Journey To The West

[Kevnvek]

So I finally just ordered the 4 Volume boxed set of Journey to the West, originally supposedly written by Wu Cheng'En in the 1600s. It's a classical Chinese novel. The version I'm getting is translated by W. J. F. Jenner.

http://www.amazon.com/Journey-West-4--Boxed-Set/dp/7119016636/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297125580&sr=1-1

For those of you who don't know about it, it's the story that inspired Dragonball, and more recently, loosely inspired the game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. I've wanted to read it for a while now. I had a PDF of it, but I could only read it on PC or PSP, so a physical copy will be much nicer.

The story is just insane and right up my alley. lol

Has anyone else ever read or heard of it?

[Dateranoth]

Never heard of it, and I'd like to know how closely it inspired Dragonball. I have to imagine it was a stretch.

[PeeKnuckle]

I'm familiar with it.

[Kevnvek]

Never heard of it, and I'd like to know how closely it inspired Dragonball. I have to imagine it was a stretch.

You'd be surprised. Journey to the West is an insane classical Chinese novel about a stone monkey god's crazy misadventures, and eventually about his gradual westward journey to find the Buddhist scriptures... or something. It has many elements copied in Dragonball. The main character is a monkey, rides a flying cloud (well, in the book he does a cloud somersault that propels him hundreds of miles in an instant lol), has a staff that can extend I think indefinitely, and eventually has a pig companion that accompanies him.

Of course Akira Toriyama developed it into his own story from there, but Dragonball has the same whimsical fairy tale tone to it. By the time the show gets to Dragonball Z it's less of a fun adventure, and more of a struggle to defeat this week's new super being, though. Still a cool show.

I've read the first two or three chapters of the book out of 100. Between the 4 volumes, there are about 2,300 pages lol, as I opted for a version of the story that is faithful to the original and mostly unabridged. There are many versions and adaptations of the story, though, in books and as inspiration for other media.

[CHINESE BABOON]

My Dad majored in East Asian cultures, pretty sure he's read these.

[Super Kev]

I know about it too but I've never read it.

[Kevnvek]

Well it came, and it seems like a pretty good, readable translation for such an old book. I have read a bit of it as a PDF, but it will be much more convenient to read a physical copy now.

[Kevnvek]

Finally "officially" started reading this, sort of. I had the physical copies before I got my Kindle, otherwise I'd've gotten it on that. About 19 pages in, even though I've read further in the PDF way back when, but it's pretty interesting. I like that it's so out there, rooted in Chinese mythology but with a whimsical tone.

The description of the mountain of flower and fruit and the house in the water curtain cave makes me want to make it in Minecraft lol. Waterfall covering a cave entrance in which an iron bridge leads to a large stone house surrounded by flowers and such.