Customer Reviews

Journey to the West, Volume 1

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a really interesting novel. It seems that I can't write a review without telling the whole story along with it. This story is about the monk Tripitaka who is sent out to gather scriptures from the Buddha in the Thunderclap temple in India. It mostly starts out by telling about the Handsome Stone Monkey King (a.k.a. Sun Wu-Kong or Pilgrim) and how he had learned magic and caused havoc in the Heavens while nobody can stop him. Finally, the Buddha is forced to stop him himself and the monkey is caught. Then, Kuan-yin tells him that he will be saved by a monk journeying to the West who will help him make up for his misdeeds. He later meets Tripitaka and he is saved, but he will not listen so he is forced to wear a golden fillet on his head to control him. Then, after a while, they meet Chu Pa-cheh( the pig monk also referred to as Chu Wu-Neng and Idiot) and Sha-Monk(or Wu-Ching) and the White Dragon Horse who had also broken the laws of Heaven. Altogether, they are forced to face 81 calamities while journeying to India. It is really neat and filled with action, adventure and magic. There are 4 volumes total and just about anyone is capable of reading it( I'm 10 and I finished it in less than a month). This is a must read for everyone.

This is a book written on lots of levels. It's a great adventure story for kids or for anyone else at first reading (although the old Arthur Waley abridgement is better for that kind of reading). On second (and third, and fourth...) readings it becomes clear that this is a story of the different parts of the self--the "five elements" in classical Chinese terms--that learn to integrate and find the self-discipline to reach the Buddha-realm. Each adventure is a challenge to master a different part of the self and its experience of life: the "six robbers" are the illusion that the six senses show us the truth, the White Bone Demon is fear of the idea of death, etc.. Monkey, the main character, is the limitless power of the mind, arrogant but tameable. Not just a great story, this is book of incredible depth and understanding. Yu's is the only translation that understands this.

Journey to the West has the same status in Chinese popular literature as Dickens, the the Wizard of Oz and the Superman comics combined. Everyone knows it. The epsiodes are featured in countless theatre pieces, comic books, and cartoon shows. The story is of a Budhist monk who journeys to India (the 'West') to get the true scriptures. He is helped by four heroic animal discples: the Handsome Monkey King, the Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds (a Pig), Sha Monk (also a former Heavenly official and some sort of fish), and a Dragon horse. They are all criminals who have all transgressed the laws of Heaven and have been given a chance at redemption by the merciful Bodhissatva Kuan Yin.

This is the first of the four volumes. It was first published in 1592. It's an fascinating mixture of prose, poetry, comedy and monster filled adventures-- don't expect a realistic account of the historical monk ór historical India!

Yu's translation is quite good, though I prefer the comic edge Arthur Weylan gives the story. Interestingly enough, Monkey does not eat a peach of immortality, but rather gains immortality from a guru, after which he destroys a peach banquet in heaven. Nor is his quest really a punishment (that is all a very western slant on the story) but an act of karma AFTER his imprisonment. The story, attributed to Wu Cheng-en, is quite hilarious on the surface, full of creatures, jokes and foibles, and on the other hand it is a deeply religious plot. This is the finest piece of Chinese literature I've come across.

_Journey to the West_ is, almost more than anything else, a hilarious read. The adventures of Handsome Monkey King, which dominate this volume, are witty and engrossing. Much better than many historical epics, in which everybody is just so darn EARNEST, this book inserts wit and a genuine (and gentle) understanding of human nature into an engrossing, and often deadly serious and menacing storyline. Yu's translation is clear and lucid, and supports the action very nicely. So many Asian epics are muddled (well, massacred, really) in translation that Yu's gifts are a breath of fresh air.

I highly and enthusiastically recommend _Journey to the West_ to...well...everybody.

Good translations are always hard to find. Yu's Journey to the West is a fantastic version of the Chinese classic. The flavor of Chinese seems to be preserved (I don't know Chinese well enough to say for sure) without sacraficing modern English clarity. I bought only Volume 1 first, to see if I would like it, and I blasted through it; I'm in the middle of Volume 3, with Volume 4 waiting on my bookshelf.

The only English translation I've found of the Chinese classic "Journey to the West". If you are interested in Asian studies, you must read this novel. Many modern Asian anime, comics, and stories are adaptations of this one or are based on it. The main character is a mischievous monkey who becomes immortal by eating a peach of immortality from the garden of the gods. He studies Taoism and gains special powers. His punishment is to escort a priest from China to India in search of the Buddhist scriptures. On the way they encounter many different monsters, funny adventures, and two more companions: a pig, and a sea monster.

This translation includes an extensive explanation of certain Chinese terms.

Although I did not find it as "easy" a read as I had expected,
one has the sense of getting as much of the original flavor as possible
from a translation.
For history and background, the introduction is longer
than some chapters! There are also ample footnotes
with plenty of information.

I can not state how much I love "Journey to the West". It has everything one could want. These stories have inspired me to start training with the staff (before that, the sword being my primary training weapon) to emulate the handsome monkey king. Sun Wu K'ung (the monkey king) is, without question, my favorite mythological character (even though, I really do believe he exists) and has been an inspiration for not only myself, but thousands (if not millions) of others who have read these wonderful stories. In the first book, after the first monkey king story, it gets a little boring, as it tells the situations and geneology leading to the monk Tripitaka setting out on his quest and meeting Wu K'ung (who was trapped by the buddha after his assault on heaven), but overall, this is a story that is timeless. Truly a wonderful tale and highly recommended.

I really love this book. I have already bought the second volume, and I plan to buy the last two. It is translated very well, and its fun to read. My only gripe is the price. I think twenty-five dollars is a lot for a paperback. However, I still think this book deserves five stars.