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Product Description
Book 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.
About the Author
R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), born and educated in India, was the author of fourteen novels, numerous short stories and essays, a memoir, and three retold myths. His work, championed by Graham Greene, who became a close friend, was often compared to that of Dickens, Chekhov, Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor, among others. October 10, 2006, is the centennial of Narayan's birth.
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First Sentence
The new assembly hall, Dasaratha's latest pride, was crowded all day with visiting dignitaries, royal emissaries, and citizens coming in with representations or appeals for justice. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The new assembly hall, Dasaratha's latest pride, was crowded all day with visiting dignitaries, royal emissaries, and citizens coming in with representations or appeals for justice. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dissapointing Version of a Great Epic,
By David Messmer (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 20th Century Ramayana (Paperback)
Given the extensive length and painstaking detail of the original Ramayana, I welcomed the idea of a shortened prose version. Unfortunately, Narayan's version is poorly executed. First, he never quite manages to settle into a specific way of telling the story. Sometimes he writes as though he intended this to be a text book relating the events and variations of the original story. At other times, he writes as though he is a story teller himself. This uncomfortable juxtaposition detracts from the flow of the book. Also, while I realize that this is intended as a shortened version, I think Narayan goes too far. 171 pages is not nearly sufficient to adequately convey the stories and their intricacies. Narayan skips between detailed passages and quick, choppy narratives which ends up being distracting and interupts the book's continuity. Finally, I was appalled by the frequent gramatic errors in the book. Most noticeable were the dangling prepositions scattered throughout the text, which prove very distracting. All of these problems combine to make this book an unrewarding read as well as a shoddy version of a wonderful epic.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Narayan's Ramayana,
By
This review is from: 20th Century Ramayana (Paperback)
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 that might derail his narrative. But the story itself is wonderful, a colorful, full-blooded telling of the Ramayana, sparse, fast-moving, but with all the hallmarks of Narayan's style. This book is a must for any fan of Narayan's fiction, Indian writing, or mythology. Narayan effectively conveys the epic's timelessness, with characters and situations that echo throughout literature and film, full of profound human emotions. And this is always one of Narayan's chief strengths, to create believable, complex human characters. In his treatment, even Rama and Sita emerge as sympathetic individuals, not the cardboard cut-outs all too common given their extraordinary powers. In short, this is a magical and engaging work that I know I will read again and again in the years to come. I invite you to do the same!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Gripping Story out of a Great Epic.,
By
This review is from: 20th Century Ramayana (Paperback)
The story of Ramayana is in the blood stream of everyone from India. The original epic was written in the 4th century BC in Sanskrit, by Valmiki. Poets in every Indian language have retold this story. This present book relying on the Tamil Kamban version, presents before the reader the essential story of Ramayana. R.K Narayan, with the command of the English language and love for fast story movement, narrates the kernel of the epic poem in an engaging manner, for the sake of the English reader not familiar with the original version. Naturally, some of the elaborate details had to be left out and some narratives had to be condensed. This made the enormous epic into an enjoyably gripping story, in less than 200 pages.
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