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Sunday, April 14, 2019

Monkey: Journey to the West (1592) by Wu Cheng’en


Book Review
Monkey: Journey to the West (1592)
by Wu Cheng’en

Replaces: Amelia by Henry Fielding

  The pre-18th century portion of the original 1001 Books list was the most Western-biased section, with nary a book from China or Japan.    Both cultures had a literary culture that supported the publication of "novels" during the early-modern/Renaissance period, hundreds of years before the much described 18th century English "invention" of the novel.  Journey to the West is known inside China as one of the either four or six Classic Chinese Novels.  

   The story of Journey to the West is that of a Buddhist monk and his supernatural travelling companions (including said Monkey), who travel together from China to India in search of sacred scriptures.  Supernatural characters include the Monkey, the Emperor of Heaven and Buddha himself.   I was not a big fan of the Audiobook edition, narrated by Kenneth Williams, and it is worth pointing out that the standard Western translated edition of this book is an abridgment, but like 1001 Nights, the full version is long enough to make a complete translation a commercial non starter.

   It's also clear that the Journey to the West was heavily influenced by the Indian mythic tradition- the idea of a super powered Monkey seems like something you read a lot about in Indian myth.   Monkey: Journey to the West has some fun moments- several battles which are as colorful as anything you'd see in a 20th century comic book, and occasional moments of humor which aren't lost in translation.   

   

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