[.ca] Journey to the West (ISBN 7119016636)

Very poor printing quality:
I bought this set based on several earlier reviews I have read, but unfortunately I didn't scroll down to see the other unfavorable reviews. Hopefully you get to see this one before making a decision. This book is very very poorly produced, the paper is too thin so the letters on the other side comes thru and creates double images; combined with the small type face, and the strong odors from the ink makes me wonder how can anyone withstand the "hardship" reading this book entails? I expect something like this in the 3rd world country. Doesn't matter how good the translation is, I will never find out, as several attempts to read the book had instead made me nauseous. I bought the one published by the Foreign Language Press.

Adventure aspects -GREAT! Translation - Blecccck!:
Perhaps I want something different from a translation than most. While many translators strive for fidelity, I seek readibility. While many scholars want the reader to see the flavor of the Chinese original, I want the work to stand on its own in my language. I don't want to have to learn Chinese in order to appreciate the work. With these thoughts in mind, I am disappointed in Jenner's translation of "Journey to the West". I am no scholar. While I have read a few works here and there, the reading was solely for my amusement. To be sure, some of the works of ancient Chinese literature have truly moved me (I have read "Three Kingdoms" four times, straight through, and have perused it uncountably often). I challenge any reader to find a better adventure tale than Shapiro's retelling of "Outlaws of the Marsh", and "The Scholars" has an immediacy even in todays world. However, while the saga of the Monkey King can be at times engaging, I often lose focus sifting through the religious imagery and boring poetry (yes, I suppose it is very good, but most of these poems sound the same, so that in the end, every poetic retelling of a battle or a landscape might as well be the first). I think that the elements of a TREMENDOUS story are present (indeed, Monkey is a household name among Asian children, even today), but few children or adults can suffer through the tedium of passages such as "Most benevelont and merciful Boddhisattva" or "Enlightened Teacher of the Way and Most Compassionate Buddha" over and over. Call me sacreligious, but this is too much. I wish that Jenner's work more resembled Shapiro's, where poetry is often translated as prose or deleted altogether, so as NOT to give away the plot of an entire chapter. Five stars to the work, one to the translation for an average of three altogether.

Monkey Magic!:
Back in the 70's there was a TV show, made in Hong Kong and dubbed into English by the BBC. It was called "Monkey" and the premise was that three spirits had been banished to Earth, to regain entry to Heaven they had to take sacred writings to the West travelling with a priest. Now I loved this programme for several reasons, 1. the stories were wonderful 2. it had great action sequences 3. the acting was hilarious 4. it had a funky seventies disco/cheese soundtrack. So little did I suspect that the story was an ancient tale by Cheng'en Wu - it took a friend from Japan to point it out. Re-living my wasted youth - I ordered instantly from Amazon and have not been disappointed - these stories are wonderful and perfectly mixed my childhood afternoon TV sessions after school with my 30 year old mind and spirituality. I still love Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy - and I suspect you will too!

Great epic, bad presentation.:
Journey to the West is indeed a great epic, and the prose is actually quite good. Its concise and easy to follow. I'm not sure about how accurate the translation is (I can't read Mandarin). However, the one thing that really makes me angry, is the numerous silly spelling errors throughout the book. Its as if no one bothered to edit it (there are one or two errors per chapter). There is even a spelling error in the summary at the back of the book (they used 'isa' instead of 'is a'). The paper and print quality is below average. The book is damaged and creased easily. Although the story is great and the translation is good, the book is presented in a haphazard manner.