jgintrovertedreader 's review for:

The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan

4.0

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I don't even know how I first came across this title but I added it to a list of possible books to read for a classics challenge I'm participating in. I had to read Beowulf and The Epic of Gilgamesh in high school so I wanted to read some epics from other cultures. Somehow I found The Ramayana. Then I realized that this version is a "shortened modern prose version." I'm not a big fan of abridgements so I looked into that a little more. The original is, as I understand it, thousands of pages long. I'll never read that much epic poetry. At least this version is adapted by an Indian author who grew up listening to his family tell these stories.

I'm glad I read it. I was familiar, at least by name, with some of the gods mentioned--Vishnu, Shiva, Hanuman, Brahma--but completely unfamiliar with Rama's adventures. He defeats monsters and demons, saves those who need saving, and just sort of generally sets the world to rights.

This version feels like a "good parts" version, to appropriate a phrase from The Princess Bride, and I decided that I'm okay with that. I felt that I got the action and pertinent bits of the story while eliminating too much unnecessary description. The author sets the scene beautifully then moves on with the plot.

I enjoyed familiarizing myself, at least a bit, with Rama and Sita, Lakshmana, Ravana, and Dasaratha.