Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana

A less than spectacular read if your intention is to know the Ramayana beyond comic books. Contains a myriad of lesser-known stories from villages and smaller communities across India, which was interesting to know but by no means authentic of the original text or reflective of a historical society. His attempt at amalgamating them into a canonical narrative is an artistic mistake at best and conscious misdirection at worst, cementing his reputation as unreliable, inconsistent and ill-informed. The prose did not do justice to the intention of the book. It failed to recapture the depth of emotions - of anguish and loneliness Sita endured all those months in captivity. The dialogues between the figures came across as petulant, impulsive and pruned to a slang-adapted audience - as far as one can be from anything respectable. ‘Do animals get bored?' asked Lakshman. ‘Do trees get bored?' wondered Ram. (Book 4: Abduction)I have no comments on the above.If getting acquainted with the Ramayana is the goal, the English rendition of [a:Kamala Subramaniam 370181 Kamala Subramaniam https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Ramesh Menon 52419 Ramesh Menon https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], [a:Bibek Debroy 396256 Bibek Debroy https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1493649929p2/396256.jpg] are highly acclaimed for their approachability and academic integrity.To conclude, its a book to flip through at the airport or waiting in the doctor's lounge, but less informative than comic books and as entertaining as a root canal.