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

If you are wanting to learn more about the lore after playing Dark myth or a lifelong Dragonball fan ...this is the perfect book for you,the English translation well done and the story is wonderful but the cover art sells it alone. 10/10 for anyone wanting a deep dive in the world of sun wukong!!!

This is a distillation of Yu’s faithful translation of the 100 chapter, 4-volume The Journey to the West, the part historical, part mythical epic of Chinese literature which has been the basis for numerous movies, animes. and memes. The essential first 8 chapters of the original, which tell how Monkey becomes a force to be reckoned with, are condensed to 7; most of the trimming comes after the divine monk Tripitaka Tang sets out to bring Buddhist scriptures from India back to China, since his encounters with obstacles become a bit repetitive in the long version.The monk is actually the incarnation of a Heavenly being who volunteered to suffer human birth in order to bring the means of enlightenment to the people of the East. But once he is mortal he will lose his divine perceptions and be vulnerable to illusions, deceptions, and wrong thinking, so he is assigned 4 assistants, all of them immortals who have fallen into disgrace one way or another. (Don’t drop a teacup or set fire to Heavenly curtains, and especially don’t steal all the peaches.) Their task is to transport him safely, thereby winning their freedom to return to their former estates. This assignment is made difficult by several factors. At least two of the disciples loathe each other and are forever squabbling and fighting. Pigsy is lazy and wants to go back to eating meat and having sex; Monkey wants to go back to being King of the Flower Fruit Mountain. Only the gold fillets that act like 16th century tasers keep the unruly disciples from rebellion. Thieves and politicians bar their way. The major difficulty, however, is that every monster who wants a short cut to immortality, bypassing all that tedious self-cultivation, wants to devour the monk, for it is widely known that even one mouthful of Tripitaka’s flesh will prolong life, and making a meal of him will bestow longevity. Time and time again Monkey exerts himself on the monk’d behalf, saving Tripitaka from hungry monsters who disguise themselves as damsels in distress or feeble patriarchs, when they don’t simply capture the travelers by a frontal assault.The story is magnificent adventure, incorporating poetry, allusions to esoteric medicine and meditation practices, breathtaking descriptions of travel, ferocious fight sequences, and braggadocio exchanges between combatants. It is so refreshing to encounter a classic that isn’t inherently a tragedy based on war or lust for power, thirst for revenge. Instead, this epic centers around a quest to benefit all of creation by promoting enlightenment. In the style of the poems included in this translation, here is a summary:From a mountain stone egg is bornThe Mind Monkey. This one studies the Tao,Masters transformations and defeats the lords of death,Devours immortal peaches and Heavenly feasts,Challenges the divine champions,Defeating all — all but one.Only Quanyin’s intercessionFrees Monkey to pursue once againThe Way as a Heavenly monk’s disciple,One of four magical beings who serve and guardTripitaka Tang on his quest for scriptures.Not always willingly.Pigsy loves earthy pleasures,Monkey resorts to violence.Over mountains and across rivers,Eluding traps and subduing demons,The five companions refine their spirits.Who will find the Way within the way?

This labor of love from Anthony Yu is an amazing translation for English readers! In the preface Mr. Yu discusses his reasons for wanting to provide a culturally accurate translation for English readers. Being a native speaker of Chinese and growing up in the culture as well as being a professor of Asian studies and history in an English speaking country is really what makes this translation so amazing. The footnotes at the bottom of each page were an especially nice detail.Oftentimes with weighty classics like this all the footnotes are either at the end of the book with the appendices or at the end of the chapter. This leads to a lot of fumbling around and flipping pages back and forth and can subsequently take you out of your reading experience. It is also easier, at least for me, to forget some of the context of what I was reading doing all this flipping back and forth. Not only do the footnotes themselves add immensely to the depth of understanding of the material but having them at the bottom of the page they are referencing makes reading easy and enjoyable. Culture specific footnotes really helped me understand the intensity of the situations I was reading about as well as just how funny this book is.As far as the story itself I think everyone should read it. The story is hilarious and surprisingly modern in its storytelling despite the time it was written. So many of the most famous animes in pop culture clearly have taken major inspiration from this story. DBZ alone has ripped off so many elements you'll find yourself laughing at the similarities if you have ever watched DB or DBZ.Highly, HIGHLY recommend!! Read now please!

Package came on time and in immaculate condition.

This is my second copy of this wonderful distillation of THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST. I need this one becauwe by earlier copy is marked up. But the binding is still in good shape after quite a bit of use. THIS copy arrived today, and as soon as I opened it (without forcing it, pages started falling out. It's unusable.

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

This long but nevertheless abbreviation of the Chinese classic story of the journey from China to India of the Buddhist monk Tripitaka to bring to China manuscripts of the teachings of the Buddha.The characters are spectacular, especially Monkey whose magical performances save the mission from disaster. The bizarre adventures involving magic and courage are at times very amusing and always astonishing at the invention and imagination of those who wrote this amazing and highly readable, scholarly translated work.The story has been translated into many languages, made into films and simplified versions published for children.Not to be missed.

The media could not be loaded. The book arrived in a good condition. The story is presented in intervals of poetry/prose from the original texts followed by the author's abridgment-I had watched the Legend of the Monkey King as a kid on Nickelodeon, and wanted to play Black myth Wukong as well. Would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in this adventurous tale who doesn't want to read four volumes of the story

I brought the book to read at a book group and it elicited an excellent wide ranging discussion.

Just as ordered.

Great abridgment of a Chinese classic - still feels like you're reading something ancient without being totally incomprehensible.