The journey to the west
by Wu Cheng'en · first published 1980
21% recommend79% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Episodic, adventurous quest about a monkey king and his companions travelling to fetch Buddhist scriptures; readers praise its enjoyment, humour, and cultural influence, and fantasy and RPG fans will feel at home.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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The Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en Abridged English translation: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100237.Monkey In its book form this story is basically unknown in the English-speaking world despite being considered…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗Dunno, but Monkey ('Journey to the West') by Wu Cheng'en was a great book as I remember. Wish I had time to read it again.
on “I taught the Iliad to Chinese teenagers (2021)” ↗From a few angles: * I read the Bible out of curiosity and ended up joining a church, so that's pretty consequential. * Moby Dick and Journey to the West were probably the most sheer enjoyment I got out of books * Learning C# 3.0 by Jesse Liberty is extremely dated at this point, and was dated even when I read it, but was the first book that made me…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗The "Four Great Classic Novels" from 14th-18th century China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Chinese_Novels Specifically: Water Margin Romance of the Three Kingdoms Journey to the West Dream of the Red Chamber They are referenced in everything in asian media and there a bajillion tv/movie adaptations of them but they are relatively unknown in the west.
on “Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?” ↗I have no idea what your tastes are but I found both Journey to the West and the Odyssey to be very fun and exciting, with elements of what would appeal to someone about more kid-oriented stories (adventures, fantastical creatures, fighting), but written with a more mature…
on “Infantilism as a Norm (2018)” ↗Shakespeare, Gilgamesh, The Iliad, Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, Journey to the West... there's an absolutely endless treasure trove of content created without IP laws.
on “Just Enough Piracy Can Be a Good Thing” ↗Yes, but parents and kids are interested in classics like Journey to the West, of which there are endless versions for every age group.
on “What's the Difference Between Children's Books in China and the U.S.?” ↗I recommend Journey to the West out of the four. Kind of like an RPG-esque journey about a monkey and his gang traveling in search of Buddhist scriptures. You'll get to learn about Sun Wukong, who is the basis for a lot of Chinese,…
on “Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet” ↗Journey to the West https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West ..and not just for the fun Monkey bits.
on “Ask HN: What is one book you would recommend everyone to read?” ↗I was looking for this comment just to give it a +1. Journey to the West has had a massive cultural impact and it's delightful to see where a lot of those memes originated. Fans of modern fantasy will feel right at home.
on “I taught the Iliad to Chinese teenagers (2021)” ↗I've read the complete Anthony C Yu four volume Journey to the West translation and I don't think there are many, if any, good comparisons in Western literature. There's an overarching story for the Monkey King, Tang Sanzang, and the rest of the gang, contained within…
on “'Black Myth: Wukong' Blows Past Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077 Steam Records” ↗The cultural canon in the USA will lean towards that. I will say that, if we are to suggest more global reading, concrete examples are always welcome! I would of course recommend Journey to the West. Even among the Four Great Classical Novels it has huge lasting influence
on “The Mensa Reading List for Grades 9-12” ↗The Bourgeois Gentleman Complaint tablet to Ea-nasir :-) Emma Essays Gulliver's Travels HMS Pinafore In Praise of Folly Journey to the West[1] Mullah Nasruddin stories[2] Nicomachean Ethics Panchatantra Uncle Remus War & Peace[3] [1] haven't read this one yet myself, but the old cartoon "Havoc in Heaven" was good, and…
on “Ask HN: Good books written before ~1900?” ↗…"East" for the Greeks until Hellenistic times, even though Cairo is geographically further west than Cyprus; maybe Cyprus was also "East"? Also, to the Chinese, India was "the West". The famous novel Journey to the West is a fictionalized account of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang who traveled from China to India to bring back copies of Buddhist texts that had not yet reached China. And nobody doubts that Buddhism originally…
on “The Making of Darius (1987)” ↗Even for Chinese people, Journey to the West is a somewhat difficult text because it belongs to classical literature. Using some children's books published in recent years, and progressing gradually, might be a better approach?
on “Show HN: Learning a Language Using Only Words You Know” ↗