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msjenne's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful, beautiful art! A terrible story, but that's ancient mythology for you.
noveladdiction's review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting story, but a little tough to follow considering how many characters there are, and how similar some of the names are.
Loved the illustrations though.
Loved the illustrations though.
pennyriley's review against another edition
4.0
A beautifully and boldly illustrated retelling of the Ramayana epic. Told from Sita's point of view as the faithful wife ultimately rejected by her husband it adds a different dimension to this story. It does not follow the usual retelling exactly, I think to make it appeal more to children, the intended audience. It's a graphic narrative and the one thing I found distracting was the mix of uppercase and regular case print which as far as I could tell served no purpose.
smitty2567's review against another edition
4.0
Hero
Motif: Clever Animals/Talking Animals
Target Audience: Grade 7 or older
Summary:
Main Characters: Sita (Rama's wife); Rama (exiled prince of Ayodhya in India); Ravana (king of Lanka, an island off the coast of Ayodhya); Lakshmana (Rama's brother); Trijatha (Ravana's niece); Hanuman (Intelligence monkey ally of Rama)
Setting: Ancient India
Narrative: This graphic novel tells the Indian legend of Ramayana from Sita's perspective, instead of the hero Rama. When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana and imprisoned in his palace, her husband Rama and his brother fight to win her back. While legends remember heroes and triumphs, this retelling explores the true price of war on those left behind when the heroes go home.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
The graphic style of the illustrations are visually striking and interesting. Even though the plot feels complicated with many twists and turns, the text clearly introduces all the new characters and their motivations, even to someone not familiar with the original legend.
Some of the artwork is hard to interpret without the accompanying text.
Personal critique:
This would be a good recommendation for students who like mythology or fantasy stories or students interested in learning about other cultures or religions.
Illustrations:
Color Illustrations
Notable awards:
None
Lesson Planning:
This book is a good sample text to talk about how changing perspective can change a story. Also, this would be a good book for learning about legends and myths or as a supplemental text when learning about ancient India or world religions.
Motif: Clever Animals/Talking Animals
Target Audience: Grade 7 or older
Summary:
Main Characters: Sita (Rama's wife); Rama (exiled prince of Ayodhya in India); Ravana (king of Lanka, an island off the coast of Ayodhya); Lakshmana (Rama's brother); Trijatha (Ravana's niece); Hanuman (Intelligence monkey ally of Rama)
Setting: Ancient India
Narrative: This graphic novel tells the Indian legend of Ramayana from Sita's perspective, instead of the hero Rama. When Sita is kidnapped by Ravana and imprisoned in his palace, her husband Rama and his brother fight to win her back. While legends remember heroes and triumphs, this retelling explores the true price of war on those left behind when the heroes go home.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
The graphic style of the illustrations are visually striking and interesting. Even though the plot feels complicated with many twists and turns, the text clearly introduces all the new characters and their motivations, even to someone not familiar with the original legend.
Some of the artwork is hard to interpret without the accompanying text.
Personal critique:
This would be a good recommendation for students who like mythology or fantasy stories or students interested in learning about other cultures or religions.
Illustrations:
Color Illustrations
Notable awards:
None
Lesson Planning:
This book is a good sample text to talk about how changing perspective can change a story. Also, this would be a good book for learning about legends and myths or as a supplemental text when learning about ancient India or world religions.
kienie's review against another edition
3.0
Sita, you have more patience with that douche than I had.
sujata's review against another edition
5.0
In the time leading up to Dusshera (when Lord Ram defeated Ravana) and Diwali (When Rama, Sita and Lakshman returned home), I finally read this book. As a young Hindu girl learning the Ramayana from my family, I was swept up in the adventure and thrill and triumph of good over evil, and have had a soft spot and connection to Hanuman ever since. But even back then, before I knew the word feminism, or patriarchy, I was angry and upset when we got to the end of the saga, and Sita was thrown out for being impure. And then again after being proven by the fire God to be pure, taken home, abandoned again, exiled by her husband and brother in law because of rumors of her pregnancy,and who the father was. It was appalling and something that stuck with me. This version is something that can be true to thousands of years of storytelling and faith but recognize that this was not fair, that war and death was levied all for men's desires and honor, at the cost of a woman who was blamed and for nothing. Great for adults and children,both those of the Hindu faith,who believe, but also who want better.
beathebluebird's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
readmeanything_'s review against another edition
4.0
I talk about it a bit more here: http://readmeanything.tumblr.com/post/106046868540/i-read-this-whilst-listening-to-debashish
kesterbird's review against another edition
5.0
This is worth picking up, whether one is familiar with the Ramayana or not. The paintings, adapted from the artist's Patua scroll, are beautiful. The flipped perspective of the retelling makes the story more human, and terribly modern, without changing it at all.
brucefarrar's review against another edition
4.0
Moyna Chitrakar painted this version of the Ramayana drawing on Vālmīki’s poem and some regional variations including the Benagali Chandrabati Rāmāyaṇa. It’s an adaptation of her Patua scroll original. “…Patua is a folk-art form that combines performance, storytelling and art. The story is recited or sung as the narrator hold up a painted scroll, pointing to the image that goes with the words.” Chitrakar’s bold brush strokes, curved shapes and vivid primary colors lend themselves well to the transition from folk art to graphic novel format. For this adaptation Arni has written a text told by Rama’s queen Sita giving the epic from a feminine perspective.