Monkey King
Journey to the West
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Monkey King
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Shen
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
This Penguin Classic is performed by Kevin Shen, and was translated by Julia Lovell.
One of the world's greatest fantasy novels and a rollicking classic of Chinese literature, in a sparkling new translation.
A shape-shifting trickster on a kung-fu quest for eternal life, Monkey King is one of the most memorable superheroes in world literature. High-spirited and omni-talented, he can transform himself into whatever he chooses and turn each of his body's 84,000 hairs into an army of clones. But his penchant for mischief repeatedly gets him into trouble, and when he raids Heaven's Orchard of Immortal Peaches, the Buddha pins him beneath a mountain.
Five hundred years later, Monkey King is finally given a chance to redeem himself: he must protect the pious monk Tripitaka on his journey in search of precious Buddhist sutras that will bring enlightenment to the Chinese empire.
Joined by two other fallen immortals—Pigsy, a rice-loving flying pig, and Sandy, a depressive river-sand monster—Monkey King does battle with Red Boy, Princess Jade-Face, the Monstress Dowager, and all manner of dragons, ogres, wizards and femmes fatales; navigates the perils of Fire-Cloud Cave, the River of Flowing Sand and the Water-Crystal Palace; and is serially captured, lacquered, sautéed, steamed and liquefied - but always hatches an ingenious plan to get himself and his fellow pilgrims out of their latest jam.
Comparable to The Canterbury Tales or Don Quixote, Monkey King is at once a gripping adventure, a comic satire and a spring of spiritual insight. With this new translation by the award-winning Julia Lovell, the irrepressible rogue hero of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature has the potential to vault, with his signature cloud-somersault, into the hearts of a whole new generation of audiences.
©2021 Julia Lovell, Wu Ch'eng-en (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Journey to the West is one of the Chinese Noble Classics.
In ancient China a magical monkey appears, creating chaos everywhere he goes. The only way to put his tricks and talents to good use is to make him protector of Xuanzang, a young and handsome monk determined to travel from China to India in search of precious scriptures. Monkey and his fellow disciples, Piggy and Sandy, have to protect Xuanzang from monsters and demons who think they can live forever just by taking bites out of the monk.
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
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What listeners say about Monkey King
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M V
- 03-06-21
Superb rendition!
A must for those seeking myths! Julia Lovell's translation is bar none, capturing the wit and whimsy of the original but backed by a lifetime of academic excellence. As for the story, the Monkey hardly needs the recommendation of a lowly mortal such as myself.
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