Probably the most popular book in the history of the Far East, this classic sixteenth-century novel is a combination of picaresque novel and folk epic that mixes satire, allegory, and history into a rollicking adventure. It is the story of the roguish Monkey and his encounters with major and minor spirits, gods, demigods, demons, ogres, monsters, and fairies.
This translation, by the distinguished scholar Arthur Waley, is the first accurate English version; it makes available to the Western reader a faithful reproduction of the spirit and meaning of the original.
About the Author :
Wu Cheng'en (c. 1505-1580) was a Ming Dynasty poet about whom little is known, although he is believed to be the author of Journey to the West, which he published anonymously. He lived much of his life as a hermit.
Julia Lovell, the translator of numerous books, is a professor of modern China at Birkbeck College, University of London, and writes about China for The Guardian, London Financial Times, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
Arthur David Waley (1889-1966) was best known for his translations of Chinese and Japanese classical texts.
Review :
"Kenneth Williams--best known from the British Carry On films--gives an extravagantly theatrical performance of Waley's adaptation of a Chinese classic, matching the fantastic world of the story, filled with Chinese deities and monsters and Monkey's larger-than-life shenanigans. Williams provides many character voices, some rather silly, rolls his r's, exclaims, declaims, and verbally 'carries on, ' but avoids going over the top by changing to a sedate narration at well-chosen intervals. He fills China with an assortment of British class and regional accents, but it works...It's a bravura performance of a delightful text; Naxos deserves thanks for making a great listening pleasure available again. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."
-- "AudioFile"
"Mr. Waley has done a remarkable job with this translation."
-- " New York Times"
"The irreverent spirit and exuberant vitality of its portraiture...make it an entertainment to which Mr. Waley's witty translation has obviously contributed not a little."
-- "Times (London)"
"There is nothing quite like Monkey in Western literature. Imagine a combination of picaresque novel, fairy tale, fabliau, Mickey Mouse, Davy Crockett, and Pilgrim's Progress; and then image if you can all these elements welded into an artistic whole so that no matter how fantastic the adventure or how enigmatic the allegory, the characterization and meaning remain always human and realizable."
-- "Nation"
"Told with immense gusto and, quite apart from its deeper meaning and wise proverbial sayings, it is full of entertainment."
-- "Manchester Guardian"
