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Monkey

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Monkey

By: Wu Ch’êng-ên, Arthur Waley - translator
Narrated by: Kenneth Williams
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About this listen

Considered one of China's great classical novels, Wu Ch'êng-ên's Journey to the West was translated by Arthur Waley in abridged form as Monkey in 1942 and has delighted English readers ever since. It is a riveting adventure story about a priest's quest to obtain holy Buddhist scriptures for the Tang emperor; joining him on this rollicking journey: Sandy, Pigsy, and the mischievous monkey king, Sun Wukong, whose flying cloud and magic cudgel are never far from his infamous deeds. Waley's accessible rendition of Wu Ch'êng-ên's novel has become a classic in its own right: Gods, demons, and disobedient monkey spirits all come alive in this entertaining work.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©1981 Nimbus Records Ltd. (P)2015 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Funny

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he brings the characters to life and provides wonderful spots of humour. Forget the TV series this is far better

Kenneth Williams is brilliant

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I'm old enough to remember the TV series which is why this caught my eye.I've been lucky enough to be introduced to Round the Horne and Kenneth Williams wonderful vocal characterisation. The combination of fantastic story and superlative narration made this a truly joyful experience. Although the story is rooted in religion it encompasses a magical world of monsters,demons,gods and dragons.It is quite episodic so is perfect for just dipping in and out. Kenneth Williams really brings the story and the characters to life I regullarly laughed out loud whilst listening..He brings humour and gravitas in equal measure and no one does disdain like him. I loved every minute of this presentation.and cannot recommend it too highly.

Fabulous.

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This is a great incentive to buy and read the full work.

Kenneth Williams is an amazing narrator. He sounds very invested and like he's having a lot of fun reading the story, which helps make the story be an engaging listen, even through the more dragged-out parts of the story. His voice also perfectly suits the writing style of the story. His voice will definitely be the one in my head when I read the full work.

Though I understand that they cut out most of the chapters from the original to keep the story a manageable length to tell, I wish they'd included a few more chapters.

Needs to be longer

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Would you listen to Monkey again? Why?

Written in Chinese before Shakespeare wrote his plays, there is a well-attested historical truth at the heart of the story - the journey of a Chinese scholar to India in the 7th century to obtain Buddhist scriptures to take back to China. However onto this basic story is embroidered many layers, with mythical demons, wonderful characters (especially the animal companions of the pilgrim - Monkey and Pigsy and two dragons), extraordinary adventures, and themes reflecting a huge range of familiar European stories (such as Hamlet, the Minotaur, Moses, Oedipus and the Oresteia) which couldn't possibly be known to the Chinese author at the time. Kenneth Williams' performance of the book adds to the pleasure. I think I would have found it difficult to read it all.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Monkey?

Monkey is a wonderful invention. Although he has magic powers, he keeps his simian characteristics: he is curious, arrogant, exuberant, brash and noisy. Above all he is defiant of all forms of authority. The various scenes where Monkey is the one who has to come up with ingenious plans to save the pilgrims from imminent disaster are a delight.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Difficult to say, but the fight between Monkey and the General in Heaven, where both of them change from one shape to another with bewildering rapidity is pretty hard to beat.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

This book could never be condensed into one tagline. It is triumphant on so many different levels.

This amazing 16th cent Chinese novel is pure joy

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I loved this. Kenneth Williams has a fantastic voice and uses it so well with the different characters in this lovely tale.i tried to stretch this out for as long as possible to enjoy it for longer rather than listening to it in long stretches.
One of my favourite audible books!

brilliant story and narration

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An excellent story told excellently and more of the story I’d heard in other forms

Kenneth Williams who knew brilliant

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Kenneth puts his marvelous caricature acting to great effect his Pigsy is an absolute joy

A rare treat

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, at first I thought the voice acting was going to annoy but it really makes the story work, and the speed of delivery prevents it from (what could easily have been) a slightly slow story.

Enchanting Chinese mythology

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My first audible... brilliant narrator. I could see the story unfold before my eyes as I sat in the bus going home listening.

Monkey

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Monkey is a wonderful character and his adventures are amusing and wonderfully recounted by Kenneth Williams, whose reading manages to bring out all the humour in the work. The mundane details of daily life that make their way into the story contribute enormously to its power and charm.

a marvellous tale, wonderfully read

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