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The Mahabharata is an Indian epic, in its original Sanskrit probably the largest ever composed. It is the story of a dynastic struggle that provides a social, moral, and cosmological background to the climatic battle.
The present English rendition is a retelling based on a translation of the Sanskrit original published by Pratap Chandra Roy, Published in the beginning of this century. William buck has condensed the story. The old translation from which he worked covers 5800 pages of print, while his own book is less than a tenth of that length. But by and large, Buck`s rendition reflects the sequence of events in the Sanskrit epic, and he uses the traditional techniques for instance, of stories within stories, flashbacks, moral lessons laid in the mouths of principal characters.
There are other English versions of the Mahabharata, some shorter, some longer. But apart from William Buck`s rendition, none have been able to capture the blend of religion and martial spirit that pervades the original epic. It succeeds eminently in illustrating how seemingly grand and magnificent human endeavors turn out to be astoundingly insignificant in the perspective of eternity.
Reviews:
"Buck captures much of the beauty of the Sanskrit thought...a pleasure to read and to look at; the many illustrations by shirley Triest have a magical quality in total harmony with the magic of the text." -Times Literary Supplement
"Buck wins a distinguished place among translators from Sanskrit verse. No other recent rranslator in America has clambered so high on this epic mountainside." Asian Student
"It has turned out to be towering achievement going into all the details and maintaining the traditional style of the original epic having its grace of language and depth of feeling....It is a valuable contribution for the English knowing students of religion and literature in particular and lovers of learning in generals." Journal of Religious Studies
"This is divine storytelling at its finest. When he finished his manuscripts, William Buck Wrote, `Based on the words of ancient songs, I have written books. I tried to make them interesting to read. I don`t think you will find many other books like them.` He was absolutely correct." - Bo Lozoff, The Mountain Path
"Those who don`t have the time or the patience to go through huge literal translations,will be immensely helped by this book.Once this spell of William Buck`s retelling of the Mahabharata is cast on readers, they will surely get encouraged to go through this abridged versions...A delightful book indeed." -Prabuddha Bharata, May 2003
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