1590 after all. I only wish that the author had focused the book on the actual journey and not as much on the other parts.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick introduction to the story as it's easy to read.
The star is the monkey disciple or monkey king who is mischievous but by far the most powerful character in the book, with supernatural powers (they all do) and able to beat the strongest opponent. The next character is the monk who cannot fight but is the master of the 3 and frankly seems weak and helpless. The next character is the pig, who is greedy in many ways but also able to fight. The last character is the stalwart Sandy monk who has the smallest part of the 3 but is reliable and able to fight at a pinch.
These characters are famous throughout Chinese culture and the story has been made into plays, operas, homages, parodies, films, cartoons, songs, and all sorts of media thousands of times from the time it was written until now.
2/3 of the book deals with the background of the monkey and the monk but the most interesting part of the book is the trip to India and their encounters. Basically this is the journey or trip part and one of the most popular plot devices used universally in books all over the world, for example The Odyssey, which is one of the most famous and earliest one in western literature. Anyway, during this portion of the book, the traveling party meets and defeats all sorts of creatures and encounters all sorts of problems. One extra problem is that eating the monk's flesh is supposed to give long life so all sorts of creatures try to eat the monk on his journey.
This is an abridged book. Unfortunately the author chose to abridge most of the journey, only leaving a small number of encounters and a large part of the book dealt with the monkey's and monk's background. The journey started at 40% of the book, this is the part that I wanted to read most, hence the 3 stars.
Overall I enjoyed the book which was easy to read and follow. It has a lot of fanciful, fantasy or culture characters and anything can happen - this was written in 1590 after all. I only wish that the author had focused the book on the actual journey and not as much on the other parts.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick introduction to the story as it's easy to read.
I was not expecting how humorous this would be! It's a properly funny story, and the translation is marvelously readable and fun. The chapters are short and quick to get through but offer almost a complete mini-story in each, and as a whole it's a really nicely paced story that I was always eager to pick up.
I totally get why Monkey/Sun Wukong has become such an endearing figure of myth and pop culture. He's such a delightfully annoying and ridiculously powerful but redeeming character and he obviously outshines the other characters of the story.
I easily recommend this to people that have any amount of interest in the story and Chinese myth. It's definitely aged somewhat in a variety of ways but this translation allows it to feel much more modern. Definitely recommend the suplimentary content of this edition too; the Note on the Text really clues you into the structure of the original version.
I totally get why Monkey/Sun Wukong has become such an endearing figure of myth and pop culture. He's such a delightfully annoying and ridiculously powerful but redeeming character and he obviously outshines the other characters of the story.
I easily recommend this to people that have any amount of interest in the story and Chinese myth. It's definitely aged somewhat in a variety of ways but this translation allows it to feel much more modern. Definitely recommend the suplimentary content of this edition too; the Note on the Text really clues you into the structure of the original version.
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes