User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I have been hiding behind other books because this book has such rave and glorious reviews, but it failed to impress me. For a person, who is a huge fan of Mythology, and has read about 4 retelling of ‘The Ramayana’, this book felt fairly mediocre,
As I highlighted on my Instagram post, I had a few issues with this book. The first was Sita’s relationship with the other characters. This aspect which would have helped us build a better version of Sita in our minds was missing throughout the book. Lakshman treated Sita as his mother. and respected her. But that chemistry was lacking here because there’s barely any verbal exchange between them. Sita- the daughter of Janak, has been described as a kind-hearted, learned warrior, but the father who believed so much in her and gave her the position on the princess, is missing in action too.
Sita talks about love throughout the book and how each event shapes her understanding of love and that, love is about sacrifices and hard choices. The story is from Sita’s POV, Sita talks about a stubborn, determined and righteous Ram, and the book looks like its written from a position of pain rather than love. The writing was beautiful at places and felt like a drag at others, and I did feel that certain events were written in haste as Ramayana is a huge epic, and turning it into a novel can only be done by cutting down words and in some cases, emotions.
I loved the ending the most because that was the Sita, I expected from this book- kind-hearted but ready to stand up for herself because she is Goddess and she bows to no one.
Rating: really liked it
It is a story as old as the hills and as new as a fresh dewdrop clinging to a tender shoot growing on those very hills. A story we know by heart. Our heroine, Sita, is wedded to the conscientious, justice-loving, ‘perfect man’, Ram. She is abducted by Ravan, rescued by Ram and then promptly abandoned. She proves her innocence, becomes the queen of Ayodhya and prepares to welcome her children when she is exiled from the kingdom. She gets depressed, but recovers enough to raise her twins as worthy beings. As she tries to immerse herself in her new life, she hears Valmiki’s Ramayan – a paean for the great King Ram.
But Sita is unhappy with this one-sided narrative. She has her side of the story to tell the world – “Sitayan”.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaurni’s latest novel, The Forest of Enchantments, a modern-day retelling of the Ramayan, is a compassionate meditation on the thoughts and actions of its myriad characters, with Sita as a protagonist. Divakaruni, who has in all her works painted women as strong, relatable and inspirational characters, has transformed Sita’s image from a meek, almost servile woman to a rebel, warrior and trailblazer.
“Everything was about to change again,” says Sita as she begins to write verses only she can do justice to. At this commencement, the reader’s heart exults, for Divakaruni and her women characters are a formidable pair. This rebranding of Sita is not a unique effort. It has been attempted hundreds of times earlier, in books, movies and the arts. Indeed, a novel by Mallika Sengupta is titled Sitayan; Devdutt Pattanaik titled his reinterpretation The Girl Who Chose; and Amish Tripathi went further with his Sita: Warrior of Mithila. This repetition and overuse of Sita as a misjudged heroine might disinterest some readers.
But those who stick with Divakaruni’s rendition are in for a mellifluous treat. For the novel doesn’t only retell Sita’s story but also gives space and time to other women characters the tradition has chosen to overlook. We learn of Suanina, a wise and able leader who was Sita’s mother; Urmila, Laxman’s long-suffering wife; Mandodari, Ravan’s wife, brushed off as a demon; Surpanakha, Ravan’s sister, wronged by two men. Even Kaikeyi, Ram’s stepmother, almost always portrayed as a villain, gets her due interpretation as an accomplished charioteer. “Write our story, too,” the women characters say in the novel. “For always we’ve been pushed into corners, trivialised, misunderstood, blamed, forgotten – or maligned and used as cautionary tales.” In Divakaruni’s retelling of the folk epic, minor women characters come to life, claiming their own lores, redesigning and rephrasing them. The author delves deep into their selves and lays their beauty out.
