Philosophical Fiction Book Club

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B. this meeting will be held in person in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden. There is also an online session held on Thursday if you are not in London or are not able to attend in-person.

Important - The unabridged translations of this book are over 2,000 pages, so we're not recommending you read the unabridged version - although, if you want to, please go ahead! There are two very popular abridged translations - Julia Lovell's Monkey King and Arthur Waley's Monkey - so we'd recommend either of those.

This month, we continue with our fantastical quests and discuss one of the most beloved classics of Chinese literature. We'll explore redemption, virtue, vice and the search for enlightenment in the company of four legendary characters - a monk, a pig, a monster and, of course, Monkey himself.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from goodreads.com:

A shape-shifting trickster on a kung-fu quest for eternal life, Monkey King is one of the most memorable superheroes in world literature. High-spirited and omni-talented, he can transform himself into whatever he chooses and turn each of his body's 84,000 hairs into an army of clones. But his penchant for mischief repeatedly gets him into trouble, and when he raids Heaven's Orchard of Immortal Peaches, the Buddha pins him beneath a mountain. Five hundred years later, Monkey King is finally given a chance to redeem he must protect the pious monk Tripitaka on his journey in search of precious Buddhist sutras that will bring enlightenment to the Chinese empire.

Joined by two other fallen immortals - Pigsy, a rice-loving flying pig, and Sandy, a depressive river-sand monster - Monkey King does battle with Red Boy, Princess Jade-Face, the Monstress Dowager, and all manner of dragons, ogres, wizards and femmes fatales; navigates the perils of Fire-Cloud Cave, the River of Flowing Sand and the Water-Crystal Palace; and is serially captured, lacquered, sautéed, steamed and liquefied - but always hatches an ingenious plan to get himself and his fellow pilgrims out of their latest jam.

Our confirmed 2026 books are:

• January - The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
• February - The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
• March - The Bell, Iris Murdoch
• April - Haroun and Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
• May - Journey to the West/Monkey - Weng Cheng-En
• June - The Odyssey, Homer

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B.: this meeting will be held online via Google Meet. There is also an in-person session being held on Wednesday in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden.

Important - The unabridged translations of this book are over 2,000 pages, so we're not recommending you read the unabridged version - although, if you want to, please go ahead! There are two very popular abridged translations - Julia Lovell's Monkey King and Arthur Waley's Monkey - so we'd recommend either of those.

This month, we continue with our fantastical quests and discuss one of the most beloved classics of Chinese literature. We'll explore redemption, virtue, vice and the search for enlightenment in the company of four legendary characters - a monk, a pig, a monster and, of course, Monkey himself.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from goodreads.com:

A shape-shifting trickster on a kung-fu quest for eternal life, Monkey King is one of the most memorable superheroes in world literature. High-spirited and omni-talented, he can transform himself into whatever he chooses and turn each of his body's 84,000 hairs into an army of clones. But his penchant for mischief repeatedly gets him into trouble, and when he raids Heaven's Orchard of Immortal Peaches, the Buddha pins him beneath a mountain. Five hundred years later, Monkey King is finally given a chance to redeem he must protect the pious monk Tripitaka on his journey in search of precious Buddhist sutras that will bring enlightenment to the Chinese empire.

Joined by two other fallen immortals - Pigsy, a rice-loving flying pig, and Sandy, a depressive river-sand monster - Monkey King does battle with Red Boy, Princess Jade-Face, the Monstress Dowager, and all manner of dragons, ogres, wizards and femmes fatales; navigates the perils of Fire-Cloud Cave, the River of Flowing Sand and the Water-Crystal Palace; and is serially captured, lacquered, sautéed, steamed and liquefied - but always hatches an ingenious plan to get himself and his fellow pilgrims out of their latest jam.

Our confirmed 2026 books are:

• January - The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
• February - The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
• March - The Bell, Iris Murdoch
• April - Haroun and Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
• May - Journey to the West/Monkey - Weng Cheng-En
• June - The Odyssey, Homer