I finally finished reading Ashok Banker’s Ramayana series.
There’s only one word to describe the books.
WOW.
What a story. What a rollicking adventure and what a
storyteller!! Fantasy, adventure, mythology all rolled into one, a story to
rival any story ever told.
Really. Full respect.
He made the Ramayana so interesting, so gripping that I was
turning pages at every possible opportunity - in the metro, in the loo,
shutting myself off from the kids, battling sleep for a few more minutes to
finish this one chapter, one page....
Yes it’s an imaginative retelling of the great epic, so no
space for the purists here. There’s a lot of creative license at play, but if
this is the end result, bring it on, I say!
I won’t say any more. Just go read it, people. For folks who
have read it, I’d like to know if you were as powerfully affected by it as I
was.
I’m definitely looking forward to reading the Mahabharata
series now. It gives me goose bumps to think what he can do with that story! I
hope it does not disappoint!
I haven't attempted the Mahabharata series yet.. was equally impressed by the Ramayana :). Imaginative as you have said, but really well-written.
ReplyDeleteWish there were Kindle versions available, that's what has stopped me from the Mahabharata until now.
Oh its not on kindle? Ive downloaded kindle on both ipad and desktop - was hoping to read it there...
DeleteI've not found most Indian authors on Kindle :(.. but will look again, maybe things have improved. And I just realized - he has a Krishna series as well :O - any feedback on that? So much to catch up on, it seems I have been out of touch with this author.
DeleteSorry for prolonging, but I stand corrected :). Kindle versions for this author are available, yay!
DeleteAm a little bit of a purist Aparna .. But I can tolerate liberties taken if the story is very well written and interesting and has worthwhile new perspectives..
ReplyDeleteYou're really encouraging me now .. And if the entire series was good and the 18 books of the Mahabhartaha is going to equal it , I can only say a huge WOW and a Yippppeee!!! For good books are pretty hard to find .. And 26 books is going to suffice for quite a while :)
You seem to have devoured the books !! How long did the full series take for you to finish?
IT took about 2 months for 6 books. The first book, I had read earlier - that took me about a week or 10 days.
ReplyDeleteYou have the ePub version? You MUST email me. Pretty please. I've been meaning to read both Ramayana and Mahabharata for so long and now your account is further impetus to read 'em.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Meera
Unfortunately, I only have the physical books meera!
Delete..and I've not read him at all. Off to Flipkart.
ReplyDeleteMy first time here... And Wow, this post makes me want to read the entire series. I read the first one recently and really liked it. Since i have only heard/read stories from Ramayana in bits and pieces, the part of your post on which portions are author's imagination was interesting. I want to read the Mahabaratha and Krishna series as well but am holding myself back as I committed to few reading challenges and want to take them as far as possible :-)
ReplyDeleteBut do read the entire Ramayana, Gayathri. That itself wil take quite a bit of time!
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