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Monday, August 18, 2014

Book Review: Ramayana-The Game of Life: Rise of Sun Prince by Shubha Vilas

About the Author:  a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with specialization in Patent Law. Read more about him at - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7705105.Shubha_Vilas

The Blurb:
Ramayana: The Game of Life (Book 1), one of the world's great literary masterpieces, skillfully retold for modern audiences. Epics like the Ramayana have been recounted infinite times. Is there a need for another chronicle in the presence of so many? How is this one different? And is it relevant to our ever-changing modern lives?...
The narrative closely follows Valmikis Ramayana, gently weaving in folk tales as well as the beautiful analogies of the Kamba Ramayana. The first of this six-volume series, Rise of the Sun Prince, takes you through the divine story of Lord Rama from His birth up to His marriage. Through these pages are revealed the tales of Dasarathas leadership, Vishwamitras quest for power and the intriguing story of a little-known stone maiden. Ramayana: The Game of Life has all of this and much more - food for contemporary thought drawn from an enduring masterpiece.

Review★★★½
Thanks to blogadda for letting me read this epic. I would never have pick a mythological book and purchased it.

Book Cover: The cover is traditional, yet says a lot about the contents. Sun Prices are crafted very beautifully and I am sure it would be able to attract any reader interested in methodology.  I actually liked the demons at the top after i knew why they were there.

What I felt about the book:
Ramayana is kind of story one never gets bored of. It can be relished time and again. One can find as many books on this as one want in the market. I was very sure that since I have read and seen so many versions of Ramayana, i would already know all the little details about this beautiful story. But, Shubha Vilas proved me wrong.
There were so many small and intricate details about almost each twist of story i was so unaware of. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the saga. Some incidents have been marvellously described.  To name a few are:
1. The reason Dsahrata forbid sonic archery in his kingdom – I was not aware of this aspect at all. The reason specified completely justified it.
2. The joy of becoming a father - i wonder if my husband felt the same on birth of our son
3. The dash one feel on separation from our children
5. The law of sharing.  The law of dependence.. The law of balance.

The author has a different style of writing. While most authors describe the side stories or assumptions or their share of beliefs within the lines of story itself, Mr. Vilas did it differently. The numbered bundles of knowledge, references etc. made me remember the famous Mahabharata serial which started with "Main Samay Hun.". Jokes apart, it actually made my task of collecting great lines from books a lot easier. The detailed version of each scene also depicts vast knowledge of author on the subject.

Most of Ramayana stories are centred on Lord Rama and neglects other characters detailing.  This book illustrated all characters in much required details. The best of them were the leadership qualities of Dashratha and his Big M’s.

I was worried that I would end up noting down a quote or my favourite line from each page.  Frankly speaking, I had to hold my-self back from writing many of them fearing that the post might reveal too much about the book. Click here to read some of my favourite lines from “Ramayana-The Game of Life: Rise of Sun Prince”.

I would definitely refer the book to anyone looking for some change in reading and obviously it’s an icing on cake read for mythological lovers.

If I have to rate it, I would rate it 3.5 out of 5. 


This review is part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers by Blogadda.
Participate now to get free books.

Which is your favourite character in Ramayana? How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.