What do you think?
Rate this book
Monkey: A Journey to the West
A classic of Chinese literature, this beloved folktale is part adventure story, part spiritual allegory—now reimagined by a National Book Award nominee
Part spiritual pilgrimage, part historical epic, the folk novel Journey to the West , which came to be known as Monkey , is the most popular classic of Asian literature. Originally written in the sixteenth century, it is the story of the adventures of the rogue-trickster Monkey and his encounters with a bizarre cast of characters as he travels to India with the Buddhist pilgrim Tripitaka in search of sacred scriptures.
Much more than a picaresque adventure novel, Monkey is a profound allegory of the struggle that must occur before spiritual transformation is possible. David Kherdian's masterful telling brings this classic of Chinese literature to life in a way that is true to the scope and depth of the original.
Part spiritual pilgrimage, part historical epic, the folk novel Journey to the West , which came to be known as Monkey , is the most popular classic of Asian literature. Originally written in the sixteenth century, it is the story of the adventures of the rogue-trickster Monkey and his encounters with a bizarre cast of characters as he travels to India with the Buddhist pilgrim Tripitaka in search of sacred scriptures.
Much more than a picaresque adventure novel, Monkey is a profound allegory of the struggle that must occur before spiritual transformation is possible. David Kherdian's masterful telling brings this classic of Chinese literature to life in a way that is true to the scope and depth of the original.
209 pages, Paperback
First published September 9, 2014
61 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
April 3, 2019
4.5 Stars
I am happy that I chose this edition. David Kherdian took two different translations of this 16th Century tale and managed to make the story more relatable for the modern English reader. He did a fabulous job of keeping the folktale and spirituality intertwine. Just reading about Monkey’s exploits is enjoyable but about halfway through more of the spiritual journey begins to be explored.
I would like to reread this with a group that has more understanding of Buddhism and Toaism to discuss some of the finer points I am sure I missed.
I am happy that I chose this edition. David Kherdian took two different translations of this 16th Century tale and managed to make the story more relatable for the modern English reader. He did a fabulous job of keeping the folktale and spirituality intertwine. Just reading about Monkey’s exploits is enjoyable but about halfway through more of the spiritual journey begins to be explored.
I would like to reread this with a group that has more understanding of Buddhism and Toaism to discuss some of the finer points I am sure I missed.
July 12, 2015
Much, much better translation of the Sun Wukong stories! Much more readable that the Arthur Waley version.
June 28, 2020
A Cosmic Kung Fu Trickster
With the pandemic limiting bookstore browsing, I’m spending more time browsing my own bookshelves, pulling out books that I meant to read but forgot.
I’m not sure exactly how Monkey: A Journey to the West, retold by David Kherdian, ended up amongst my other books, but I’m glad it did.
Apparently, Monkey — a bit of Trickster, like Coyote from some Native American legends, only with a mean streak and a propensity for fighting and drinking and stealing and causing cosmic mayhem — is a folk story dating back to the sixteenth century. It’s an allegory of the struggle we must all face before a spiritual transformation is possible. Like most great spiritual journeys, Monkey is spurred by a desire to become immortal. Given that he was born from a magic stone “fructified by the seeds of Heaven and Earth, and by the essences of the sun and moon…” I think he might have been immortal to begin with, but that point is lost on Monkey.
He sets out to learn all the secrets, which will lead to becoming immortal. Along the way he tangles with an incredible pantheon of gods, lesser and greater, and elders and spiritual leaders and demons and dragons. The list is so massive, and most of the cultural references were completely lost on me. I wish there was a cheat sheet of characters to provide context because the significance of the Moon Goddess and Jade Emperor and Dragon King of the Western Ocean was obscure.
Still, the book was a joy to read and I really started to feel for Monkey, especially after he got a mountain dropped on him for 500 years.
I only wish the religious texts of my youth, suffered in silent confusion on hard benches, had a fraction of the energy, passion and entertainment found in Monkey:
“Furious, Natha cried, ‘Change!’ Whereupon he was transformed into a ferocious deity with three heads and six arms. His hands held six weapons: a monster-slashing sword, a monster-hacking scimitar, a monster-binding rope, a monster-quelling club, an embroidered ball, and a fire wheel. Brandishing these weapons, he charged Monkey.”
