Sita's Ramayana (review)

This graphic-novel adaptation of the epic Indian legend the Ramayana picks up somewhere in the middle, with the banishment of Queen Sita, and the story is told mostly retrospectively from her point of view. All the requisite elements of an ancient epic are here: revenge, deceit, prophecy, abduction, murder, captivity, pride. Though the story is generally presented as the tale of a war between two kingdoms over desire for one woman, the female perspective eliminates much of the heroism of the war and instead reflects overtly on the tremendous cost, particularly to women and children ("War, in some ways, is merciful to men. It makes them heroes if they are victors. If they are the vanquished—they do not live to see their homes taken, their wives widowed. But if you are a woman—you must live through defeat . . . you become the mother of dead sons, a widow, or an orphan; or worse, a prisoner"). Rather than placing the reader in the middle of the battle scenes, the book delivers information about the war through messengers who report to the imprisoned Sita as she waits for her husband to rescue her, and the impact of the battle is thus a step removed. The artistic style derives from Patua scroll painting, an Indian folk-art form that offers painted images for an audience as stories are recited or sung while painted images are held up for an audience to see. The larger-than-life artwork is bold, brash, and laden with tremendous passion; characters, both human and otherworldly, broadcast a range of deep emotions, and the density of the compositions adds further heft to the tale. Two appended essays offer invaluable insight into the book's development. Thought-provoking and thrilling, this unusual volume deserves wide readership and even wider discussion.