14:100 Monkey: Folk Novel of China by Wu Cheng’en, Arthur Waley (Translator)

This is a translated and abridged version of Journey to the West, one of the 4 great novels of China, originally published in the 16th century after centuries of being passed on verbally.  It starts with the story of the Monkey King and his rise and then fall from grace through pride and how he then becomes a disciple of the holy monk who was chosen to go to India to fetch the writings of Buddha which results in his redemption.  The monk has other disciples as well who are also on their own redemption arcs but Monkey does seem to be the focus (as he would have it).

My son wanted to read this as part of his world literature studies this year and I wasn't about to tell him no. I really enjoy reading literature from around the world now (not always the case but I'm continuing to branch out) and this was definitely a fun read with a lot of depth and lots going on in many different levels.  Interestingly, as we read it, I realized that I had had a children's book detailing one of the stories when I was little and remembered it.  I don't know what ever happened to that book but I'm glad that my parents had it for me. 

The original Journey to the West is 100 chapters in total.  This version is about half as long but everything I read said that the stories that were cut out were fun but weren't really necessary to the overall story arcs and this was a good translation and compromise.  Of note, I looked everywhere I could think and asked many people to help me find an actual curriculum for it.  I feel that this is a serious issue in that we don't study the great works of other cultures much and yet, shared stories and seeing the common threads that weave through stories of all cultures is how we can bring people together.


Page count: 324p/3,622p ytd/314,527p lifetime

41:120 Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes

I'm pretty sure if you don't at least know of Don Quixote de la Mancha, you have spent your entire life pretty isolated from any type of culture.  I'd never read any of this before but I still knew that he was from Spain and was under the delusion that he was a knight errant and was therefore bound to rescue damsels in distress, right wrongs, vanquish giants and evil magicians, etc.  I knew about his eccentricity and seeing things not as they were but as bigger and mightier so as to be worthy adventures of a knight errant (tilting at windmills that he sees as giants being the most commonly referenced one).  I'd heard of his lady, Dulcinea, and his squire Sancho.  Most of what I'd heard about comes from the first half of the book and seems to be the main story people know.  There were other side stories in the first half that only tangentially involve him but for the most part, it was following his journey as he tried to be knight errant he thought the world needed, no matter how misguided he was.  It definitely had humor but was also sad watching this madman trying to deal with the world as he saw it.

The second half was awful.  Almost the entire thing consisted of Don Quixote and Sancho falling in with people who had read the first part of their adventures and using his malady to play pranks on him for their own amusement.  It lacked the whimsy of the first half and I found it mostly to just be meanspirited and not fun at all.



Page count: 992p/11,637p ytd/261,714p lifetime

100:120 The Ramayana (A shortened modern prose version of the Indian Epic) by R.K. Narayan

Originally written in Sanskrit in the 4th century by Valmiki, there have been countless versions written since.  Narayan drew on the work of the 11th century version written by Kamban to write a piece that was shorter and more accessible since the original is over 1000 verses long.  The Ramayana is an epic tale known to almost everyone in India.

Rama was a prince and when his father felt it was time to retire and enjoy what remained of his life, he chose Rama to succeed him but one of his other wives called in a favor he had given her for saving his life and insisted that her son be named as his successor instead and that Rama be banished to the woods for 14 years. Rama as a dutiful son will not hear of his father going back on his word and departs immediately accompanied by his wife, Sita, and another brother, Laxman.  While they live in the woods, a demon falls in love with Sita and steals her away.  Rama is completely distraught and searches high and low for her.  Eventually, she is found and Rama dispatches the demon with honor just in time for him to return home and claim his throne from his brother who would only accept being temporary ruler during Rama's absence because of his own mother's wickedness.

I really enjoyed the tale but I will state that I'm glad this version apparently glossed over the tests that Sita was put through to prove her purity and loyalness to Rama while she was held captive.  Just hearing about it briefly in the forward bugged me a lot.  I found some of the morals that Rama was upholding to be an interesting look at what was important during that time in that place and I find it fascinating that the whole epic is still given so much life today.  I'm actually planning to try and find a tv or movie version and see it performed live.


Page count: 196p/26,436p ytd/241,352p lifetime