Monkey King: Journey to the West

Monkey King #3

by Wei Dong Chen, Chao Peng (Illustrator)

Follows the adventures of Sun Wu Kong, born from a stone on Spring Mountain, who seeks to learn the secret of eternal life, but runs afoul of the gods dispatching an army to subdue him.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Fiction, Childrens, Mythology

173 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Newly Wardell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am I going to read Journey to the West? Yes. But to fully understand the tale I think I'm going to have to read all 4 of the Chinese Classics. This is about 2/3 of my annual reading and I have to try and find a good translation. So to whet my appetite for the task I have started reading this graphic novel which is just an amazing visual aid. Journey to the West about a monks journey to India for some ancient scrolls to save humanity from itself. In this volume we meet the Monkey King! He's mad because he's spent 500 years under a rock with the weight of the world on his shoulders for trying to over throw Heaven. Well he free now and not exactly repentant. This larger than life story does benefit from the graphic novel medium.

[Katie McNelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This year, I've been working tirelessly to create a school culture built on reading. I have over one thousand books in my classroom library. Currently over 200 are checked out by students, easily. I did not for one minute stop to think that creating this school culture would mean that students would be forcing books into MY hands, telling ME what to read.

But boy, am I glad they are.

This is the first book I got to plow through that came courtesy of a student, and he only had to bug me about it for two days before I could actually sit and finish reading it (which I did, in front of him, in the middle of class). Now, he's switching gears to bug me to buy the rest of the series, but that's neither here nor there.

When I first opened up Monkey King: Journey to the West, I was impressed and overwhelmed. Impressed by the language and sentence structure, because I am a teacher constantly wondering if my students are challenged enough in their reading. Then I was overwhelmed by the character list. So I did what probably all of my students do: I skipped it.

I read this story in isolation, rather than understanding the nuances of each character, event, accomplishment, and challenge. I'm sure that's why I rated this low, but this is also my first foray into serialized graphic novels. If this fits into a bigger picture in a better way, I'm always open to rating revision.

I'm also not familiar with the legend of the Monkey King. To me, the character seems like a real jerk. I'm sure I'd have a better critique or criticism if I read the full 20-volume series (can you tell I'm Wikipedia-ing some things here?!), but during this brief exposure, I didn't see the big deal and he certainly didn't seem that heroic.

For those who need a short play-by-play: the Monkey King opens this volume trapped under a mountain. A monk on a mission swings by to free him after 500 years, and the Monkey King agrees to tag along on his quest as a servant. Along the way, Monkey King has encounters with beings, people, and god(desse)s, some with not-so-happy endings. Throughout each encounter, he acted like a total jerk though, and I find that hard to keep reading about. In this volume, there seemed to be no redeeming qualities in this character, and I just felt bad for everyone around him.

Overall though? I'm so glad my students are forcing their books into my hands. I'm grateful for the time during the school day to get to sit and model reading for my students. I'm happy to share in what my students find intriguing. I'm open to new reading experiences and am glad to have tried something out of my comfort zone.

So...am I just missing the point of this particular story? Should I be more familiar with the original, historic legend? Am I totally off-base? Sound off in the comments!

[Macomfort · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read Journey to the West, and it sounds like a tall undertaking, somewhere between the Ramayana and the Illiaid. This is a gorgeous, fun graphic novel, but I suspect the translation of the actual English text might be oversimplified, or misleading. Still, it was fun.

[Yan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations, faithful to the main text, and insightful interpretation.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The journey begins! First step: upgrading the horse to a dragon.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Monkey King is finally freed from underneath the mountain and is tasked with helping a monk reach India. The story continues it's great pace, rarely slowing down and the art works well telling the story.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in Hong Kong with Monkey's story and Journey to the West - and I'm a monkey in the Chinese zodiac - and I'm loving this graphic novel interpretation. I need to order volume 4 tomorrow. Great stuff!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this volume and #4. I like the drawing style but is it bad to say that I prefer the Gensomaden Saiyuki characterisations?

[Jj]

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[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review Coming Soon.

[Carson The Burinator]

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