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riverss's review against another edition
2.0
The glossary was the most interesting part, I swear.
Some over the place, rambly, angry thoughts:
-I feel like I deserve a prize for finishing this book.
-don't, I repeat, DO NOT read it to your children. Don't read it at all, in fact.
-it's misogynistic as hell. I'm used to it, but it never fails to enrage me nonetheless.
-this is an ancient piece of lit containing dozens of fables that are, for the most part, boring, repetitive and no longer relevant. or maybe I just don't like reading fables, idk. the only reason why I'm giving it 2 stars is that some of the stories were mildly interesting (read: didn't skim and didn't doze off while reading)
Some over the place, rambly, angry thoughts:
-I feel like I deserve a prize for finishing this book.
-don't, I repeat, DO NOT read it to your children. Don't read it at all, in fact.
-it's misogynistic as hell. I'm used to it, but it never fails to enrage me nonetheless.
-this is an ancient piece of lit containing dozens of fables that are, for the most part, boring, repetitive and no longer relevant. or maybe I just don't like reading fables, idk. the only reason why I'm giving it 2 stars is that some of the stories were mildly interesting (read: didn't skim and didn't doze off while reading)
niveditai's review against another edition
5.0
I read and re-read and re-read this book while growing up. Had already known quite a few of the tales from the text-books, newspaper/magazines and listening as bed-time stories. They had tremendous impact on that kid in me.. and there it began.. my love for 'short stories'.
I was reading this book again 2-3 years back (the grown-up me), and realized I wasnt as thrilled as used to be.. it can be partly attributed to these were 'known by heart' tales and partially that I had grown up.
therefore could resonate with readers who did not enjoy the book, chances are.. you too have grown up.. read the stories to the child in you, probably you will like it as much as I do :)
I was reading this book again 2-3 years back (the grown-up me), and realized I wasnt as thrilled as used to be.. it can be partly attributed to these were 'known by heart' tales and partially that I had grown up.
therefore could resonate with readers who did not enjoy the book, chances are.. you too have grown up.. read the stories to the child in you, probably you will like it as much as I do :)
brighthappyness's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really have any problems with the translation itself other than Rajan using the literal translation of the Sanskrit names to their English meanings (bothersome to go back and forth from the notes/references) but honestly the epic in its entirety is not what I was expecting from the short stories that I used to read when I was younger. I originally used this book for my Animal Studies class almost 5/6 years ago and only last year actually decided to read the whole thing and well.....safe to say I should have stuck with choosing the stories I liked and leaving the ones I didn't like behind.
terrimpin's review against another edition
5.0
Surprisingly funny, this is a very approachable translation of The Panchatantra. If you're a fan of fables and folklore, you'll enjoy this.
emdoux's review against another edition
Stories I read:
The Foolish Friend.
Dharmabuddhi and Pâpabuddhi.
The Bullock's Balls.
The Gold-Giving Snake.
The Dog That Went Abroad.
The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose.
The Fish That Were Too Clever.
The Two-Headed Weaver.
The Broken Pot.
The Enchanted Brahman's Son.
The Foolish Friend.
Dharmabuddhi and Pâpabuddhi.
The Bullock's Balls.
The Gold-Giving Snake.
The Dog That Went Abroad.
The Brahman's Wife and the Mongoose.
The Fish That Were Too Clever.
The Two-Headed Weaver.
The Broken Pot.
The Enchanted Brahman's Son.
rainbow_reader's review against another edition
2.0
Oh man. Okay so I did not like this. Here are my reasons:
1. The introduction alone is a huge turnoff as it is so unnecessarily long and convoluted.
2. The writing style and the verses it contains are just repetitive rather than poetic.
3. It is way too preachy which leads to the reader not actually retaining any of the lessons from the stories.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:
4. It is so anti-women. Like there are entire verses (upon verses) explicitly saying how women are horrible and deceitful and stupid etc. Anytime women are mentioned, they are almost always shown as cheating scum or some other negative portrayal.
Overall, it does contain some nice stories which are the backbone of many Indian childrens' childhoods. I would recommend you not to read the full book but rather read some other collection of stories from the Pancatantra because they only contain the nice stories. One that I particularly like is the Amar Chitra Kata ones.
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