If this representation of women characters is satisfying, the men are treated with equal thoughtfulness. Over the years, we have been trained to gradually dislike Ram, to question his ethics, blame him for everything that goes wrong with our protagonist. Conversely, there has also been an awakening of fondness for Ravan, his wisdom and respect for Sita. The author works gently to cleanse and remove such prejudices and biases. No one is entirely right or entirely wrong, she reminds us. For we are all human, with our quirks and fallacies, just like Ram and Sita and their clan. No one is to be blindly revered or reviled. We live as per our ideals, and they are only as correct or misguided as our eyes train us to be.
No wonder, then, that readers can only absorb the novel in the way that their own experiences and worldview have shaped them. Men and women, puritans and naysayers, seekers and the enlightened – there are traces of all perspectives, an attempt to examine the story from multiple angles, explanations and observations that are both compelling and riveting. A lot of it has to do with Divakaruni’s style – her fine web of gossamer words that mould to her will. With the lightest touch, her sentences morph into ideas, concepts and discoveries. Her language is as delicate as silk, pleasing to the senses, but also enduring in its strength.
Apart from the stylistic flair, one of her major strengths is her unravelling of multiple dimensions of characters. Sita comes across as a fierce conservationist, dutiful but bold daughter, protective sister, loving yet wilful wife, perfect helpmate, sensual lover, courageous fighter, skilled healer, learned counselor, strong mother, kind yet firm daughter-in-law, nurturer and adventurer. She revels in her own being, is mindful of pleasure and grief, of empathy and understanding, and is brimming with dignity for herself and for everyone else. She is the original feminist.
When Ram says, “In my kingdom, every man will have a voice, no matter how humble he is,” Sita wants to ask, “What about the women?” Another time, Sita debates in her mind, “Not all women are weak and helpless like you think.” In these subtle expressions, Divakaruni exposes the toxic masculinity that not only bothers Sita but also harms Ram.
Agitated at the unfair treatment of a woman, Sita asks, “Why should you be made to suffer for his sin? For being a victim? It was unfair.” This is a direct, necessary parallel with survivors of abuse and discrimination. To some, it will be as if the novelist is trying too hard to be politically correct and diplomatic. Be that as it may, Divakaruni’s rendition rightly raises pertinent questions on racism, sexism, inequality, casteism, and also on post-traumatic stress disorder, animal rights and so on. While the myths and dreams, symbols and forebodings are right up the author’s forte, there is at times a sense of excess. Several incidents and thoughts, though well-formed and admirable, are not always precise or even necessary. The first meeting between Ram and Sita, or Sita’s entrapment in Ravan’s gardens, take up entire pages, sounding repetitive and superfluous. This languorous style, though relaxing, has the danger of slipping into the lethargic.
Even then, Divakaruni maintains an air of mystery in the story, peppering it with tiny shocks here and there. The abduction of Sita, for example, is very well-devised and chilling; so is Ravan’s death. The sustained and controlled fervour of her storytelling keeps even the most skeptical among us hooked.
The Forest of Enchantments is a work of grace and kindness, of pluralities and possibilities. It is an experiment that makes us grateful to be living in this era of multiple truths and interpretations. This is the Sitayan we will give to our daughters, that they may imbibe Sita’s strength, and even more proudly to our sons, who will learn how a woman is to be treated, and how exactly not.
Originally published here: https://thewire.in/books/the-forest-o...
Rating: really liked it
"I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves." ----Mary Shelley
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, an Indian best selling novelist, has penned an evocative and timeless tale of one of the greatest love story that our Indian mythology has ever given to us in the form of
Ramayana in her new book,
The Forest of Enchantments. But its not a retelling of our favorite mythology on Lord Ram, rather its told and primarily focuses on the life and time of Lord Ram's wife, Sita who is not just a Goddess who we all worship to, but a fateful woman with a heart full of only love and kindness journeying through a path of thorns till her death.
Synopsis: The Ramayana, one of the world’s greatest epics, is also a tragic love story. In this brilliant retelling, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places Sita at the centre of the novel: this is Sita’s version.
The Forest of Enchantments is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour, it is also about women’s struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men, as Chitra transforms an ancient story into a gripping, contemporary battle of wills.
