Free Downloads Monkey: A Journey To The West
Part spiritual pilgrimage, part historical epic, the folk novel Journey to the West , which came to be known as Monkey, is the most popular classic of Asian literature. Originally written in the sixteenth century, it is the story of the adventures of the rogue-trickster Monkey and his encounters with a bizarre cast of characters as he travels to India with the Buddhist pilgrim Tripitaka in search of sacred scriptures. Much more than a picaresque adventure novel, Monkey is a profound allegory of the struggle that must occur before spiritual transformation is possible. David Kherdian's masterful telling brings this classic of Chinese literature to life in a way that is true to the scope and depth of the original.
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Shambhala (April 12, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590302583
ISBN-13: 978-1590302583
Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #103,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #6 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > Asian > Chinese #247 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Folklore & Mythology #616 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory
I currently own 3 different versions of "Journey to the West", and of the three, this one is probably the best compromise between detail and brevity. I am currently reading it to my 7-year-old (I read it by myself a while ago), and while the vocabulary is definitely a stretch (I have to explain 4 or 5 words on most pages), he's really loving it. The story has all the appeal of a Martial Arts novel, The Wizard of Oz, and a Buddhist philosophical treatise blended into a thoroughly entertaining tale for all ages.I previously read "Adventures of Monkey King" (ISBN 0962076511) to my son, and while the language was much more appropriate for a young child, the story was overly abridged, and a lot of the detail that makes the story fun and interesting was lost.This edition tells the beginning and the end of the story very well, but leaves out all of the middle episodes between finding the dragon horse, Pigsy, and Sandy and getting to the mountain of fire. As a result, Pigsy and Sandy are a bit under-developed, but the Monkey King definitely gets a real chance to shine, and you do get a decent feel for Pigsy and Tripitaka, at least. I kind of appreciate that they left the whole middle section out instead of picking random stories, because that makes it easier to go back to the full version of the story ("Journey to the West (4-Volume Boxed Set)", ISBN 7119016636), and fill in the missing stories if you want to.The way it's told here, the actual journey itself is the smallest part of the story. It's all about setting up the characters and reaching Inda. In the full-length version, the story is mostly about the journey, and how it changes the characters.
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