tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930474554560608100.post626367448018232515..comments2022-03-24T08:17:52.047-07:00Comments on Pandu Nayak's ruminations: Prince of AyodhyaPandu Nayakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13339144742641325684noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930474554560608100.post-64732764524409783682009-03-23T00:33:00.000-07:002009-03-23T00:33:00.000-07:00Hey Pandu,Lovely to catch up with you through your...Hey Pandu,<BR/>Lovely to catch up with you through your blog!<BR/>(Found it while Googling "Indian Poker" but thats another story!)<BR/>The Ashok Banker series is I think an inflexion point for Indian mythology / religious texts as the modern reader (anyone below 25yrs) has NO access to them - there's no ACK today, no grand ma/grand dads to tell them the story, and the parents are far too willing to let the kids watch TV rather than tell them any stories!<BR/>Ashok Banker has converted a "dying in the dust" mythological work and made it so contemporary that even my US born nieces are suddenly into the Ramayana!<BR/>Keep in touch...my email is rajhalve@gmail.com,<BR/>CheersRajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07547682523984334329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930474554560608100.post-47284904629238618592009-01-26T20:55:00.000-08:002009-01-26T20:55:00.000-08:00Very interesting. As it turns out, I do have the ...Very interesting. As it turns out, I do have the Indian edition of "Prince of Ayodhya" (which includes his preface), but I've been ordering the subsequent books from Amazon. Hopefully the "...small but significant changes, particularly in some book endings..." aren't significant enough to make the US versions less enjoyable. Getting the Indian versions wouldn't work for me since it would require waiting too long...!Pandu Nayakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13339144742641325684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7930474554560608100.post-49289098325190835872009-01-26T20:19:00.000-08:002009-01-26T20:19:00.000-08:00After seeing this post from Pandu, I was browsing ...After seeing this post from Pandu, I was browsing Amazon.com and came across this interesting/remarkable comment from the author:<BR/><BR/>(...extracted from: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1841493295/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?_encoding=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending<BR/>)<BR/><BR/>5.0 out of 5 stars PLEASE READ THE INDIAN EDITIONS INSTEAD, July 9, 2007<BR/>By Ashok Banker "www.ashokbanker.com" (Mumbai, India) - See all my reviews<BR/>If you are reading my Ramayana series, then I gently urge and request you to please not buy the UK or US editions, even if they're available at bargain prices. Which they probably are, since the publishers there have more or less put the books out of print, due to a lack of interest by non-Indian readers.<BR/><BR/>The Indian editions are the definitive editions of my work, containing a lengthy Introduction by me titled 'Retelling the Ramayana', which provides an essential perspective on the work, the final versions of all the books--including some small but significant changes, particularly in some book endings--no glossary, thank God, and are generally the best-edited, designed and published versions, in my opinion at least. In short, they're the Author's Preferred Edition, particularly the new hardcover omnibus editions, which represent the story in the way I had originally intended and are truly sumptuous to hold (and behold). Also, significantly, they aren't packaged as 'Fantasy' or 'SF' like the firang ones, which is a ridiculously transparent attempt at cashing in on the commercial success of the fantasy genre a la LoTR and Harry Potter. Please, people, my Ramayana series is a retelling of an epic, and that's exactly what it should be called, 'Epic'. I'd venture to call it 'Itihasa', but even Mythology, which is the label Penguin uses for the books here in India, is acceptable. But certainly not Fantasy as in one of the ubiquitous Tolkien rip-offs that are churned out in droves by western publishers, or even SF, both genres that can sometimes be wonderful in their own right, but are totally inappropriate in the context of an epic that pre-dates Tolkien by some thousands of years, and the entire tradition of western literature as well!<BR/><BR/>Frankly, I feel so strongly about this that I'd even go so far as to say, if you can't get the Indian editions, then don't read the books! That's why I'm currently in the process of re-acquiring the rights to the US and UK editions and they will soon be out of print everywhere but India. Which is how it ought to be: this is a quintessentially Indian story, written by a contemporary Indian for other contemporary Indians to read. And the Indian editions are really the only way to go.<BR/><BR/>Ashok K. Banker<BR/>www.ashokbanker.com<BR/><BR/>(....end extract....)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07553281149865499302noreply@blogger.com