Customer Reviews

The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was an obvious labor of love, a retelling of a beautiful classic which surely captures the spirit, mystery, and profundity of the original epic. Throw away the dust jacket with its wooden depiction of the characters, and dive directly into the enchantment of the magical kingdoms of the story. Return to a time when nature's beauty and majesty were ever present, and to a realm where duty was clear and immutable.
Although it is sometimes difficult to digest all of the names of people and places, as well as to flip back and forth to the glossary for unfamiliar vocabulary, some of the most beautiful metaphorical phrases you will ever read are contained in the pages of this book and you will not want to miss any part of it!

Ramesh Menon has done it again! In his previous masterpiece, Blue God, he bought to life Lord Krishna as both human and divine incarnation in the context of that great Indian Epic, The Mahabharata. He rendered the life of Krishna as no one had done before. It is no wonder that he has excelled himself in his rendering of The Ramayana.

The Ramayana is a timeless epic, inspired and inspiring. It transcends all bounds of time, culture, language and religion.
Many are the extant English translations of that great epic. None of them, however, is as inspired and engaging as Ramesh Menon's translation. He has captured the very spirit of this ancient epic and brought it to the contemporary reader in language that blends beauty and simplicity. It is fascinating and compels the reader to continue without putting it down - and when the reading is done it impels the reader to pick it up again and again. This rendering of the Ramayana is a masterpiece - not to be missed.

It is with bated breath that we look forward next to his rendering of The Mahabharata in his own inimitable style.

I have read several retellings of the Ramayana and this one by Menon is now my favorite. It is very lyrical and the parts where Rama's divinity are revealed are so beautifully imagined it will arouse an indescribable longing in your heart.

This is a wonderfully evocative and truly literary prose rendition of the Ramayana, especially for those with little or no background in Indian literature and mythology. It's also a great introduction to Indian ethics, Indian culture, and Indian cosmology. Anyone familiar with the Star Wars saga or the Tolkien trilogy will be at home in the world of the Ramayana, and come to appreciate just how profoundly it influences contemporary science fiction and modern epic literature.

Don't be put off by the Hindi words sprinkled throughout the text: the glossary is excellent and, as you read on, you come to appreciate the author's decision to include them. This is a masterful translation by a novelist with a real gift for making an ancient classic come alive.

Unfortunately, I do not read sanskrit, so I have nothing to compare this to, but this is a truly inspired and inspirational work, and has really moved me. The author uses a lot of sanskrit words, which is slightly distracting initially, but winds up growing on you.

The Ramayana is one of the most important pieces of literature ever written, yet it is not commonly read in this country. Here's your chance to do something about it. This version retains all the depth and beauty of the original, yet it is an accessible and compelling read. The path of Rama and his wife Sita is so inspiring in this day and age because of its emphasis on moral virtue. We could all use a dose of that.

This is my first reading of any version of the Ramayana. I started reading the Arshia Sattar translation but I prefer Ramesh Menon's prose. His writing is often quite beautiful and conveyed to me more of the sense of reading an epic. I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 because Menon uses unfamiliar terms without definition. Arshia Sattar's translation includes all of the explanatory material that is missing in Menon's translation (and an interesting introduction) but I found her prose to be more dense and a bit dry. I would suggest looking at some passages on line before deciding which version would be more to your liking.

This was the first version of the Ramayana I ever read. Little did I know when I bought this book so many years ago that I would never find a better translation. Mr.Menon does such a great job with this book you will never feel you are working to read it. It just flows and ever read leave's you feeling uplifted. He brings you so well into the life of the avatar Rama that you wish you could have been part of this mistic tale that is said to have taken place some 432 thousand years or more in the past. The people in the Ramayana show so much respect and insight into life it saddens one to be living in this world of hate and repression. Such as when Rama's brother has so much respect for Rama's relationship with his wife he will not even look upon her face. A truly great great tale.

Gods, Demons and Heroes, locked in titanic battle in the mythical days of yore, and performing great feats of strength and/or self sacrifice ... what's not to love about that ?

The Ramayana is one of the great literary epics of Ancient India, retold in this version in full-length and easy-to-read English prose form. It's the story of the life and trials of Rama, a mortal incarnation (avatar) of the great Hindu God, Vishnu. However, it's more than just a simple mythological adventure story ... it's also a morality play. Rama is an archetypal example of a perfect man, dutiful son and pious husband; and likewise his wife Sita is an archetype of the perfect woman/wife. Together they are sent into exile by an act of betrayal, and by fate, and face a series of challenges that mercilessly test their quality and character ... encountering, in no particular order, wandering holymen/beggars, murderous rakshasas, diabolical demons, Gods, Devas, and creatures and spirits of the forest.

The thing that a lot of English & Western readers might otherwise overlook is that this epic is a revered part of Hindu literature, in much the same way that the adventures and trials of Jesus of Nazareth are told in the New Testament of the Bible.

The book is very enjoyable, and can be read on a number of different levels ... as both a simple mythological fantasy, as well as literary classic that indirectly underlies one of the world's major religions.

Some of the deeds and actions by the characters in the story might seem incomprehensible to some of us westerners, but that's just par for the course in grasping the deep seated psychological & religious differences between different cultures, with differing role models.

The author, thoughtfully, included a helpful appendix which defines some of the hindi words that appear in the story (ex: "moksha" loosely translates as "embodied enlightenment"), but it's by no means complete ... but it's enough for a western reader to get by without too much trouble.

In any case, it's a very enjoyable tale.

After spending years reading and hearing portions of the Ramayana, this version finally opened many spiritual doors for me. My ability to read Hindustani is very poor but Ramesh Menon's lyrical style conveys all of the drama and meaning that I can only hope the original does.