“So you’ve a trick or two up your sleeve,” Monkey said. “Well, have a look at this!” Shouting “Change!” Monkey turned into a demon with three heads and six arms. His cudgel had become three cudgels, and grabbing each with two hands, he engaged Natha in an earth-shaking, mountain-trembling battle. They flew through the air like meteors and clashed like lightning, each parry and blow a thunderclap, with sparks flashing across the skies like shooting stars.”
When I finished the book and was thinking through all the battles and shenanigans and cosmic forces, I thought, “This would make an epic Kung Fu movie, why hasn’t anyone thought of that?”
They did. I checked. There are dozens of them. Looking forward to watching them all.
With the pandemic limiting bookstore browsing, I’m spending more time browsing my own bookshelves, pulling out books that I meant to read but forgot.
I’m not sure exactly how Monkey: A Journey to the West, retold by David Kherdian, ended up amongst my other books, but I’m glad it did.
Apparently, Monkey — a bit of Trickster, like Coyote from some Native American legends, only with a mean streak and a propensity for fighting and drinking and stealing and causing cosmic mayhem — is a folk story dating back to the sixteenth century. It’s an allegory of the struggle we must all face before a spiritual transformation is possible. Like most great spiritual journeys, Monkey is spurred by a desire to become immortal. Given that he was born from a magic stone “fructified by the seeds of Heaven and Earth, and by the essences of the sun and moon…” I think he might have been immortal to begin with, but that point is lost on Monkey.
He sets out to learn all the secrets, which will lead to becoming immortal. Along the way he tangles with an incredible pantheon of gods, lesser and greater, and elders and spiritual leaders and demons and dragons. The list is so massive, and most of the cultural references were completely lost on me. I wish there was a cheat sheet of characters to provide context because the significance of the Moon Goddess and Jade Emperor and Dragon King of the Western Ocean was obscure.
Still, the book was a joy to read and I really started to feel for Monkey, especially after he got a mountain dropped on him for 500 years.
I only wish the religious texts of my youth, suffered in silent confusion on hard benches, had a fraction of the energy, passion and entertainment found in Monkey:
“Furious, Natha cried, ‘Change!’ Whereupon he was transformed into a ferocious deity with three heads and six arms. His hands held six weapons: a monster-slashing sword, a monster-hacking scimitar, a monster-binding rope, a monster-quelling club, an embroidered ball, and a fire wheel. Brandishing these weapons, he charged Monkey.”
“So you’ve a trick or two up your sleeve,” Monkey said. “Well, have a look at this!” Shouting “Change!” Monkey turned into a demon with three heads and six arms. His cudgel had become three cudgels, and grabbing each with two hands, he engaged Natha in an earth-shaking, mountain-trembling battle. They flew through the air like meteors and clashed like lightning, each parry and blow a thunderclap, with sparks flashing across the skies like shooting stars.”
When I finished the book and was thinking through all the battles and shenanigans and cosmic forces, I thought, “This would make an epic Kung Fu movie, why hasn’t anyone thought of that?”
They did. I checked. There are dozens of them. Looking forward to watching them all.
April 18, 2015
Fantasy is overwhelmingly popular on big screen in this century, but it is not a new genre of literature. In English world, there is Alice In Wonderland appeared as early as in 1865; in china, the fantasy book Journey To the West by Wu Cheng’en, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature, has been popular for hundreds years since 16th century. If you are a fan of fantasy and interested in Chinese religious attitudes today, it will be a delightful experience to read this book: Monkey: Journey to the West, which is a stage adaptation of the novel Journey To The West.
Monkey King is the most impressive character in my fantasy reading. As a monkey born from a stone, he has never had parents, but he became the leader of his monkey tribe soon because he is super brave and clever. However he was not satisfied with his life and tried hard to find a way to be immortal and live everlasting. During his trials, he learned many skills such as 72 methods of transformation and using "somersault cloud" which enables him to travel a vast distance in a single leap. Later, he accepted the mission of protecting a pilgrim to the west, and in the journey, he used his skills to defeat all types of demons.
In the fantasy of Monkey: Journey To The West, the author portrayed Monkey King to be a nimble and quick-witted hero, who is with a monkey appearance but acts and thinks just as same as a human being. Also, Monkey King’s childlike /monkey-like playfulness and his cunning mind, combined with his great power, bring a comic side of a long and dangerous trip. Even though he is a very unusual character and most of his stories take place in a faraway distance, we still feel believable. That is because the world the author portrays is grounded in the reality society, and the character is rooted in the common humanity that we all know well. When we are able to connect the fantasy stories with our lives, we feel them easy to understand easily and thus believable.
