And now for the final installment of Buck's Ramayana!! Alas, we shall read your beautiful prose no longer!
This time we get a much more detailed tour of various lands and kingdoms as Rama and Sita head back to Ayodhya. It's pretty and all, but gets a little long and tiresome--perhaps even more so because it lies after so much action and acts like an ekphrasis, keeping us from the happy conclusion we want so badly at this point. . . Or at least that's what I'd say if I was to get all technical and stuff, haha.
Oh, weird and outrageous Guha, how I missed you!
I love how everyone in Ayodhya dresses like Rama and Sita did in their exile; it's as if they are in exile simply because Rama is present. I can't decide if this is touching, or codependent and worrisome. Either way, it's definitely interesting.
Celebrations abound, for the rightful king of Ayodhya is restored! Yada, yada, yada. . .
Also, on a side note, it is interesting that even though Kaikeyi's act to install Bharata on the throne was purely selfish, she ends up being credited with helping to save the world from Ravana's tyranny. I'm pretty sure that goes against any morals this story is trying to instill, but whatever.
Awake for fourteen years. Let me repeat, fourteen years!! Damn. That is some loyalty, Lakshmana. Perhaps now you can sleep for at least seven.
Woo coronations and more celebrations and feasting! Etc, etc. . .
I really love the single line of poetry at the beginning of the last book; "at the end hear the first words. . ." This really emphasizes the fact that this is a frame tale, and that the entire time we were heading towards not an end, but a continuation of a beginning. At least that's what I think, so it must be true, haha.
People leave. Rama rules. People doubt Sita's purity. Apparently surviving the test of Fire isn't enough to prove your virtue. And so, Rama abandons Sita to the forest, not even having the balls to do so himself. But if Rama says something shall be done, than it must be done, and it must be the right thing to do. Bahh!! Like, what the heck?! After everything you went through to be together, you just abandon her because of some gossipy city-people? For shame!!
Even Lakshmana thinks Rama's acting like a coward. Gah, I am just so frustrated right now!
And then we get the backstory of how Kaikeyi won her two boons from Dasaratha. Random, but I guess the story just needed to be told. Plus it gives Valmiki a chance to excavate himself from the anthill before Sita is left to commit suicide. . .
Kaikeyi a brave warrior woman? An amazing charioteer? A strong individual? I'm in shock!! o_O Haha.
So Sita is abandoned because of a curse; *sigh*. I guess it's slightly more acceptable if the act is Dharma's doing. Still sucks for the end to a love story, though.
We return to the festival occurring and Rama and Sita's twin boys singing Valmiki's Ramayana. And then we return shortly after to the "present," where Saunaka is being told the tale of the composition and recitation of the story of Rama and Sita in the same forest where that long-ago festival occurred by Sauti. How's that for a confusing, over-simplified summary of a multi-layered frame tale. . .
And then for some reason we return back to the festival. Just when I thought we were nearly done.
Now Buck is just jumping around for fun. He probably wrote this last section this way solely to annoy me, knowing I was going to read this one day. He irks me; he's irksome. <-- (I apologize if no one gets the reference. I obviously remember random lines from too many TV shows.)
And finally, finally, Rama recognizes his sons. Thank God! Rama and Sita get their happily ever after at long last!!! =)
There is a literal Mother Earth in this story; absolutely fantastic!!
Okay, maybe they don't get their happy ending. What is happening?! Sita disappears underground and Rama just accepts that he won't see Sita again as long as he lives as a man? AAAAGHHH. Kiss and live together and die together of extremely old age, I am begging you.
Janaka continues to bewilder me. I have absolutely no idea what he is talking about in any point in time. But he seems okay with that, so I guess I am too. . .
"Rama ruled in Fair Ayodhya for a thousand years more, alone without Sita, keeping her golden statue by him in her palace rooms" Wow. That is somewhat romantic and entirely depressing. Can we please change the ending?
Lakshmana dies simply because he sees Time; I would be angry/annoyed, except the whole scene of his death is gorgeous in his acceptance of his fate and the imagery. I love it, and I hate it. So many feels, to use internet lingo, haha.
". . . if you want a high road to heaven, just say Rama. . ." Rama. Rama, Rama, Rama. Ramaramaramaramarama. Did it work? . . .
"This is the world's first best poem." So humble. Especially since if it is to be believed it is the first poem ever, so is by necessity the first best poem. Okay, so then I guess by that argument it's just stating a fact, not bragging. . . What was I saying?
I kind of don't know what to say about the end of Buck's version. I would have been happy with Sauti shouting Rama to end it, but then he added another two lines. "Again the Players come./Love to all men." And I don't know what to make of the whole "players" part. Who are the players he's referencing? Why is this a good ending? I mean I get the whole "love to all men part"; it's just like an "amen," lol. But who are the players, and what does it mean that they are coming again? . . .
In any case, goodbye, Ramayana! I shall remember you always! Namaste.
Hey Jessica. Since I've already read and commented on your introduction, I thought that I could take a look at your reading diary to see how you felt about Buck's Ramayana. It's good to see that another person appreciates the fact that he's put so much work into providing such thorough detail about EVERYTHING, but also finds it a bit long-winded at times (like when he was describing the four corners of the Earth during the search for Sita). I think that what made all of the detail difficult to read was that Narayan's version had virtually none. Everything was so short and to the point! Anyway, I really enjoyed your thoughts about the story, they provided some good laughs. Good job!
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