Hi, I'm new here.

Like many others I grew up on a diet of weekday after school ABC TV. Doctor Who, Danger Mouse, Duckula, The Ratties and of course MONKEY!

I was shattered when told in the mid-90's it would never screen again for being re-rated.

It was on Foxtel but never screened properly :(

As a kid, I always wondered "Did they really make it to India?" Never found out what happens at the end of the series and this void has been there for much of my life.

Then recently (a couple of years ago) my sister gave me a book she found: Monkey .... by Wu Ch’Êng-Ên, as translated by Arthur Waley.

It was so true to the show, or probably more accurately, the show was true to the book. Pigsy's greed & lust, naughty Monkey. Triptaka's dispare.

The history of each character is detailed including how Monkey learned his 72 transformations, his name in religion (Aware of Vacuity), how Monkey obtained his staff that was used to beat the Milky Way out etc.

Also the general interactions between Heaven, the World of the Dead, and the World of the Living is enjoyable too. Like an Emperor honouring a promise to the Judge of the Dead to give some Western Melons - he sent them along with a man who wished to end his life.

The book is just as funny as the show!! I read it a couple of times a year (have I got a problem?).

Someone here questioned why the narrator of the English dubb was always dropping Bhuddist/Chinese philosophy, could be he was imitating the narrator in the book.

Not all the stories from the show are there, but every other detail about the battles he has in heaven, the peach garden (& the different kinds of magical fruit) ... on and on ... are given in such rich poetic detail and language.

The book was written around 500 years ago originally with 100 chapters, this version has 30. The first 12 translated faithfully and the rest somewhat condensed.

I have found a nice volume of the WHOLE story translated and I'm working on getting a copy.

One of my favourate lines in the book: "The Emperor's joy was so great that he forgot his rivers and hills..." This was upon the disguised Bodhisattva, Kuan-yin revealing herself after telling of the sacred treasures in India that would save humanity.


Cobalt

i dont see how anyone can read any book more than once.

well, Funky_monkey, if you find a book you absolutly LOVE, such as Colbolt's 'Monkey' by Wu Ch’Êng-Ên, im sure you'd want to read it many an occasion. there are many books i love that i'd happily read again, again and again! every time you read the book you discover something new, something you may have missed the first time you read it.

and i may have to locate me a copy of Monkey.....

if you find that you are missing things in books maybe you could gee i dont know slow it down a little bit. its not like you are racing somone to finish the book.

you dont understand what im saying!
its like your re-watch a movie you havn't seen in a while. naturally your going to pick up things you missed in the first viewing.
and i didnt say i was missing things in books, when i said

i didnt mean literally, i ment maby you understood something more clearly, or derived a different meaning from that text than you originally did.

dictionary.com defines 'new' as : Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent: a new law. so for it to be new you would of had to have found it in the first reading.
i understand how someone can watch a movie more than one because you doing more physical activity when you sleep. but a book require a lot more work and hours.

Hahaha, why must I waist my time arguing points to someone who cant even argue, a decent response at least, back?

Funky_monkey, I could continue to argue my point, quite successfully, a lot further. But to save some time, I suggest you read this short passage which agrees my point 100%.

http://www.polytropos.org/archives/2005/03...reading_bo.html

I’m looking forward hearing your response to that particular article. Oh, and by the way funky_monkey, you might want to read it MORE than once, just in case you miss something.

why would you send me a link to porn samas that was just uncalled for!!! i just lost so much respect for you!

well, funky_monkey, dictonary.com defines 'idiot' as: A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

well 'samas' dictionary .com defines 'samas' as being: An Austronesian language spoken in the Sulu Archipelago. Also called Samal. hpw do you like that you Austronesian bastard! i happen to know your other nickname is 'hagis' dictionary.com defines that as being: A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal. so you have the intelectual capacity of an array of minced and mashed organs from a slaughtered animal. check mate. mate

if we can get back to the argument at hand, rather than continue on insulting eachother with lame definitions, i'd like to quote Evan Esar (1899 - 1995), who stated,

'Most new books are forgotten within a year, especially by those who borrow them.'

wtf that has nothing to do with it! how many people do you know who have read the davinci code for example and remember it? and i bet you they read it more than a year ago. i bet you most people who have read it borrowed it. i know i did.

sigh.

if i may be as bold as to quote Quintilian,

'When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.'

i think you should take meaning from these words and perhaps you too, could become wise. for, if i can also qoute a line from monkey, which other members of this forum should remember,

'It is the beginning of wisdom to say I don't know.' (1:7)

'i dont know.' i dont know much beter. i sugest you try samas, since you didnt really know what you were fighting for in the first place. its ok. its ok :D

'Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.'

Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

i suggest you use it

penis: The male organ of copulation in higher vertebrates, homologous with the clitoris. In mammals, it also serves as the male organ of urinary excretion.
######: Vulgar. A penis.

i suggest you get one. :o :D

Cobolt,
Is it the Penguin classic version of Monkey that you're reading?

I started with that and tracked down the full unabridged versiona few years ago and bought it through amazon. Its 4 volumes, 100 chapters if I remember. Called 'A Journey to the West' I think it was published by Chicago University Press.
It's a massive read but well worth it. :)

Hi Beej, I think it's the Penguin edition. I'm working on getting the translation (4 books) by Anthony Yu.

ahh well i have the complete hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, it's pretty much my bible, and though i don't read it cover to cover these day's, i'll open up a random page and laugh my guts out all the same :D

geez guy's how long can you carry out this arguement...

funky monkey, people have favourite book's movies etc, and when you re read, or re watch something, you will always pick up something new, even if you can read the book backwards....

settle your differences, agree to disagree i suggest.....

i just a little bit if fun geckoma. i can assure you that we are both normal people... well i dont know about that samas i hear he's a n00b :D

-funky out :ph43r: