The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West [Paperback]

Anthony C. Yu (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2006

Anthony C. Yu’s celebrated translation of The Journey to the West reinvigorated one of Chinese literature’s most beloved classics for English-speaking audiences when it first appeared thirty years ago. Yu’s abridgment of his four-volume translation, The Monkey and the Monk, finally distills the epic novel’s most exciting and meaningful episodes without taking anything away from their true spirit. 

These fantastic episodes recount the adventures of Xuanzang, a seventh-century monk who became one of China’s most illustrious religious heroes after traveling for sixteen years in search of Buddhist scriptures. Powerfully combining religious allegory with humor, fantasy, and satire, accounts of Xuanzang’s journey were passed down for a millennium before culminating in the sixteenth century with The Journey to the West. Now, readers of The Monkey and the Monk can experience the full force of his lengthy quest as he travels to India with four animal disciples, most significant among them a guardian-monkey known as “the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven.” Moreover, in its newly streamlined form, this acclaimed translation of a seminal work of world literature is sure to attract an entirely new following of students and fans. 

“A new translation of a major literary text which totally supersedes the best existing version. . . . It establishes beyond contention the position of The Journey to the West in world literature, while at the same time throwing open wide the doors to interpretive study on the part of the English audience.”—Modern Language Notes, on the unabridged translation

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a deftly streamlined version of Anthony Yu’s complete translation of the famous Ming dynasty novel The Journey to the West. The Monkey and the Monk offers a generous selection of carefully chosen chapters, preserving the essential outlines of the story and including all of the main characters who are familiar to young and old alike in China: the monk, the monkey, the white horse, the pig, and the sand-spirit. Reading through this marvelous abridgment, one can experience the whole range of rapture and transformation occasioned by the pilgrimage to India in search of Buddhist scriptures undertaken by the Tang monk Xuanzang and his four faithful companions.”Wandering on the Way and Tao Te Ching>

(Victor H. Mair, translator of Wandering on the Way and Tao Te Ching )

 “A new translation of a major literary text which totally supersedes the best existing version. . . . It establishes beyond contention the position of The Journey to the West in world literature, while at the same time throwing open wide the doors to interpretive study on the part of the English audience.”<Modern Language Notes, on the unabridged translation>

(Modern Language Notes, on the unabridged translation )

“One of the greatest ventures of our time in humanistic translation and publication.” —New York Times Book Review, on the unabridged translation>

 

(New York Times Book Review, on the unabridged translation )

"The Journey to the West tells the story of monk Xuanzang''s 17-year journey from Tang China to India in the seventh century to secure Buddhist texts for translation. Anthony C. Yu, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at the University of Chicago, who produced a massive, wonderful four-volume translation of the work in the 1970s and 1980s, has now written a single-volume, concise version of the epic. Blending cosmology, scripture, adventure, rivers 800 miles wide, and travelogue, this elegant volume retains a mythic quality and is full of musical language and the pomp of classical Chinese literature." — R. K. Dickson, Bloomsbury Review 

(R. K. Dickson Bloomsbury Review ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Anthony C. Yu is the Carl Darling Buck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where he has held appointments in the Divinity School, in the departments of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English, and Comparative Literature, and served on the Committee on Social Thought.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (November 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226971562
• ISBN-13: 978-0226971568
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent translation, but leaves out some of the best tales, May 24, 2010

By 

A. J. Minich (Mountain View, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West (Paperback)

I love 'Journey to the West' - the story is China's version of 'The Canterbury Tales', and the tales found within are both seminal works of Chinese literature and rewarding reads in and of themselves. For this particular edition, Anthony Yu does a good job of translating into English: the prose text is very readable, and Yu's footnotes provide a lot of help on obscure references to Chinese superstitions and Buddhist heritage. The translations of the poems are somewhat less satisfying, and I found myself frequently skipping over them to read just the prose storyline. My main complaint is with the books Yu decides to include here: out of the 100 chapters of the full edition, Yu includes only the 31 chapters that are crucial to the plotline. As a result, you get the barebones story, but some of the best-written and most comical subplots are left out. All in all, though, a pretty good read, especially for anyone looking for the middle ground between the comic book versions and the full 4-volume 100-chapter text.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book, February 23, 2007

By 

S. Kelley "solidfan" (Oakland /Ca /USa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West (Paperback)

This is the best translation you will find Anthony C Yu has really made this book shine, it displays all that only people who can read Chinese could only know until now ,previous books in English on the monkey king have been dry and lacking in spirit this book is beautifully descriptive and spiritually deep at the same time,but don't let the word spiritual throw you off this book is full of adventure and excitement, not a boring moment to be found. .P.S. this is the abridged version of the 3 volume full version.I usually don't bother with abridged books but got this one to read to my [...]son,not only does my son love this,but I love just as much as the whole set

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, August 18, 2009

By 

Philip Mars (Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West (Paperback)

TMatM tells a story that happens to be one of the most well-known tales in Asia: "The Monkey King's Journey to the West".

The story is profound and funny - and very different from any tale you may hear in this side of the globe.

By reading it, you get to know a lot about the basis of a whole culture.
The Monkey King was the inspiration - direct or otherwise - for many mangá creators.

Suggested for people who are really interested in the Asian culture.