Customer Reviews

Ramayana: Divine Loophole

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Length:: 0:26 Mins

Sanjay Patel's take on the classic Sanskrit epic is refreshing and engaging. Adapted and written in a lighter prose, the book is inviting to any readers who want learn more about the tale. The story is fascinating and gets increasingly so towards the end, with lots of nice surprises. For someone like me who knows nothing about any Hindu stories, I felt like I know a lot more after reading this book.

The story is well paced and laden with beautiful illustrations. Each page is filled with scenes of glorious colours -- nothing less for this colourful tale. The characters are also nicely designed. The vector style drawings (known for straight lines and smooth curves) are unique, especially when used to tell mythical tales, and work very well in this case.

Sanjay Patel also talked a bit about the making of this book. It took four years in the making, or 7 days per page. Vector drawings are very time consuming because it involves plotting and joining points using a graphic software to form (countless) lines. Basically you have to draw the draft and redraw everything again in vector with the scanned draft. Hats off to him for this tremendous piece of effort.

Also included at the back are some sketches of the preliminary ideas. Pretty fun to look at. The cartoon style interpretation of some scenes will give you an idea what the book could have turned out to be if not done in vector style.

This is a fun and nice read. I don't know if this book is intended for kids but it's certainly a book anyone can like.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

Wow! If you've ever read the Ramayana, you know it's one meaty tale - epic is the least of terms. The challenge of retelling the story alone is phenomenal, much less reinventing 2,000 years of artistic interpretation, and Mr. Patel does both exquisitely. I'd almost say he makes it look easy, but we are lucky enough to have him share his process and appreciate just how much work, grace and dedication went into the creation of this beautiful book. If you haven't read the Ramayana, it may have been because reading it alone can be an intimidating undertaking, yet Mr. Patel makes the story accessible, visually stunning and exceptionally relatable. I have read several versions, ranging from 200 to 2000 pages (the 2000 one was better, and every one is different) but found new things to appreciate in this version, which says a lot. Part of it again relates to Mr. Patel's personality coming through in his interpretation. You feel like you're hearing the story from an engaging friend who clearly has deep love for the epic and the grace therein. But then! The imagery! It's jam-packed with meaning, but you'd have to know the whole story to appreciate the fullness of Mr. Patel's efforts in that regard. You don't have to know the story to fall in love with them. They are fresh, simple, rich, and beautifully fun. You can take in the panels in a breath or an hour, they are that expressive and that captivating. Like in his "Little Book of Hindu Deities" Mr. Patel's work has a light heart but clearly honors the deep import of the subject matter - a wonderful combination of reverent and refreshing. I wish I could imbue this review with the same simplicity, the same ease, the same humility, and a better sense of just how stunning this book is. Nope, you've got to pick up a copy, hold it in your hands, enjoy it for yourself. It is said that simply reading that Ramayana showers blessings upon you. I certainly feel blessed adding this book to my collection. Well done, Mr. Patel!

I grew up loving the Epic story of Ramayana from my Amar Chitra Katha comic collection. Now it's the 20th century, I have kids of my own, and I figured it's time to step up the game a little bit. Patel has no doubt created visually stunning rendition of the great mythology and for that I can only give the highest praise. His dealing with the prose however leaves a bit to be desired. Don't get me wrong...the story is as true to any version I have read (or heard) but he can be rather inconsistent in certain parts where he takes literary license to add personal commentary. I have also noticed a number of typographical errors (which are just a pet peeve of mine).

My kids like it and so do I. Strongly recommended.

The price of the book, actually very reasonable, is easily paid for by the brilliant artwork on each page. The illustrations truly bring this wonderful epic to life in a way that is unique and extraordinarily enjoyable - it's pure eye candy. The rendering of the story is a bit too playful for my tastes, but this is really a minor critique and any trouble with the narrative is more than made up for by the artwork which tells the whole story beautifully on its own. The story is also quite freely told, but again, this is not really the point of the book; it's meant to be playful and, overall, that works just fine. So, in conclusion, you should definitely buy this book!

The key attraction for our family in this book are the illustrations. Sanjay Patel has used vector point illustrations to translate his sketches in to digital format using adobe illustrator. Four years of hard work, each page taking approximately seven days to finish and the result is this vibrant 185 page eye candy. I literally drooled. I have never see Ramyana illustrated like this before. Considering that this book came at the time, I was struggling to translate some of my sketches in to digital format using illustrator and photoshop and was throughly frustrated with the result, my respect for the book doubled. And of course, Sanjay Patel saying that Rama kneeled before Sita's feet asking her forgiveness for having suspected her faithfulness and the authors note that `Times have changed, as have customs, but love has always been complicated' agreed well with me :)

The tone of the book is very casual and the target audience is definitely the `non-hindu but is curious about the monkey god and such' category. So if you are seeking deep spiritual advice and an insight in to hinduism then you are barking up the wrong tree.

Both my daughters love looking at the pictures in this book. They can sit for a good hour, just turning the glossy pages, absorbing the pictures.

My only gripe is about the illustration of Ravana. In order to make him symmetrical Sanjay Patel took poetic license and shows only nine heads.

I bought this book after reading SP's Hindu Deities, which I thoroughly enjoyed. My 5 yr old daughter is really into Hindu goddesses and is familiar with the Ramayana. She was very excited to read this book and loves the illustrations. The illustrations are truly drool-worthy and are a testament to SP's dedication and talent. The story is laid out beautifully and I loved the bonus materials towards the end of the book. A great coffee table book when my daughter is not devouring it. I was disappointed to see that the text was rife with typos. I wish more care had been put into the text - some of us actually read it! Not all of the material was appropriate for young children and so I did a little editing as I read it out loud to my daughter. The author's light and witty writing style was fine by me since it meant we could quickly get to the next page. This might be a turnoff for some who are looking for a more serious version of the story. This book is ideal for those who want to revel in a creative 21st century retelling of this ancient epic. Overall, a great job by Sanjay Patel. Bravo!! (PS - I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars)

There is not a better Ramayana out there, period! I am a 33 year old adult and was captivated by Sanjay's book. This is one that adults and kids can definitely enjoy together. Desi Represent!

I just purchased Sanjay Patel's re-telling of the Ramayana, a tale I vaguely knew about from movies, but did not know intimately. The illustrations are simply breathtaking... the gorgeous colors and strong lines convey the mood and place of the story exceptionally well. I also loved Sanjay's personal voice as a storyteller... it may not be a traditional telling of the myth, but I felt like Sanjay was a native storyteller, sitting down in front of the fire with a rapt audience absorbing every word. It was simple, but heartfelt. I came away better appreciating the hindi culture and religion, but also satisfied with a well-told tale. It was quite a feat for Sanjay to accomplish both, and I applaud his efforts. And we are the lucky recipients of his hard work.

Pick up a copy of this book, flip through its pages, and it won't take long for you to decide that you need a copy. I think it took me about 10 seconds. The artwork is visually arresting, timeless and modern, absolutely stunning. I could look at it for hours.

Explanation of the story should be equally important, but unfortunately, the editors allowed it to take a back seat. On many pages, the story is printed in reverse text, in small type, with a similar enough color to the background to make it very difficult to read. This major flaw is the only reason I can't give the book 5 stars.

The illustrations are so amazing you could probably make up your own story relatively close to the actual story without reading it. The story was good as well. I had to read this for one of my college classes but I can see it appropriate for even a 5th grader.