While the Ramayana resonates even today, she makes it more relevant than ever, in the underlying questions in the novel: How should women be treated by their loved ones? What are their rights in a relationship? When does a woman need to stand up and say, ‘Enough!’ Sita, the daughter of Earth and King Janak's adopted daughter, was known for her healing skills with the help of myriad medicinal herbs, since her girlhood and before she became Lord Ram's wife. Her life in Mithila, her adopted hometown, was beautiful and peaceful until she met Lord Ram along with his younger brother, Lakshman in her Swayamvar, who not just won the challenge to marry King Janak's beautiful daughter, Sita, but also stole her heart and mind right from the very first meeting. Soon together they hit it off with their intense chemistry and immense love for one another. But soon her blissful years of married life comes into turmoil when she is abducted by Ravana and was imprisoned in his palace for over a year, until Ram and his army rescues her. Still the challenges don't leave her behind, and her real hardships begin thereafter.
An enthralling yet extremely heart breaking story told so poignantly from Sita's perspective that has not filled my heart with anger towards Ram or men of the society, but with love. The extent of Sita's love had no boundaries and that's the true definition of loving someone selflessly. Yes Sita's life was full of injustice done to her by her very own husband, whom she loved faithfully and deeply till her last dying breath. Even Ram too loved her in his own crooked yet ethical ways. This tragic love story is the central story line on which Sita's tale is based on. And the author did full justice to all the forgotten female voices of the epic mythological tale, Ramayana, as the author has also narrated the stories of Kaushalya, Mandodari, Kaikeyi, Sarama, Ahalya etc, besides Sita.
What I have forever resonated with Divakaruni's books is that her simple style of writing, easy context and extremely relatable prose with a gentle pace. Even in this book, too, the author has maintained her signature style of writing that can easily make the readers click with her story telling instantly. The evocative prose will make the readers' heart throb with the sensible emotions expressed by the characters. The underlying message is very loud and clear that the challenges faced by a woman now and then are pretty much the same. And that is the USP of the book!
The author has done full justice to Sita's character by bringing her alive through her imagination and knowledge. Sita's life story is so well described by the author that the readers can really feel getting into the skin of the Goddess herself and walking in her footsteps. The scenes come alive and so the wisdom which holds the power to awaken the women of our society and stand up against their injustices. Sita's character has so many layers, sometimes the readers will witness her someone extremely polite and kind and the next moment someone ready to fight like a warrior. Even the other women who were lost and forgotten, come alive through Sita's narrative which is bound to connect the readers with their plights too. Although the men of this book felt very one dimensional and typical.
Nevertheless, this is the story of all the women of Ramayana where some were seen as an evil character, while some as pure. But the author resurrected all of them and have paid respect and justice to their muted tales.
Verdict: A tragic and heart breaking epic love story told from the perspective of the Goddess Sita. A must read indeed!
Rating: really liked it
The story of Ramayana, its wonders and lessons are ingrained in our lives as Indians. It is a remarkable piece of literature, rightly an epic, a timeless legend. But as is the case with most ancient texts it is steeped in patriarchy and a sense of injustice and unfairness forver stains its otherwise holy pages.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni promises to undo the injustice, promises to give voice to the voiceless and neglected females of the legend.
"Write our story, too,” Sita hears the voices of the female characters of Ramayana “For always we’ve been pushed into corners, trivialised, misunderstood, blamed, forgotten – or maligned and used as cautionary tales".
Thus the prologue offers a lot of promise.
But does the book deliever the hefty claims?
No it doesn't.
I'm sorry to say ( sorry because I expected so much) the book offers no unique insight as is promised. It repaints Ramayana in the same colours, only the prose is poorer and the language far from engrossing.
The writing is banal and Sita's ponderings do not offer anything unique. No thought provoking insights into the happenings and the characters.
The writing seems hurriedly done, and the repeated conclusions that Sita keeps drawing about 'love' mar the flow of reading. Phrases like "So that's what love is", "Love does this to you.. " keep appearing every now and then, which honestly is poorly done and very annoying.
