by Wu Cheng’en
ISBN: 978-0-241-75240-1
First published: 16th Century
104 pages
Translated by Julia Lovell
Publisher: Penguin Archive part of http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com
6 / 5 Stars
A wonderful short extract from the longer work “Monkey King : Journey to the West“.
It has been compared to both Don Quixote and the Canterbury Tales.
What makes the book such fun is the entirely modern tone of the titular monkey. He speaks with irreverence, he is irrepressible , he is fun, he is rude. He answers back.
The Jade Emperor tries his best to contain him, but all the armies fail at the foot of Monkey and his hordes of creatures. Fighting and warcraft are mixed with drunkenness and thievery.
Yet, Monkey remains the hero to the reader, going up against the great heavenly bureaucracy.
Oh what we wouldn’t give for a Monkey in today’s world!
The Eclectic Book Review 