The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Penguin Classics)

In general, I eschew abridgements, but in this case, I am glad I chose this condensed prose translation of THE RAMAYANA by R.K Narayan. With no background in Indian literature, I would be unable to really appreciate, or probably even understand a detailed verse translation. This version is delightful. It reminded me somewhat of THE ARABIAN NIGHTS with its supernatural beings performing miraculous feats, but whereas THE ARABIAN NIGHTS is a Muslim text, THE RAMAYANA is Hindu. So the basic sensibility behind them is different.The story is primarily a romantic adventure story, but Hindus find moral lessons in it as well. There are basically two main story lines: the love between Rama and Sita, and the usurpation of Rama’s throne by his half-brother (at the instigation of his stepmother). When Sita is abducted by a demon, Rama begins his quest to find her and rescue her. Of course, he has many obstacles in his path, but also has the help of friends Hanuman, the Monkey God and Ganesh, the Elephant God. I found all the characters interesting, especially the demons, who, despite being hideous and evil, still have some redeeming qualities. This was an extremely enjoyable reading experience. Five Stars.

The story of Rama is one of the purest beings ever described in words. R.K. Narayan's artful poetic words fulfilled one of the world's longest epics with fewer words, but kept to its powerful depiction of the purity and honor only to be held by God-Rama.

The Ramayana is a one of the most fabled classics of Indian literature, and though it is not technically a sacred scripture, it is so revered in India and by Indians it almost has the default status of being one. The original texts of the Ramayana are quite immense, and writer R.K. Narayan has condensed the epic down into a quite readable 150 page work. Those who are curious about this Hindu classic, who are first time readers, will probably find it very engaging. While there are alternate versions of this very popular epic, Narayan has selected one he considers most traditional and mainstream, and will be a very worthwhile introduction for a very important book.

This book is translation, and is full of story, and author commentary. I wish that the author would have included some more imagery.

I was not expecting this book to be one of the greatest things I have ever read. Second favorite book second only to Ender's Game. The translator did a fine job

You may think from the words I have chosen to describe the book that I don't like it nothing could be further from the truth. For all intents and purposes this book is a fairy tale and not in a demeaning or condescending way. In a book like this you want the hero to be to good to be true. You want the villain to be beyond evil and impossible to defeat except by superhuman means. The plot may be predictable but that doesn't mean that you don't want to see how the hero overcomes the obstacles in his way. That is why I called it nostalgic because it takes you to the mind set of being a small chilld hearing or reading other tales of this kind. The plot is basically this: stepmother gets elder more loved prince banished so her son can rule; prince goes slays demon and returns to rule the kingdom. You have heard,read,and seen this plot a thousand times. It doesn't mean that it is uninteresting or boring. The reason you read a story like this is to be nostalgic for your childish wonder at a story like this.

Liked how easy the story was to follow. It was required for a literature class. Hope you enjoy the book !

A great and unavoidable book necessary to understand a bit of the complexity of the cultures in central Asia. I never read the original version, so I can't say how successful was the shortening process and how much it left behind. But the result makes for a quite pleasurable reading with the essential scenes in order to understand the majority of the story.