What is Reddit's opinion of
The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1 (Volume 1)?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
10 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
Okay, before other people talk about the topic without having knowledge about it....
Sun Wuk'ung (Son Goku, Sun Wukong) is the protagonist of one of the four most important works of literature of China. Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber.
He is the monkey king that studied to be a Buddhist monk, went to heaven, stole peaches and upset all the heavenly deities, He was hard to beat in combat and got punished by Buddha to be under a rock for 500 years.
Tripitaka Genjo Sanzou was reincarnated and he needed to do a foot pilgrimage from China to India to retrieve the sacred scrolls. He needed 4 bodyguards: A pig, a demon, a dragon, The monkey king as the leader of the guard. Amidst the journey, they meet many monsters, dragons, bandits, and many perils that they need to overcome.
At the end of the journey, the five members attained godhood and they became "A Buddha"
You can tell in these twisted tales that he is the Son Goku "After journey to the west"
By the way, his name in Japanese is "Shaka Son Goku" just like in ROR, they call him "Shaka"
If you are interested, there's a great edition of the Saiyuki (Journey to the west) by Anthony C. Yu, I read all of the novels:
For the person mentioning "translations", I left the Kanji of names intact because many of the Kanji names are puns of the original names, I made my own names based on those puns.
(Ura Momotaro, Cannibalzukin, Gurumada Shirayuki, Shaka Son Goku etc.)
The names we will use are more suited for western audiences.
If you're familiar with The Journey to the West, would you have a recommendation on a good English translation?
Maybe this one by Anthony C. Yu?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0226971325/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_d6D.FbSMVWET5 this is Anthony C. Yu’s translation. It is said to be the most accurate of the ones available.
Of course! There has been for decades!
My favorite is Anthony C. Yu's translation. It spans four giant volumes, and even received an updated version in 2012 - here's the first volume on Amazon.
You seem to have a rather large knowledge gap on Journey to the West, Chinese and Japanese writing systems, and various other pieces of media branching off of these.
I would recommend Anthony C. Yu's translation of Journey to the West (unabridged, published in four parts). It's readily available on Amazon.
In terms of other media that will likely trigger a nice lightbulb moment, check out things like Osamu Tezuka's Boku wa Son Goku, Buichi Terasawa's Goku Midnight Eye (looks like the OVA is streaming on Amazon), Kazuya Minekura's Saikyuki series (there are various manga and anime releases), SF Saiyuki Starzinger (I don't think this TV series is available anywhere, unfortunately...), Asobotto Senki Goku (likewise don't think it's available anywhere...), etc. etc. etc.
I wrote a nice little six-page article about all this in our 30th anniversary celebratory magazine for Dragon Ball a few years back that goes into more detail. Between that, the aforementioned podcast episode, and especially actually reading Journey to the West itself, hopefully you'll wind up with a larger appreciation and understanding of what the facts are guiding our responses back to you.
I think Anthony C. Yu's translation is the best thing we've got. You can find it on Amazon. It has a bunch of volumes though.
As far as I know, the two main English translations of Journey to the West are Anthony Yu's version and Arthur Waley's version
Its a great story and its an awesome read. Waley's version (just called "Monkey") is a bit more abridged, but its easier to read, and I'd recommend starting with that one.
Journey to the West is a great place to start. Both of these translations are good. Anthony Yu's is divided into several volumes.
Arthur Waley's, called "Monkey," is good, too, but it leaves out some parts.
Journey to the West...? Hell yeah! It's amazing.
It's a commitment, but it's damn amazing.
The four-volume translation by Anthony C. Yu is my favorite.
Popular alternatives to The Journey to the West, Re...
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Ishmael:A Novel