The writer has nothing new to offer through the voice of Sita. This is the same Sita of Ramayana - the dutiful wife, the loving mother, the selfless queen, the abandoned hermitess. What of her as an individual, as the woman she was? Nothing of the sort did I come across in this book except the fact that she was an excellent healer and trained in war skills but it is toned down to exude the sterotypical femininity.
I didn't find her voice empowering and inspiring. It's the same lamenting cry awash with sad tears and longing.
What is worse is that the injustice delivered by male characters be it Sage Gautam or Lord Ram or Lakshmana or even Ravana is kept veiled under the garb of their duty and morals. They are glorified and presented as noble men who can't be blamed for their actions however cruel or unjust they had been. The book fails here to call spade a spade.
Also the writer tries to add philosophical angles at times but it simply makes it sound more superficial and manufactured.
This book disappointed me both as a reader and as a woman. This is one of those few books I regret reading. The hype is seriously out of my comprehension as it is a very pretentious attempt at something that could've been groundbreaking and impactful.
Rating: really liked it
Hearing a classic story retold from a new perspective is a refreshing way to broaden the ways we see the world around us. “The Forest of Enchantments” does this brilliantly, bringing new life to the stories of the women in an epic tale. The Ramayana is a story many of us know so well, and reading it from Sita’s perspective was a fascinating adventure.
Rating: really liked it
It is seldom I rate a book 5 stars. But when I do, I ensure it is absolutely deserving of it..
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The FoE is the tragic story of one of the most revered women of Indian mythologies - Sita. The queen who was tried despite her unwavering love and loyalty. The daughter who was abandoned by parents, and much cruelly, by the husband.
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It's been a while I have read anything so absorbing. It is not just the epic saga that is overwhelmingly engaging, but equally beautiful is the writing. It is as though, the goddess herself was guiding the author's pen; for such a spell, as I experienced, can only be cast by the power of divine.
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The only other book I'd read from the author was 'Oleander Girl' and I found it to be good; if not fantastic. So, with 'Forest of Enchantments', the preference just got notches up, and next on my list is
'A Palace of Illusions'. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Rating: really liked it
The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a mythological fiction novel set in India during the time of Lord Rama. The book narrates the story of the epic Ramayana but from Lady Sita’s point of view.
One concern I have regarding the novel is its size and the subject matter it is trying to cover. Nevertheless, the writing style is beautiful. It is an easy read.
I soon plan to pick up "The Palace of Illusions" and "The Mistress of Spices" by the same author.
Read the detailed review of The Forest of Enchantments.
Rating: really liked it
I think most of us must have seen the animated Ramayan movie that used to come on cartoon network (I think) and gotten mesmerised by the wonderful story-telling power of its directors. I love Indian epics and their re-tellings but I have always read/watched the Ramayan from a single perspective, how Ram saved Sita from the clutches of Ravan, the demon king.
This story was such a refreshing take not called as Ramayan but Sitayan and indeed it should be called so as it tells the story of the epic from Sita's point of view. What went on in her mind after being abducted by Ravan, the excruciating pain to be away from Ram, how she counted each and every minute till she could meet him again.
But this Sita is not the damsel in distress we might think her to be, she's a strong warrior and faces each and every difficulty with unparalleled strength and dignity. Today's woman can so relate to this book, and I am so glad I picked it up. The author has done such an amazing job penning this story in an intricate way that we can feel emotions of Sita on her each and every step.
I had already read this author's ' Palace of Illusions' and that book really resonated with me. This one also did not fall short of spellbounding me. Sita does not only talk of her own battles but also those of the other women characters around her– Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, two women who are said to be the root of all the evil that happened, Urmila- her sister who was married to Lakshman and was left alone when they left for their exile, Sunaina- her mother who instilled in her first lessons of composure and how to lead by example and many other countless important women who made fleeting appearances in Ramayan.
