This week I chose to watch Peter Brook's Mahabharata instead of doing any reading. I really like his style, even though the production was a bit outdated in terms of things like effects, it just made it feel more like a stage than a movie. The length of the film was quite daunting. I actually ended up watching most of it on 2x speed. I think that it would be more suited to being a two week assignment than a one week assignment, but it was still worth watching. I thought it was interesting how all of the actors were of different ethnicity, and I'm wondering what the motivation was behind this choice. Overall, it was great to see a visual representation of the Mahabharata.
This week I decided to return to the Mahabharata/Pandava Brothers by reading the Stories of Gods and Heroes by W.D. Monro. I spent about an hour and half, if not less, reading for this week. This was really helpful, since I'm currently up to my neck in other work. I enjoyed Monro's style and approach to these myths. For this course, I've chosen to specifically stick to free online sources for convenience and cost efficiency.
For Week 12 I chose to focus on the Cradle Tales of Hinduism, specifically the sections pertaining to Krishna. I really liked reading about Krishna and the style of this reading. It was not too long for me to get through, and I was able to understand the context and the characters a little more than some of the other readings before. I am most likely going to continue to use this source, as I would like to put a part two to the Storytelling assignment that I started this week, as I am going to be switching to the portfolio option.
Since this week I just watched "Sita Sings the Blues," I will be giving feedback specifically on the Public Domain Edition Ramayana.
I chose this edition primarily because of the ease of access and navigation. It was much more simple for me to be able to link back to the PDE Ramayana, rather than citing specific pages or editions in the print form.
The part of the reading that left the biggest impression on me was the fact that the writing styles varied so much within the text. I thought this was really interesting, because it reflected a certain amount of history and culture with these changes. For example, certain parts were told more like fables, some were strictly prose, while others felt like songs.
The only thing that I didn't necessarily understand were references to different gods or creatures. This was immediately rectified because of the links to each figure embedded in the text itself.
I did not find the reading guide particularly helpful. The stories were generally straightforward and the commentary wasn't really necessary for me, although I could see where it could be useful for other students. Additionally, I read quickly, so I was usually able to read parts A and B in about an hour to an hour and half, depending on the day.
I think eventually I would like to own a copy of the Ramayana for my own collection of classics. It would fit nicely on the ancient texts shelf!
Rama by jeinu on DeviantArt
