Wu Chen'en's The Journey to the West feels almost more like a book of myths than a novel. It features Lao Tsu, the founder of Taoism, and Kuan Yin, a bodhisattva as well as the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The mythological and the historical are mixed together, though this book does not even attempt at any sort of historical accuracy. If you love reading ancient myths, you will love this book. Like most myths, the events are based on a real occurrence, but magic and the fantastic come in and make the story its own.

I could not stand Monkey as a character. He is also called Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, BanHorsePlague, and Handsome Monkey King, all of which he gave himself with exception to BanHorsePlague. He becomes more tolerable by the end, but barely.

Like most Chinese classics, the pacing is all over the place; they are rarely plotted out. The characters also will have more than one name they are refereed to by. This is a popular book with Chinese children, which is strange, as there is much violence and it is over a thousand pages in length. This is also a fascinating look, therefore, at what stories were shared to children in the past compared to what is told today.

I enjoyed [b:Dream of the Red Chamber|535739|Dream of the Red Chamber|Xueqin Cao|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369604121l/535739._SY75_.jpg|523200] more, but this was still a treasure in its own unique way. I am highly excited to read the second volume. There is more to learn from Dream of the Red Chamber, and there is more story and brackground to Journey to the West.