The end just broke my heart and I would not want to spoil it for you guys, obviously those who know how it all ends would've already read it. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves to read Indian epics. One more feather in her cap, I must say for Chitra Divakaruni.
Rating: really liked it
I have waited too too long to read this book. When the release date was first announced, I was full of joy only to realize it wasn’t coming yet in the US. I waited almost 6 months for the ebook to get to my kindle and I’m even more glad that I got to read this during our independence week.
The Palace of Illusions is one of my all time favorites and it was such a joy to read the amazing Mahabharata through Draupadi’s eyes. So, I was quite excited to see what the author would do with Sita’s story. And she definitely doesn’t disappoint. The writing is beautiful and lyrical and evokes that magical feeling of being a part of something bigger than us. We see both Ram and Sita, not just as incarnations of God in earth, but as human as everyone else, with flaws and prejudices and frailties. But I can’t deny that I struggled with the book at certain parts. The pacing is pretty inconsistent, with some parts being very deep and contemplative, while others just rushing through years of storyline. The languid pace at times almost made it feel boring and I wasn’t prepared for that. But I will also not deny that I’m biased and my general disinterest in the Ramayana may have affected my opinion of this story as well. However, it was actually refreshing to not read about the whole war and instead get a closer look at the consequences and devastation, especially how the citizens of Lanka were affected. I think I also expected to see a little more of Sita’s story after her exile and her relationship with her sons - which was quite heartwarming and wonderful to read about but I felt was too short and deserved more page time. But whatever my gripes and complaints, the absolutely brilliant ending makes up for a lot of it.
Getting a chance to deep dive into Sita’s thought process was a fascinating experience. We get to know her as more than Ram’s wife and see a bit more of her as a sister to Urmila and the daughter-in-law of Kaushalya - which also gives us an opportunity to know more about these women from the epic. Urmila is particularly someone we hardly ever read anything about, so it was awesome to get to know about her feelings for Lakshman and her suffering during the fourteen years of exile. The other two women whom we don’t even consider very important usually are given time here - Surpanakha and Mandodari. I particularly liked how Sita always questions the bodily harm that was meted out to Surpanakha and if it really was a justifiable response. Mandodari is also shown as a wise and intelligent queen but someone who can’t always check her husband’s worst impulses.
The men in the book don’t get as much page time as the canon versions and I definitely didn’t have a problem with that. But it also gives us an opportunity to understand them more through the perspective of Sita, especially Ram. She loves him a lot and it’s evident, but she also never glosses over some of his flaws. She realizes that his need for perfection is not always right, and that some of his prejudices are uncalled for - but she also never truly confronts him about it all because she doesn’t want to make him unhappy. We as readers too understand that he is a good person but someone who is very much set in his ways, and while he does want to be perfect and establish a model kingdom, he loses sight of everything that’s important in his personal life for the sake of that perfection. While we also get to see Raavan as more than just an evil Asura King, I didn’t really feel much invested in his storyline.
But ultimately, this book is about Sita. The story goes into detail about her life before marriage and I thought the author did a great job showing us her relationship with her mother and sister, as well as an insight into her love for all things nature. I particularly enjoyed that the author made Sita a healer, who especially knows a lot about plants and herbs - which is canon divergent but still thematically relevant because we do consider her to be the daughter of the earth. We see her evolve as a wife, as a daughter in law, and later adapt to the life of a forest dweller - never complaining about her change in stature. She is content in her love for Ram and it really shows in every action and word of hers. But her plight after her abduction by Raavan and later her exile from Ayodhya are some of the most painful parts of the story, but I also marveled at her strength that kept her going. She really is the epitome of endurance and that came across very well.
