Wu Cheng'en (1505–1580)

Dear all, meet Monkey (aka Monkey King aka Great Sage Equal to Heaven ;) ), one of the coolest superheroes in history. What he lacks in manners, social skills, anger management, and knowledge of court protocol, he makes up for in audacity, quick thinking, wit, and lots (lots!) of magic powers.

This was pure, irreverent fun – with delightful bits of wisdom, too. When Monkey acquires his special skill set, he gets some Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism as part of the bargain. You need those too, obviously!

“Nothing in this world is hard. It is only the mind that makes it so.”

“If you want to have a future, think of the future.”

The intrepid heroes who go on a quest to find holy Buddhist scrolls are: Monkey (see above), Tripitaka the monk (good at bursting into tears, getting kidnapped, and reciting sutras), Pigsy (a reformed monster, good at eating, fighting, and being a pain in the ass), Sandy (a reformed monster, good at fighting and being depressed and somewhat helpful), and a horse (who is really a dragon; sometimes it talks). The quest is a romp, without forgetting that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination. Oh, the exploits! The epic battles! The magic tricks! The monster-slaying! Adventure succeeds adventure, because there is a demon on every mountain; a monster in every cave; a stupid king who had been duped by demons in every city. There is always a job for Monkey & Co. Monkey usually saves the day – when he cannot, there are helpful deities, guardian spirits and the wonderfully friendly Bodhisattva Guanyin who come to the rescue. And so it goes… (I think that perhaps I shouldn’t have read it in one go – the fun adventures did get repetitive. Still fun, though.)

I loved how grounded this book is in the oral tradition it came from, as in “and then this happened! But then…! Do you want to find out what they did next? Read on!”

I was deliciously entertained throughout. Here is Sandy, explaining his predicament as a monster after being banished from Heaven (Sandy broke a cup – so the heavenly Jade Emperor probably needs those Buddhist scrolls too):

“Every seventh day, he sends a flying sword to pierce my torso over a hundred times, It wears a person out. That’s why I am a little highly strung.”

And here is some weird magic happening (don’t drink water from rivers you haven’t met before!):

“Calamity!” yelped Tripitaka, turning white, while Pigsy – sitting on the ground – bent over, trying to spread his legs. “But we’re men! How can we have children? We don’t have birth canals. Where’s the baby going to come out?”
“A ripe melon will find a way to drop,” said Monkey, grinning, “as the proverb goes. Maybe it’ll burst out of your armpit.”

I appreciate Julia Lovell’s translation very much. You can tell that it preserves the spirit of the original while dressing it up in modern English – without obscuring the source material. It was skilfully done. Also, I was very happy to find an abridged version of ca 400 pages. I’d love to read the 2000 pages of the unabridged translation, but my tbr has been hurling abuse at me every time I mentioned it. So, not now ;) For now, I’ll just go around recommending Journey to the West to everyone and anyone I think might be a good fit.… (meer)

One of the interesting things I learned reading this novel was that in ancient times, the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin was revered not just in China, but as far west as Rome, where she was known as Deus Ex Machina. Seriously, though, one of the things you have to do without in reading this novel is any dramatic tension whatsoever. You know that Tripitaka and his disciples will get out of every scrape they find themselves in, and if all else seems hopeless, Monkey will just jump on a cloud and ask Kuan-yin for help. That's not actually such a huge criticism, as this novel can't really be compared against modern literature, which operates according to a totally different set of rules, but I did find it meant I could only enjoy this book in small doses.

However, what did frustrate me was the lack of actual Buddhism in this story. I'm not sure if it's the abridgement, the translation or the original text, but apart from the character names, there's not much here that reflects Buddhist practices or values, at least according to my (limited) understanding. I felt as if with just a few tweaks the story could have been changed to be about a Catholic monk travelling east to India to fetch sacred scriptures, or very easily, a Hindu priest travelling north. I had hoped to find Tripitaka struggling with his demons and each aspect of his personality, represented by his disciples, helping him to overcome them. That is certainly how the classic dubbed TV show Monkey Magic was structured. Instead, Tripitaka bursts into tears every time he encounters adversity and waits for Monkey to sort things out.

I was also very frustrated by the way the main achievement of each adventure is to restore some hereditary ruler to the throne or give a landholder back his land. I didn't expect them to be spreading the word of socialism, but I would have liked it if the four pilgrims had occasionally helped out a peasant or servant.

Despite all that, Monkey's antics are pretty funny at times and the history of this story, as a 16th century novel based on the adventures of a 7th century monk, made it an enjoyable and engaging read. The edition I read would have benefited from giving each speaker a separate line, but the writing was otherwise engaging and accessible while still having an air of authenticity in representing the age and provenance of the original text. I am somewhat tempted to read an unabridged version. Not tomorrow, but maybe some time in the future, and I'm definitely going to find a good account of Hsuan Tsang's original journey.… (meer)

This audiobook jumped right in (no introduction about publisher, translator or narrator). Bits of the tale were a little confusing to me due to cultural and religious background (mine being 20th century Protestant America and the book being 16th century Buddhist China). However, once I adjusted to the style, the story fascinated me. Many of the chapters ended with something like "And if you don't know how Monkey (whatever), read the next chapter." And despite my plan to stop listening for the day, I would continue to the next chapter, and the next and the next...

Kenneth Williams does an excellent narration, though there were a few times when the British pronunciation of a word would throw me (exorcism for example).… (meer)

FROM AMAZON: Considered one of China's great classical novels, Wu Ch'êng-ên's Journey to the West was translated by Arthur Waley in abridged form as Monkey in 1942 and has delighted English readers ever since. It is a riveting adventure story about a priest's quest to obtain holy Buddhist scriptures for the Tang emperor; joining him on this rollicking journey: Sandy, Pigsy, and the mischievous monkey king, Sun Wukong, whose flying cloud and magic cudgel are never far from his infamous deeds. Waley's accessible rendition of Wu Ch'êng-ên's novel has become a classic in its own right: Gods, demons, and disobedient monkey spirits all come alive in this entertaining work.… (meer)