Has it really been five years since I first met the Monkey King?...
I don't even know where the idea came from. I just remember a sudden craving for Chinese. Not food. Tricksters. So off I go along the line of antique book shops that starts at the door of the University and leads all the way to Kálvin Square. And, lo and behold, in the last shop I just happen to look down onto the bottom shelf, and there It was. Two volumes of pure East Asian mythic adventure.
Tricksters tend to find their way to me somehow. Sooner or later all of them show up, and most of them decide to stick around. Funny thing is, this goes for human tricksters as well as imaginary ones.
I am not complaining.
(If you've ever tried to find this book in any city in Hungary, you probably know that this is one of Those that just can't be found when you are looking. Ever. Published 6 years before I was born, this book tends to hide out in some remote corner of cozy little bookshops, and it only pokes its head out when you are looking the other way. Not unlike tricksters.)
Now, five years later, the whole story lives in my memories as one single long adventure, from beginning to end.
(Do shoot me if I use the word 'adventure' again in this post.)
So now when I start reading it all over again, I know what to expect. And it just makes the whole thing even better.
Where to start? I honestly don't know. Sometimes I get the impression trickster tales don't necessarily start at the beginning. Then again I have to agree with Ulf, this book has a good start. It's all Mythology and Creation and Colors and Kingdoms and Rainbows and Butterflies, and then suddenly... Trickster is born to bring some Fun into the world.
Talk about a Big Bang.
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Thanks for reminding me of the mystique of books! This is a journey in search of books, after all. I can remember the joys from my student days of leisurely exploring second-hand bookshops for rare books with forgotten knowledge and boldly going down into the dark cellars of research libraries with unimaginable treasures. Waiting for and receiving the first volume of the complete english version of "Journey to the West" which a bookshop had to order from abroad was a true joy! Perhaps that is where my journey started.
ReplyDeleteDid you know it actually has a sequel? I don't know if it's included in the English/Swedish version, but in the Hungarian one there is a third volume, called "What was left out of Journey to the West", by a different author, Tung Yueh. I found it after I read the book, and it's great fun!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Tower-Myriad-Mirrors-Supplement-Journey/dp/089581501X
There. I found it.
Yes I have it :) Seems to be an example of ancient "fanfiction". Do you know where it is "located" in the main story? We could explore it when we reach that point!
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