There are many many themes that form the crux of this book and I’m not sure if I even absorbed them all. There is a lot of commentary (but mostly internal) about the importance of giving equal voice to both men and women, how striving for perfection in everything is not ideal nor feasible, nature and all its inhabitants are the responsibility of the leader and conservation is equally necessary as much as the welfare of the people, and most importantly - as much as it’s needed that a leader model righteous behavior for his subjects to follow, duty and responsibility towards the subjects is not mutually exclusive from the duty towards loved ones. But ultimately, the major theme of this book is love. The one thing that Sita does throughout the book is contemplate the meaning of love - and she discovers every version of it by observing the actions of those around her and also in the way she behaves towards others. From the love that consumes and leads to destruction like that of Dasharath and Kaikeyi, to the unconditional love of Urmila or Mandodari towards their husbands, we get to see and understand it in all its forms. But the one major realization that Sita arrives at which totally hit me with how relevant it is to our lives was that even if we love someone with all our heart, we can’t change their inherent nature or innate prejudices, we can only change ourselves and adapt to live peacefully with them. This is the reality for so many women even now and left me wondering what has truly changed for women in the millennia.
In the end, all I can say is that this book has its flaws just like the epic, but it’s still a wonderful and insightful read and I loved getting to know the story through a unique lens. If you like reading Indian mythological retellings or have loved reading The Palace of Illusions before, then this book is perfect for you. If you particularly have a soft spot for the Ramayana, I think you will really appreciate the perspective provided in this book. And that amazing ending - I just wish everyone gets a chance to really experience that.
Rating: really liked it
The forest of enchantment
We know of many versions of Ramayana from folk artists and from celebrated scholars, and each author has taken the liberty with their own take. I grew up watching Ramanand Sagar’s doordarshan version and recently had an opportunity to read Devdutt Pattnaik’s Sita and Amish’s Ram, Sita and Raavan series. And I must say they were much better and well researched than this version by Chitra.
I am biased towards Chitra as a writer but somehow her Sita seemed childish, feminist teenager with a high sense of righteousness rather than the maturity and wisdom likened to a queen or a goddess. Her comments on the men’s world seemed to be the current populist feminist campaign against anti male establishment. She seemed to be proud of being a women but felt she had to always have a say as the representative of all women in a patriarchal set up, taking the role of a leader as the eldest daughter or daughter in law, rather than earning it with her wisdom and maturity. She claimed how she advised Ram and influenced all the good that she was doing and wanted to be appreciated and acknowledged for it. She also had a partial view on her parents set up and bringing up while always doubtful and less respectful of a similar set up in her husbands household. Which made some parts sound like a plot from Balaji’s TV soaps. The theory around Sita being Raavan’s daughter was inserted unnecessarily and tastelessly. Her love for Ram seemed like that of a teenager’s infatuation rather than that of real deep love where they understand each other without even saying much.
A lot of her words seemed measured and fake and contrary to her inner thoughts which was at the liberty and desire of the author rather than the character. The author assumed that Sita was unhappy and victim of her circumstances, and this self pity and victims card was the tone of her writing. Sita was reduced to an ordinary woman fighting against men for equality and justice but she failed to accept herself first. In an unfair world a woman can demand equality, but she will have to rise above the mediocre thoughts of a self pitying, self proclaimed feminist while crying for protection, love and honor from the men around her. The forgiveness and greatness which deified Sita into a goddess, are turned into petty self doubting and entitled character.
The prologue mentions how Chitra had been procrastinating this book but was eventually able to write it. I am disappointed and my advise would be that she should have taken more time to build the story and characters arch. She just took all the folk tales and weaved them around Sita, forcing them in the narrative as hearsay’s or random conversations.
Final verdict - don’t read! And I am not sure if I will read another mythological take by Chitra after this.
Rating: really liked it
I read Palace of Illusions years ago and was blown away by the beautiful writing, Panchali and pretty much everything that book was about, so, when I came to know that the author was coming up with The Forests of Enchantments which essentially is Sita’s story( Sitayan), I had great things in minds!
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This book, is said to be about Sita, her hopes and dreams..... while we all know what happens in Ramayana what The story promises us is a side which is as important as that of The Male; this book though falls short of what it was hoping to achieve by quite a margin; Though we see Sita from when she was born, her relationship with her parents, siblings is peripheral at best, the incidents discussed about her early life seem to be a mere buildup for when she meets Ram; after marriage, she, time and again neglects others for Ram; her relationship with Laxman is stormy, they barely talk and while she thinks about the patriarchal facets of the society, we don’t get to read about any outrage on her part, or she merely feels it for a moment and is again swept away by thoughts of Ram.
