Journey to the West: Which translation do you recommend?

[Mith]

Hi Playground,

After listening to Overly Sarcastic Productions summary of Journey to the West, I am interested in reading the story for myself. Has anyone here read a translation or multiple translations to offer suggestions on which one to pick up?

[Catinmychair]

While I've heard good things about the Anthony Yu translation and the abridged novel Monkey, I've read the William Jenner translation myself, and I'd definitely recommend it. I think it does a good job of capturing the general playfulness of Monkey and the tone of the story as a whole. It does get a bit repetitive towards the end, but that's more the fault of the story than the translation really.

[Jayngfet]

While I've heard good things about the Anthony Yu translation and the abridged novel Monkey, I've read the William Jenner translation myself, and I'd definitely recommend it. I think it does a good job of capturing the general playfulness of Monkey and the tone of the story as a whole. It does get a bit repetitive towards the end, but that's more the fault of the story than the translation really.

Seconding that being the story. It's an absurdly long story in serial format that basically codified all of the filler episodes you see in modern anime when they feel like they want to stretch a plot farther than it needs to go. I basically quit halfway through it because it felt like I was less reading classic literature and more just zoned out watching Naruto reruns.

[Mith]

While I've heard good things about the Anthony Yu translation and the abridged novel Monkey, I've read the William Jenner translation myself, and I'd definitely recommend it. I think it does a good job of capturing the general playfulness of Monkey and the tone of the story as a whole. It does get a bit repetitive towards the end, but that's more the fault of the story than the translation really.

I have also heard of the repetitive nature of the epic. From what I have heard, Yu's translation is really good at keeping an intact translation, while Jenner streamlines things a bit but not as far as Monkey.

[Knaight]

The William Jenner translation was garbage, and I'd recommend avoiding it. There's the use of modern colloqialisms that feel immediately jarring (at one point Monkey crushes a foe to "hamburger"), there's unit translations into miles and similar, which do keep the numbers (and thus let you interpret the significance of those numbers) but in so doing alter values and also feel way out of place.

The Jenner translation is essentially part of a set with the other three classical Chinese novels, the other three were all translated fine. I'd recommend any of them, and all of them are much cheaper than most alternatives. They're also all better as stories.

If you must start with Journey to the West, find a different translation.

[theMycon]

I've read the David Shapiro translation (abridged down to 26 chapters), and felt it was excellent. It does a good job of keeping the story and feel intact, has a decent flow to it, and made me bust out laughing once or twice. It somehow gets rid of all the Sanzang (Tripitikas) chapters, but still makes it feel like he was supposed to be the main character (who just got sidelined because Monkey is so much more fun).

I've also read the Foreign Language Press full translation, and thought it was mediocre. Bland writing, typos everywhere, and even the paper itself is of poor quality. Avoid at all costs.

[Brother Oni]

It does get a bit repetitive towards the end, but that's more the fault of the story than the translation really.

If I remember correctly, it's because Sanzang has to face 81 (9x9) trials as that's a spiritually significant number combination. There's only so many ways you can write "and an immortal, nigh omnipotent monkey god swoops down and kicks the ever-loving crap out of everything" before it gets tedious.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Be absolutely sure what you want to read first!

The Yu translation is a scholarly translation (soggy with footnotes) and includes all the poetry (of which there is a lot - it seems like the characters can't go two pages without attempting to poem). It is also four large volumes, and likely to cost quite a bit.

That said, it is an excellent translation and if you want the while thing I fully recommend it.

However, I recommend getting an abridgement first - you don't want to pay out a lot of money for four books and then find you don't like it.

My recommendation for an abridgement is Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China (1942), an translation by Arthur Waley. He cuts out most of the poetry, most of the repeated/uninteresting stories and concentrates on the more interesting ones. This means that you get the bulk of the story in a single volume. It was still in print last time I checked.



The Waley translation is the first one I read (in school, no less), and afterwards I made a point of getting the Yu translation as several Christmas and Birthday presents. I actually got interested originally because of the old Monkey series.

And I wish OSP would hurry up with the next one in their series...

[Mith]

Thanks for all the advice! I went with Monkey by Aurthur Waley. Got a good price on the ebook. Once I am through that, I'll definitely check out the Yu translation.

[Knaight]

If I remember correctly, it's because Sanzang has to face 81 (9x9) trials as that's a spiritually significant number combination. There's only so many ways you can write "and an immortal, nigh omnipotent monkey god swoops down and kicks the ever-loving crap out of everything" before it gets tedious.

To be fair there's plenty involving him outsmarting instead of outfighting enemies (usually followed by fighting). Plus Zhu Baijie is useful ocassionally. Like twice.

[Some Android]

Hi Playground,

After listening to Overly Sarcastic Productions summary of Journey to the West, I am interested in reading the story for myself. Has anyone here read a translation or multiple translations to offer suggestions on which one to pick up?

What's that?

[Fri]

If I remember correctly, it's because Sanzang has to face 81 (9x9) trials as that's a spiritually significant number combination. There's only so many ways you can write "and an immortal, nigh omnipotent monkey god swoops down and kicks the ever-loving crap out of everything" before it gets tedious.

Journey to the west and Mahabharata are prototypes of over-the-top 300 episodes long shonen anime after all

Here's what in Mahabharata: Family drama. Overpowered superhumans duking out with each others with divine powers and over the top weaponries (poison so strong that it will kill you if it touch your footsteps! a surefire missile that will kill anyone it targets, no exception, but it's just one of a kind and one use only!) the female main character being "married" to a five-man-band(of hot brothers! they specifically have five man band personality! one of them are twins!), a dark antihero sixth ranger who have to fight the protagonists for his own personal honor (with tragic ending! and eventhough he's in the villain side he's revered as a "patron saint" of honour and loyalty!) and so on and so forth

[Manga Shoggoth]

What's that?

Well, this:

Legends Summarized: The Monkey King (Journey To The West Part 1) (and parts 2,3 and 4 link from that page).

Overly Sarcastic Productions are two presenters (Red and Blue) who cover various literary and historical subjects with panache and humour. Red mostly does the literature side (besides Journey to the West, she does a fairly awesome take on Dante's Divine Comedy), and Blue does the historical side. Both are - in my opinion - well worth watching.

[Mato]

Q: Which translation do you recommend for Journey to the West?
A: The 2008 film The Forbidden Kingdom.
Not that it's a great story, but because you get to see Jackie Chan and Jet Li fight each other.