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A review by enliterate
Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Ch'eng-En
3.0
Sun Wukong (aka Monkey) is very cool and very confident. Often spoken of as China's greatest superhero, he's funny, powerful, unorthodox, unsophisticated; a monky's monky. What's not to like about a wise-cracking Kung Fu monkey, with a magical stick, and some godlike powers? I mean, yes, at his best he's pretty much a psychotic demon, but it's fun to watch Chinese Heaven and Hell throw fits over what to do about him. Lucky for them, the Buddha doesn't flinch at a little piss in his palm... That's not an expression btw, as far as I know, haha. The first 70 pages are a wild ride, and a lot of fun, honestly. But it's no wonder that Netflix basically ended their adaptation there.
Maybe I'm wrong for this, but it seems I actually agree with Netflix: that the best parts of the story are when Monkey is a "Taoist" demon (that is to say, pretty much a total jerk). They're certainly more fun than the parts where he tries to be a Buddhist bodyguard in a glorified shock collar. Maybe there's some profound truth in that contrast, but for that matter I really didn't get a sense of profundity out of this book. It was a little like the [Aesop's] fables I remember from childhood, albeit with more adult language and themes sprinkled in, but the morals in Monkey King seemed anemic at best. In fact, some sections seemed woefully unenlightened. Like the abortion-water quest? I'm still trying to make sense of those chapters.
This Journey didn't come off as tale of sanctification; it's not a Hero's Journey (a la Joseph Campbell) as much as the title might suggest. There really wasn't much character progression, outside of one or two divinely constructed moments. Rather, It's a karmic story, where birth determines all. I'm not big on karma, for strong philosophical reasons... In these stories, quality of life seemed to be determined by someone's power. If you're powerful, it's just better for you, whether that power is heavenly or infernal. It often seemed like life was better for a man-eating demon than an unfilial human. But maybe there's some truth in that? hahaha.
I'm sure there are many facets of the tripartite (Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucianist) spiritual economy that I just don't understand, and that I'd be way more keyed in to if I was Chinese, but to this western reader, the book honestly seemed to make a mockery of eastern religious piety at times. The chosen-one monk is a sniveling weenie, and many of the immortals act remarkably mortal. It's all very Helenistic, if you ask me; very mythological; very earthly; very human.
As a piece of mythology, I can understand why it's hailed as an eastern classic. It definitely reads like an origin story plus a collection of eastern mythological fables. If you're looking for a different kind of story structure, seek elsewhere, pilgrim.
I did find it noteworthy that the path to enlightened texts led out of China, to other "mediocre" western kingdoms (namely Tibet and India). Some parts of Monkey King do read like propaganda, which doesn't really surprise me. It just makes me wonder if those bits are in the original. It's hardly a distraction, but I do wonder who the Buddha was talking about when he spoke so disparagingly of the "southern continent". The geography was a bit of a mess though, if I'm honest. Fourteen years seems like way too long to walk from China to India. But if you consider that the author describes the distance between the two countries as four times the circumference of the entire planet, it makes a little more sense.
On that note, I will say that I'm glad I settled for the 36 chapter edition, rather than the original text - which is 100 chapters, and over 2k pages.
Overall I'd say I liked it. I really liked the first 70 pages. But seeing how that's even less than half of this abridged edition, I think it's safe to say that I only "liked it" overall - so 3 stars.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in eastern mythology, Chinese classics, etc. or to people who like the Wukong character type and want to know where it came from. It's fun to read a good origin story, and this one is no exception.
Maybe I'm wrong for this, but it seems I actually agree with Netflix: that the best parts of the story are when Monkey is a "Taoist" demon (that is to say, pretty much a total jerk). They're certainly more fun than the parts where he tries to be a Buddhist bodyguard in a glorified shock collar. Maybe there's some profound truth in that contrast, but for that matter I really didn't get a sense of profundity out of this book. It was a little like the [Aesop's] fables I remember from childhood, albeit with more adult language and themes sprinkled in, but the morals in Monkey King seemed anemic at best. In fact, some sections seemed woefully unenlightened. Like the abortion-water quest? I'm still trying to make sense of those chapters.
This Journey didn't come off as tale of sanctification; it's not a Hero's Journey (a la Joseph Campbell) as much as the title might suggest. There really wasn't much character progression, outside of one or two divinely constructed moments. Rather, It's a karmic story, where birth determines all. I'm not big on karma, for strong philosophical reasons... In these stories, quality of life seemed to be determined by someone's power. If you're powerful, it's just better for you, whether that power is heavenly or infernal. It often seemed like life was better for a man-eating demon than an unfilial human. But maybe there's some truth in that? hahaha.
I'm sure there are many facets of the tripartite (Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucianist) spiritual economy that I just don't understand, and that I'd be way more keyed in to if I was Chinese, but to this western reader, the book honestly seemed to make a mockery of eastern religious piety at times. The chosen-one monk is a sniveling weenie, and many of the immortals act remarkably mortal. It's all very Helenistic, if you ask me; very mythological; very earthly; very human.
As a piece of mythology, I can understand why it's hailed as an eastern classic. It definitely reads like an origin story plus a collection of eastern mythological fables. If you're looking for a different kind of story structure, seek elsewhere, pilgrim.
I did find it noteworthy that the path to enlightened texts led out of China, to other "mediocre" western kingdoms (namely Tibet and India). Some parts of Monkey King do read like propaganda, which doesn't really surprise me. It just makes me wonder if those bits are in the original. It's hardly a distraction, but I do wonder who the Buddha was talking about when he spoke so disparagingly of the "southern continent". The geography was a bit of a mess though, if I'm honest. Fourteen years seems like way too long to walk from China to India. But if you consider that the author describes the distance between the two countries as four times the circumference of the entire planet, it makes a little more sense.
On that note, I will say that I'm glad I settled for the 36 chapter edition, rather than the original text - which is 100 chapters, and over 2k pages.
Overall I'd say I liked it. I really liked the first 70 pages. But seeing how that's even less than half of this abridged edition, I think it's safe to say that I only "liked it" overall - so 3 stars.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in eastern mythology, Chinese classics, etc. or to people who like the Wukong character type and want to know where it came from. It's fun to read a good origin story, and this one is no exception.