Monkey King is the most impressive character in my fantasy reading. As a monkey born from a stone, he has never had parents, but he became the leader of his monkey tribe soon because he is super brave and clever. However he was not satisfied with his life and tried hard to find a way to be immortal and live everlasting. During his trials, he learned many skills such as 72 methods of transformation and using "somersault cloud" which enables him to travel a vast distance in a single leap. Later, he accepted the mission of protecting a pilgrim to the west, and in the journey, he used his skills to defeat all types of demons.
In the fantasy of Monkey: Journey To The West, the author portrayed Monkey King to be a nimble and quick-witted hero, who is with a monkey appearance but acts and thinks just as same as a human being. Also, Monkey King’s childlike /monkey-like playfulness and his cunning mind, combined with his great power, bring a comic side of a long and dangerous trip. Even though he is a very unusual character and most of his stories take place in a faraway distance, we still feel believable. That is because the world the author portrays is grounded in the reality society, and the character is rooted in the common humanity that we all know well. When we are able to connect the fantasy stories with our lives, we feel them easy to understand easily and thus believable.
January 20, 2019
I'd love to have taken a class on this book, as many of the religious connotations and symbolisms went over my head; I'm sure this book could easily jump from a 3 to a 4 or 5 with context. But, it's a nice adventure story nevertheless, and important in Chinese/Asian religious history. Glad I read it. Shoutouts to Laozi.
December 28, 2019
A good edition of a classic Eastern mythology tale, though It appears to be an abridged translation
March 23, 2022
A really approachable and enjoyable translation. Love the illustrations, too!
December 30, 2023
Monkey, as he was known, was not born to parents like all his fellow apes but burst forth from an egg of stone by magic and the blessing of Heaven and Earth. He spent his life a bold, mischievous creature, bent on fun, food, and havoc as he rules his tribe of monkeys on the mountain of Fruit and Flowers. However, Monkey is not satisfied with life and desires to find the answer to immortality and a place in Heaven alongside the other immortals at the Jade King's palace. Thus, he sets out on a journey that leads him to learn the Way, and with it, powers and wonders on level with the Immortals themselves. Monkey is still Monkey, though, and after a particularly mischievous and arrogant outburst on his part, he is trapped in an iron box for five hundred years, awaiting for the time when he can show true penitence and the desire to use his might to help others.
This book was originally written sometime in the 1600s, and authorship is uncertain but usually attributed to one Wu Ch'eng-en. The original was apparently 100 chapters long, and over the centuries has been often translated and abridged for various audiences. A lot of Western translators call this a folk tale, but Chinese translators - particularly of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian leanings - are more likely to refer to it as an allegory and point out its many symbolisms. It does, indeed, seem to have a beautiful if painful relation with the human journey through life. I'm always very cautious when reviewing literature that is an adaptation as I am not sure how well the adaptation reflects the original, but I'll give it a go!
Three things I liked about this book:
The story is genuinely fun and engaging. Though I am not very familiar with Chinese folklore, myths, or beliefs, I did not feel like that hindered me at all in understanding the plot or the moral of the story. I really liked how the ending wrapped up. I could not have guessed it, and it felt natural.
Three things I did not like about this book:
I'm just going to say it, Monkey is a pretty unlikeable character and he meets a lot of unlikeable characters, but the situations they get into are fun. The main monk near the end of the story, Tripitaka, is kind of annoying and feels weak (though that is probably the point). Sometimes, the grandeur of what these Immortals were doing got a little lost and felt flat.
Not without fault, but highly enjoyable and deeply thought-provoking. I recommend this book to most people, though maybe anyone under about 15 or so should hold off for a bit because of certain indelicate topics.
This book was originally written sometime in the 1600s, and authorship is uncertain but usually attributed to one Wu Ch'eng-en. The original was apparently 100 chapters long, and over the centuries has been often translated and abridged for various audiences. A lot of Western translators call this a folk tale, but Chinese translators - particularly of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian leanings - are more likely to refer to it as an allegory and point out its many symbolisms. It does, indeed, seem to have a beautiful if painful relation with the human journey through life. I'm always very cautious when reviewing literature that is an adaptation as I am not sure how well the adaptation reflects the original, but I'll give it a go!
