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Ramayana book 2 report:
Nearly 50,000 verses, as I said, or 24,000? The English terminology for Sanskrit prosody seems to be hopelessly confused. Do we call a single shloka verse a line, a couplet, or a quatrain? Is that medial pause a caesura or a line break? I am a-muddle here. Regardless, the epic is 24-or-so thousand of them, about a quarter the length of the Mahabharata, but longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined. This translation is about 53,000 lines of mostly tetrameter couplets (Griffith varies things, apparently to expand or contract a translated phrase as needed).
On the eve of being invested as heir regent in preparation for a smooth transfer of power from his father, as the result of some harem machination Rama is exiled for twice seven years (or alternately, nine years and five) in the wilderness. Cue not episodic adventures, as in the Mahabharata, but extended lamentations -- followed by even more machinations trying to get him de-exiled. These fail largely on the point of Rama's honor as a warrior, but his sandals succumb to the lure of power.
As a description, that short-changes how well the events of exiling Rama are handled, in the stage management, characterization, and steps of the emotional drama -- surprisingly well-handled, as those are not typical strengths in an epic. Other events are a little less well managed, but until he's fully exiled, the storytelling is superb. There's additional storytelling interest in that the exile hinges on some backstory* not previously mentioned: on the one hand, to analyze in fantasy genre terms, this adds depth to the world, giving the feel that there's more there than revealed in the story; on the other, though, it comes out of nowhere.
In any case, the end result is a seventeen-year-old Rama and Sita suddenly living on their own (to order of a brother and a community of hermits) in the jungle, and another brother on the throne, ruling as regent in the name of those sandals.
I've heard that the first two books, which are somewhat prefatory to the main action, are considered later additions, and I believe it. For one thing, these two feel like they're by different hands -- the pacing and scene management are very different, and book 2 has more lush descriptions, including actual metaphors. (Speaking of which, Griffith is perfectly capable of even lusher poetry in his translation of Kalidasa's Birth of the War-God. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the material not the worker.) For another thing, book 2 ends in a very odd place, as if it was a prequel being jointed on an existing text that begins in media res.
Ninjas needed so far: in his prime, Rama's father was apparently quite the badass, so it doesn't seem right to turn him into one in his old age, tempting as it may be to do so. I do kinda wonder what would happen if Rama's mother were a kunoichi -- or rather mothers, as story balance requires his father's three main wives hold nearly equal status. But I'll hold that thought for now.
Takeaway lessons so far: Women who are beautiful, dutiful, and virtuous are the best type of all womankind, while those who act for personal gain are weak and traitorous like all womankind. So far I've not yet caught both parts of this contradiction in the same passage, but I suspect this will come.
BTW, there totally has to be fic out there about the relationship of Lakshmana and Shatrughna, twins divided by their loyalties to Rama and Bharata. Any recommendations?
* ETA: which I forgot to mention involved one of Rama's mothers as a warrior princess.
---L.
Nearly 50,000 verses, as I said, or 24,000? The English terminology for Sanskrit prosody seems to be hopelessly confused. Do we call a single shloka verse a line, a couplet, or a quatrain? Is that medial pause a caesura or a line break? I am a-muddle here. Regardless, the epic is 24-or-so thousand of them, about a quarter the length of the Mahabharata, but longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined. This translation is about 53,000 lines of mostly tetrameter couplets (Griffith varies things, apparently to expand or contract a translated phrase as needed).
On the eve of being invested as heir regent in preparation for a smooth transfer of power from his father, as the result of some harem machination Rama is exiled for twice seven years (or alternately, nine years and five) in the wilderness. Cue not episodic adventures, as in the Mahabharata, but extended lamentations -- followed by even more machinations trying to get him de-exiled. These fail largely on the point of Rama's honor as a warrior, but his sandals succumb to the lure of power.
As a description, that short-changes how well the events of exiling Rama are handled, in the stage management, characterization, and steps of the emotional drama -- surprisingly well-handled, as those are not typical strengths in an epic. Other events are a little less well managed, but until he's fully exiled, the storytelling is superb. There's additional storytelling interest in that the exile hinges on some backstory* not previously mentioned: on the one hand, to analyze in fantasy genre terms, this adds depth to the world, giving the feel that there's more there than revealed in the story; on the other, though, it comes out of nowhere.
In any case, the end result is a seventeen-year-old Rama and Sita suddenly living on their own (to order of a brother and a community of hermits) in the jungle, and another brother on the throne, ruling as regent in the name of those sandals.
I've heard that the first two books, which are somewhat prefatory to the main action, are considered later additions, and I believe it. For one thing, these two feel like they're by different hands -- the pacing and scene management are very different, and book 2 has more lush descriptions, including actual metaphors. (Speaking of which, Griffith is perfectly capable of even lusher poetry in his translation of Kalidasa's Birth of the War-God. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the material not the worker.) For another thing, book 2 ends in a very odd place, as if it was a prequel being jointed on an existing text that begins in media res.
Ninjas needed so far: in his prime, Rama's father was apparently quite the badass, so it doesn't seem right to turn him into one in his old age, tempting as it may be to do so. I do kinda wonder what would happen if Rama's mother were a kunoichi -- or rather mothers, as story balance requires his father's three main wives hold nearly equal status. But I'll hold that thought for now.
Takeaway lessons so far: Women who are beautiful, dutiful, and virtuous are the best type of all womankind, while those who act for personal gain are weak and traitorous like all womankind. So far I've not yet caught both parts of this contradiction in the same passage, but I suspect this will come.
BTW, there totally has to be fic out there about the relationship of Lakshmana and Shatrughna, twins divided by their loyalties to Rama and Bharata. Any recommendations?
* ETA: which I forgot to mention involved one of Rama's mothers as a warrior princess.
---L.