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Chitra’s Sita is self absorbed, spineless in places, fickle and selfish..... too saintly when it comes to ‘ENDURING’ and blind and obsessive when it comes to Ram; The Forests of Enchantments is a story of Ram the husband, not Sita. Read it to read of Ram through the eyes of his wife and nothing more!
Rating: really liked it
This is what Kaikeyi failed to see: it's not enough to merely love someone. Even if we love them with our entire being, even if we're willing to commit the most heinous sin for their well-being. We must understand and respect the values that drive them. We must want what they want, not what we want for them. Ramayan is not only a mythological story, it is a major pillar of Hinduism. In today's India, where Ram Raajya is considered to be the ideal country, are we steering in the wrong direction?
You see, I never read the Ramayan. As any Indian kid will tell you, Ramayan was narrated by the older folks in the family and was also accessible due to various TV shows that aired about 30 years ago and still continues to be the inspiration of the small screen. So, the story, for those who heard it from their parents or grandparents stopped when Sita was rescued by Ram. Or even the cartoon version stopped right there.
What they don't tell you is what happens afterwards.
Love was full of contradictions. Sometimes the person you loved weakened you and sometimes he or she made you a stronger person. But under exactly what conditions did these very different changes occur? I loved this adaptation of the story simply because:
1. This is Sitayan i.e Ramayan with Sita's POV.
2. Sita doesn't overpower Ram in anyway. She is in her own element, being the feminist that she is, sprinkling her charm and valour over every aspect of the story.
3. The writing is commendable. It weaves a beautiful picture, allowing you to travel along with Sita, all through her journey.
Pull yourselves together. Surely I've brought you up better than this? We come into the world alone, and we leave it alone. And in between, too, if it is destined, we'll be alone. Draw on your inner strength. Remember, you can be your own worst enemy-or your best friend. It's up to you. And also this: what you can't change, you must endure. In conclusion: A great read!
Rating: really liked it
3.75 stars
To be honest, it’s not right till the end that it really becomes “Sita’a Story”. The writing was beautiful, and I was engrossed throughout. But while we were promised the Sitayan, what we got was the Ramayana narrated by Sita. I wished there was a little bit more insight…
Rating: really liked it
3.75🌟 (rounding up).
Rating: really liked it
'I forgave you a long time ago,' I say to Ram. 'Though I didn't know it until now. Because this is the most important aspect of love, whose other face is compassion: It isn't doled out, drop by drop. It doesn't measure who is worthy and who isn't. It is like the ocean. Unfathomable. Astonishing. Measureless.'
The Forest of Enchantments, I feel, has one of the most iconic closing lines ever. The book started with a slow and dull pace - full of an unfulfilled capability of being as iconic as its closing lines. Retellings are indeed a very risky arena to walk on. Having read an abridged version of
Ramayana and devouring its episodes regularly as a child, I had a fair knowledge of this revered text. The novel, however, proved to be a really murky affair in its beginning and middle because of it. I was reading with the hope of finishing it as soon as possible and that's a horrible way of reading any work. Now I am glad that I didn't put it aside because its best parts revealed themselves in the end.
Sita, in the beginning, and the middle felt like a puny human being as compared to the other women characters the writer had focused upon in her work. She had a blithe disregard of everything except Ram. It was as if, this "
incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi" with "
human failings" had nothing else to be concerned about other than her husband. Her voice was too frail to reach my ears. The mystery and lyricism that was part of The Palace of Illusions seemed to be dwindling. It is later in the novel that it used all its energy and cascaded softly with a renewed vigour.
Keeping my reservations for the novel aside, this is really a very impactful and resilient work. The novel, for me, doesn't stand valiantly as a whole. It is the few strands that I am holding on to which made my journey truly worthwhile.