Three things I liked about this book:
The story is genuinely fun and engaging. Though I am not very familiar with Chinese folklore, myths, or beliefs, I did not feel like that hindered me at all in understanding the plot or the moral of the story. I really liked how the ending wrapped up. I could not have guessed it, and it felt natural.
Three things I did not like about this book:
I'm just going to say it, Monkey is a pretty unlikeable character and he meets a lot of unlikeable characters, but the situations they get into are fun. The main monk near the end of the story, Tripitaka, is kind of annoying and feels weak (though that is probably the point). Sometimes, the grandeur of what these Immortals were doing got a little lost and felt flat.
Not without fault, but highly enjoyable and deeply thought-provoking. I recommend this book to most people, though maybe anyone under about 15 or so should hold off for a bit because of certain indelicate topics.
April 27, 2024
I didn't love it, but to be fair, I didn't hate it, either. It felt very dated, especially in that the scale & scope of so many things were impossibly beyond the realm of my understanding. For example, Monkey was imprisoned for 500 years. The USA Has existed for about 250—that's only half the time. 500 years is just so beyond me, so a lot of emphasis throughout the story was more-or-less lost on me.
I wasn't particularly invested in any of the characters, either. I think that really held the story back, but is also one of the things that makes it feel so antiquated.
I wasn't particularly invested in any of the characters, either. I think that really held the story back, but is also one of the things that makes it feel so antiquated.
February 21, 2023
It's a great read, very accessible, but too much of it is similar to Arthur Waley's translation. There are other English translations of Journey to the West which are starkly different in treatment and vocabulary (for example Timothy Richard's and Julia Lovell's). But David Kherdian's version seems to be inspired TOO CLOSELY by Waley's, some parts even word for word. If you don't compare the both, then it's a great read on its own.
March 27, 2025
This ancient buddhist tale is supposed to be an allegory of the search for enlightenment, but it reads like a comic novel full of fantastic adventures with dragon spirits, gods, the Jade Emperor, boddhisattvas, monks, etc. At first, Monkey is very vain, naughty, and violent, but eventually he learns to abandon his sinful ways and serve the cause of heaven. As I said, at moments this seems almost too silly, but it is a fun adventure story, suitable even for children.
April 14, 2023
1 out of 5 stars
Due to the historical significance of "A Journey to the West" I thought I would give the story a shot and see how it holds up many years after publication.
Overall I found Monkey's character to be confusing. Is he supposed to be a selfish character at the start of the book and then learn to be more understanding of others by the end? Personally, I found him to be thoroughly unlikeable. If this was the intent, that is an odd choice since Monkey is the protagonist of our story. Monkey is selfish, childish, and violent. In the end he does a good service in obtaining the scriptures from the west, but he accomplishes this by bullying and torturing others.
In the end I was left confused by the story. The actual journey to the west only constitutes the ending portion of the book leaving me baffled by the goal of the story overall.
Due to the historical significance of "A Journey to the West" I thought I would give the story a shot and see how it holds up many years after publication.
Overall I found Monkey's character to be confusing. Is he supposed to be a selfish character at the start of the book and then learn to be more understanding of others by the end? Personally, I found him to be thoroughly unlikeable. If this was the intent, that is an odd choice since Monkey is the protagonist of our story. Monkey is selfish, childish, and violent. In the end he does a good service in obtaining the scriptures from the west, but he accomplishes this by bullying and torturing others.
In the end I was left confused by the story. The actual journey to the west only constitutes the ending portion of the book leaving me baffled by the goal of the story overall.
January 19, 2024
Fun to read the story formally! I simultaneously read the Chinese version for kids and it helped reading them side by side. Interesting which parts were translated in the English version and which were included in the Chinese, and also things that even I could tell were lost in translation.
April 18, 2025
I feel like I'm really missing something here, but I had fun with it. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was a bit more silly than I would have thought, given the historical significance. Maybe I'll revisit when I have more context.
October 8, 2021
See the following post for my comments about the book: https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2021/10/...
April 19, 2022
1 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓
𝐃𝐍𝐅 - 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒 99
Okay. Maybe I have bad taste and didn't understand all the symbolism and stuff but, I honestly found this incredibly boring.
