Journey to the West V 1 (Paper) Paperback – Import, 1 February 1980

Brillant

This is part one of four volumes in Professor Yu's excellent translation of all one hundred chapters of the magnificent Hsi Yu Chi, one of the four great classics of China. The brilliantly detailed adventures, including sparkling battle scenes and characters that give today's well-known mercenaries and crime figures a run for their money, will shock those readers who thought all that started with Hollywoood. The details of bureaucracies laden with sloppy management and CEOs who remember and punish to excess everybody's mistakes but their own is a revelation. The words of the Monkey King's first teacher, "Nothing in the world is difficult, only the mind makes it so" underscore the deep spirituality on which this book is based, making it satisfying to read at this level as well.Some say a great work of literature is like a stunning piece of golden, bejeweled tapestry, and its best translation is like the reverse side of the cloth, same materials yet missing the design and jewels on the face. Therefore the awkwardness of some phrases and terms should not discourage the reader as they are to be expected. I hope instead that such parts encourage usage of aids to understanding such as viewing versions of the story adapted for television and learning to read some of the Chinese original. This entire work is a very worthwhile investment, to keep in a very accessible area of the bookshelf where it can be referred to at each stage of one's life.

This is, of course, a great translation of a literary classic. The stories of each scrape the monkey gets into are similar to fairy tales. There is a strong moral lesson to the overall plot. (The monkey is being punished for his flippant treatment of the staid conventional deities in Heaven.) I guess there are probably underlying political or social comments being made, but I am not that much of an historical or literary scholar. This is a fun book to read, and one whose stories you can tell to young children and amuse them with their silliness. The stories are filled with imagination and humor. The monkey's high spirits grow on you. His companions are often simple foils for his high jinx. If you are interested in Chinese culture, this is a must-read, as there are many references to it in current Chinese culture.

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 possiblefrom a translation.For history and background, the introduction is longerthan some chapters! There are also ample footnoteswith plenty of information.

Great Novel, it's everything I would expected to be after reading somewhere else an overview of the same, full of un ending Chinese mythology, of every kind of supernatural creatures, just my kind of theme, if you're into the supernatural, mythology, monsters and the like, this is definitely a must have, no to mention the allegory of the story, how the so far fetched characters and attributes of each translate into an inner view of the human nature and mind processes, in other words, it leaves you wondering and thinking about the self. I recommend this novel to anyone, it is very long (4 volumes of about 500 pages each) but well worth the reading.