Week 1 Reading Diary: PDE Ramayana

After reading the first half of the reading assignment (I chose the Public Domain Edition Ramayana) I noticed a few things things the authors did that I liked and one thing that I disliked. I will list the things I liked first, followed by my dislike.

Likes

1) The extensive descriptive details in the version of the Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie, titled Indian Myth and Legend. Mackenzie painted a setting that was very detailed and made it easier to get involved in the story.


2) The use of links for all of the characters and other Indian geographical sites (mythical or real). When I first began reading the stories in the Ramayana, I was completely lost because there were so many Indian names and places that I could not even pronounce, but as I gradually clicked on more and more links I was able to get a better grasp on what was going on in the stories. I think it will be good to include links to any obscure names and places where appropriate.


3) I like how so many of the gods have such diverse powers and some of these powers intertwine among them. I think I could use these powers to make my own twist on things when writing my own stories.


4) My favorite story was "Bhagiratha and Ganga" taken from The Great Indian Epics by John Campbell Oman (1894). I particularly liked liked the picture showing how Ganga was finally allowed to fall through Shiva's hair, as shown below.

Shiva, With Ganga Falling Through His Hair

Image Source

Dislikes

1) I did not like the rhymes that were scattered throughout this edition of the Ramayana. I found them hard to follow, and confusing at times. This will not be a style that I use for my storybook.