𝐃𝐍𝐅 - 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒 99
Okay. Maybe I have bad taste and didn't understand all the symbolism and stuff but, I honestly found this incredibly boring.
January 31, 2023
The Journey is cool and all, but the Monkey King is a BA
March 12, 2024
i read this book for my buddhism class, and while i very much enjoyed it my favorite parts were when monkey was going evil crazy.
Read
March 16, 2025TBD: get context and reflect
June 10, 2025
Ultimately I’m glad that I didn’t give up on this book in the beginning like I wanted to. It reads very much like an Eastern fairy tale and drummed up lots of interesting thoughts and brain imagery.
December 19, 2025
A gente sente que é uma versão resumida, mas é uma história icônica e a melhor opção em pt/br.
May 17, 2021
In this ancient tale, wizard's duels, evenly matched battles that go on for days, are far more colorful than tales of Paul Bunyan or Mike Fink. I am sure I would have gotten more out of it if I were more familiar with far Eastern conventions. A few of them made their way into White Wolf's Exalted game, which I much enjoyed.
April 16, 2018
This classic Chinese story, like its main character, is not lacking in verve and bombast. Distances are thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles (the distance from China to India is described as 108,000 miles); most of the characters are massively overpowered, especially Monkey, who stands off the united armies of Heaven at one point; almost everyone is a god or divine spirit or Taoist immortal or Buddhist saint. It's both an over-the-top adventure story and a spiritual allegory, with Monkey as the representative of the Monkey Mind, as well as a classic trickster and a magician.
I was surprised how much Taoism there was in a story about fetching Buddhist scriptures, but I understand that in China the two lived side by side and blended at the edges.
Naturally, the heavenly hierarchy reflects the elaborate and extensive imperial Chinese bureaucracy, full of officials with grandiose titles. Monkey himself insists on the title of the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.
Given that it's an old story from a culture I'm not well acquainted with, I found it remarkably entertaining, which may be in part down to the translator's selection of incidents to include; the introduction speaks of a tradition of selecting material from the original to create versions adapted to particular audiences. It keeps up a good pace (unlike many older European works), and even has some try-fail cycles as the travelers attempt to reach India. A lot of the cultural references went right past me, and I could have done with a gloss, though it would also have been distracting. As it was, I was able to look up perhaps 40% of the references in Wikipedia on my Kindle, and just ignored the rest; not knowing what they meant didn't have a big impact on my understanding or enjoyment of the story.
The ebook appears to have been generated using optical character recognition from a print version, judging by the occasional odd typo, but it's not bad as such things go. There are one or two homonym errors and spelling mistakes, which I assume are in the print version, but it's generally clean.
I was surprised how much Taoism there was in a story about fetching Buddhist scriptures, but I understand that in China the two lived side by side and blended at the edges.
Naturally, the heavenly hierarchy reflects the elaborate and extensive imperial Chinese bureaucracy, full of officials with grandiose titles. Monkey himself insists on the title of the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.
Given that it's an old story from a culture I'm not well acquainted with, I found it remarkably entertaining, which may be in part down to the translator's selection of incidents to include; the introduction speaks of a tradition of selecting material from the original to create versions adapted to particular audiences. It keeps up a good pace (unlike many older European works), and even has some try-fail cycles as the travelers attempt to reach India. A lot of the cultural references went right past me, and I could have done with a gloss, though it would also have been distracting. As it was, I was able to look up perhaps 40% of the references in Wikipedia on my Kindle, and just ignored the rest; not knowing what they meant didn't have a big impact on my understanding or enjoyment of the story.
The ebook appears to have been generated using optical character recognition from a print version, judging by the occasional odd typo, but it's not bad as such things go. There are one or two homonym errors and spelling mistakes, which I assume are in the print version, but it's generally clean.
August 18, 2017
I have been meaning to read Journey to the West for some time, but I have been daunted by its length -- four volumes and a couple thousand pages in the English translations. So I decided to pick up David Kherdian's 200-page condensation of the story, which omits the poetry and some action but still introduces the major characters and gives the reader a sense of how the story progresses and concludes.
