Nov 16th, 2009
Monkey Magic
Ever since I was a kid, I have adored the tale of Monkey. I grew up reading Arthur Waley’s translation, which was simply called Monkey (many more recent other translations use the title Journey to the West). Buried in my basement is another translation of this tale, along with Mark Salzman’s contemporary retelling, The Laughing Sutra. I’ve also introduced Sylvia to this story through Ed Young’s Monkey King. She, Jan, and I even have Monkey King t-shirts (and sometimes she insists we all wear them together–very geeky, I know, but awfully cute). This is what they look like:
I heard about this television version only a few months ago. If I’d been able to watch it when I was a kid, I think I would have been in heaven.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMWy4hqAg[/youtube]
Apparently, Neil Gaiman’s recent trip to China involved some research about this story, so I’m guessing that his next project is either a retelling of this tale or something that includes the character Monkey. I’m a tiny bit nervous that he’ll do something to screw up something dear to me; knowing how he writes and his fondness for old stories, though, my hunch is that the result will be pretty neat.
One Response to “Monkey Magic”
If anyone’s going to write it successfully, it’ll be him. :)