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valandthegianttbr 's review for:
Monkey King: Journey to the West
by Wu Ch'eng-En
adventurous
funny
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
i loved monkey & his absurd antics so much. his dialogue & banter consistently made me smile. the bureaucracy of heaven was so silly, and i liked how the fantasy aspect followed the "rules" of a real-world system.
i definitely lost track of some secondary/tertiary characters -- i thought monkey & pigsy had so much personality that sandy really faded into the background for me. guanyin & tripitaka were exhausting. the demons really all just blended together, but i think that was honestly fine for my reading experience! i wasn't too focused on the details, just really enjoying the adventure of it all.
lovell's translation did a great job of condensing this story, as well as making it funny/relatable for contemporary readers.
some qualms: towards the end, i got a little bit tired of the story structure (magical misadventure/demon interference, monkey saves the day with his magic that is perfectly suited to the problem, repeat). i really can't imagine reading the original 4 volumes of the same thing!!
truly just such a fun romp of a book!!!! very glad i read this super influential asian classic & my experience was definitely enhanced by thoughtful conversations through the #AsianClassicsReadalong hosted by @ktlee.writes and @booksonmysidetable
i definitely lost track of some secondary/tertiary characters -- i thought monkey & pigsy had so much personality that sandy really faded into the background for me. guanyin & tripitaka were exhausting. the demons really all just blended together, but i think that was honestly fine for my reading experience! i wasn't too focused on the details, just really enjoying the adventure of it all.
lovell's translation did a great job of condensing this story, as well as making it funny/relatable for contemporary readers.
some qualms: towards the end, i got a little bit tired of the story structure (magical misadventure/demon interference, monkey saves the day with his magic that is perfectly suited to the problem, repeat). i really can't imagine reading the original 4 volumes of the same thing!!
truly just such a fun romp of a book!!!! very glad i read this super influential asian classic & my experience was definitely enhanced by thoughtful conversations through the #AsianClassicsReadalong hosted by @ktlee.writes and @booksonmysidetable