Monkey, the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, is the dominant character here, and he is every bit as impatient, stubborn, and self-absorbed as the humans he represents. The first half of the book recounts episodes that I was mostly familiar with, including his origins, his transgressions, and his imprisonment. The second half commences the physical "journey to the west," when Monkey agrees to serve as bodyguard to a Chinese monk traveling to India to retrieve scrolls that will bring his people eternal life.
For a while, I felt like I was plodding through a series of loosely connected episodes, but in the last chapters I was gripped. I still have a lot to learn about Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, among so other things, and yet I found reading this book a both intellectually and spiritually rewarding experience. Looking forward to revisiting it in the future, whether in this or another edition.
Monkey, the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, is the dominant character here, and he is every bit as impatient, stubborn, and self-absorbed as the humans he represents. The first half of the book recounts episodes that I was mostly familiar with, including his origins, his transgressions, and his imprisonment. The second half commences the physical "journey to the west," when Monkey agrees to serve as bodyguard to a Chinese monk traveling to India to retrieve scrolls that will bring his people eternal life.
For a while, I felt like I was plodding through a series of loosely connected episodes, but in the last chapters I was gripped. I still have a lot to learn about Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, among so other things, and yet I found reading this book a both intellectually and spiritually rewarding experience. Looking forward to revisiting it in the future, whether in this or another edition.
Want to read
July 11, 2019.... this classic of Chinese literature continues to move up my to-reads. Here are my notes on why I'd like to read it....
I have seen versions of Journey to the West that exceed 1000 pages, and of course, the original text is written in traditional Chinese characters. I don’t think I’m going to get through a literal, or even dynamic equivalent, translation. Waley’s respected translation condenses the action to just over 300 pages, but Kheridian has it below 250, and and seems more accessible.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Wu Cheng'en's Monkey King is all over classic and contemporary Chinese expression both in the mainland and throughout the diaspora. For a look at integration of American born Chinese identity in which the Monkey King plays a leading role, see Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, 2006, graphic novel.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have seen versions of Journey to the West that exceed 1000 pages, and of course, the original text is written in traditional Chinese characters. I don’t think I’m going to get through a literal, or even dynamic equivalent, translation. Waley’s respected translation condenses the action to just over 300 pages, but Kheridian has it below 250, and and seems more accessible.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Wu Cheng'en's Monkey King is all over classic and contemporary Chinese expression both in the mainland and throughout the diaspora. For a look at integration of American born Chinese identity in which the Monkey King plays a leading role, see Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, 2006, graphic novel.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 20, 2009
"'I hail from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, where I have reigned as the Handsome Monkey King. Born of Heaven and Earth, I wandered until I found a friend and master who taught me the Great Mystery, and I am now an immortal. When I grew tired of the restricted life of humans, I came to Heaven determined to live in the Green Jade Sky. Why should Heaven have but one master, when on Earth king follows kings? If might is honor, then none are mightier than I, or more honorable. This is why I dare to fight, for only heroes deserve to win and rule.'"
With a huge cast and a plot spanning nations and epochs, this story is epic in many ways. This telling of "Journey to the West" seems to have as much in common with contemporary action movies as with classical mythology. But from what I've heard of the original, this is as it should be.
With a huge cast and a plot spanning nations and epochs, this story is epic in many ways. This telling of "Journey to the West" seems to have as much in common with contemporary action movies as with classical mythology. But from what I've heard of the original, this is as it should be.
January 9, 2011
I read this book before spending the holidays with my parents. This book is billed as the Chinese version of The Odyssey. I remember my parents talking about different stories from the epic A Journey to the West when I was younger. This version is just a portion of that long classic covering the Monkey King's pilgrimage accompanying a Buddhist monk as he travels from China to India to bring the holy scriptures back to China. On the journey they encounter many challenges and obstacles and the Monkey King uses cunning and physical agility on his trials. Although the original was written centuries ago, I found this edition very readable and enjoyable.
March 26, 2013
I know that I am supposed to find some profound spiritual significance in "Monkey", but I loved it because it was a rather outrageous adventure tale. The story has a fairy tale like quality, and I can see why it has been adapted for children. Monkey's hijinks are viewed as evil but at the same time hilarious (which is kind of confusing if the story was meant to teach a moral lesson). The story is about Monkey reaching enlightenment, and I guess we are supposed to be happy for him in the end, however, the only reason the story is fun is because Monkey is so endlessly troublesome. Enlightenment is for saps. At least that is what I got from it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews