This here is a very special travel diary: one single long adventure in a world filled with magic, with unusual companions, a lot of excitement, and more than a bit of troublemaking.
The technical details:
Departure: China
Destination: India, Buddha's heaven
Travel time: More than you'd think and less than you'd like.
Guides: Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and his amazing companions whom we all will meet soon.
Press and media: Ulf Ärnström, Swedish storyteller, and Zalka Csenge Virág, Hungarian storyteller.
Accomodation: right here, day and night.
Cost: only your precious time ;)
Two storytellers will guide you in three languages on this journey. What happens behind the scenes: we both started reading Journey to the West in our own languages, and here we will write down and publish our thoughts, impressions, favorite parts, musings, quotes, observations, and everything else that the Journey brings along, and whatever is born in the minds of two professional storytellers.
The point is: read with us! The book has a beautiful Hungarian and a fabulous Swedish translation, as well as many English ones. Whoever wants to come with us, join in! Even further down the road. Comment, add your thoughts, ask, tweet, send messages. Let us know what you think.
If you are not reading the book, you are still welcome! The blog will be easy to understand for everyone. At least in one of the languages... ;)
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I watched the tv show called 'Monkey' in the seventies and early eighties. It was quite the treat. It led me to the Seven Samuria. Not the same, I know!
ReplyDeleteLoiS(orry to be so sloooooow in getting here):
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Monkey & have sent on info to a fellow teller here in the metro Detroit (Michigan, the mitten-shaped & mitten-using state in the north of the U.S.). He has been well-served by telling Monkey, so I hope he also decides to follow this blog.
Didn't know there was ever a t.v. show. Will try to see if it's available.
Have various books on Monkey, including the Waley edition. Find Journey to the West have various English editions. Is the Journey version needed to follow here &, if so, what English translation would you recommend?
I am actually reading in Hungarian (enjoying the fact that this is one of the rare gems we have in translation). I haven't seen any English translations. Ulf should know more :)
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see you here, Lois!!! :)
There seems to be three main english translations:
ReplyDeleteMonkey: A Folk-Tale of China (1942), an abridged translation by Arthur Waley. Often considered the most readable and amusing retelling of the story. However, Waley only translated 30 out of the 100 chapters and most of the verse is missing.
Journey to the West (1982–1984), a complete translation in three volumes by W.J.F. Jenner. Readable translation without scholarly apparatus.
One reviewer at Amazon wrote: "Where Brenner is more limited, as compared to Arthur Waley's classic abridged "Monkey", is in recreating the full range of tones and satiric emotions of the original. "Journey to the West" is a satirical, high-spirited adventure story; Brenner is idiomatic and readable, but he can occasionally sacrifice some of the original's comic mischievousness. Here Waley is incomparable; though he may sound a little arch, one has no doubt Waley is at one with Wu Cheng'en's spirit. Brenner, on the other hand, can at times sound a little too matter-of-factly. There are moments where you will chuckle in delight reading Waley, but might not do so with Brenner."
The Journey to the West (1977–1983), a complete translation in four volumes by Anthony C. Yu. Complete translation with extensive scholarly introduction and notes. In 2006, an abridged version of this translation was published by Chicago UP under the title The Monkey and the Monk.
The same reviewer describes Yu:s version as "extremely fathful to the text" and continues:
"Comparing the two, both Yu and Brenner can be recommended. Yu would be first choice if fidelity to the text is your priority. If you prefer your English to be more idiomatic and the story to flow better, Brenner should be considered. The two run pretty close and neither is yards ahead of the other. But Waley's translation is still a marvellous read, and even if it is highly abridged, it should under no circumstances be forgotten."
The link below is a pdf of a version which is said to be "based on Jenner's". If and how it is edited I can't say. But it is free!
http://www.chine-informations.com/fichiers/jourwest.pdf