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The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Penguin Classics)
by: R. K. Narayan

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 297.5922
EAN: 9780143039679
ISBN: 0143039679
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: August 29, 2006
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Sales Rank: 12732
Studio: Penguin Classics

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
A sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- An Accessible Version for the Beginner
I should say immediately that I have no background of any kind in Indian culture, myth or religion. So in reading this small volume I was a complete outsider and a complete beginner in the Ramayana epic. For me, this retelling (in prose) was an excellent first step into unknown territory. I was able to follow the thread of the story and at the same time get a good sense of the epic grandeur behind the myth. I learned about the inviolability and power of a promise, no matter how whimsical or ill-conceived it appears when given; the sacredness of all life, even that which appears lowly; the presence of gods among us in a great variety of forms; and at least one idealized view of the relationship between a man and a woman.

Oh, and it was a whopping good story, much deeper and more packed with meaning than the Greek and Roman myths I was raised on as a child. As I think back, I can recall the Greco/Roman ... Read More

Rating:

- A fun read to include in your Indian cultural study
I'm an anglo-American who works at a U.S. company that includes thousands of Indian. Like everyone, I've found the more I know about a person's culture the better we work together. I think this stems both from better understanding values and thought tendencies, as well as good will from making the effort. While I've studied a lot about Japanese and European history and folklore, my knowledge of what an Indian child learns does not extend much past having watched the movie "Ghandi".

My 12-year-old son has been interested in Indian mythology and chose this book. I found it lying on the table one day, scanned the intro and got hooked. The fact that Ramayana is so pervasively known across the diverse states of India made it seem like an essential book for me.

As I enjoyed the adventures, romance and morality stories I kept wondering about what the original poem is like. Others reviewing ... Read More

Rating:

- Interesting and fairly easy to understand
This book was required reading for one of my college classes. It proved to be interesting and not terribly difficult to read.

Rating:

- Narayan's Ramayana
As a fan of Narayan's work, I was fascinated to see how he would tackle the grand subject of the Ramayana, a work that runs through and certainly influences all of Narayan's stories. The result is one of his most delightful and beautifully written novels. I think it is important to approach this book not as "THE" Ramayana, but one storyteller's unique vision of the timeless epic--even as a variation on one of his Malgudi novels (the characters certainly bare a distinct resemblance). Narayan's writing is extremely sensitive, refined, yet full of humor and charm. Throughout he adopts the tone of a storyteller, openly acknowledging that he is only "retelling" a story by a much greater storyteller, and leaving out the juciest parts at that. His little asides where he explains, "And here the poet described the scene so touchingly..." are at once reverent and amusing, as Narayan wisely omits anything too excessive or poetic ... Read More

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