Reading Notes: Jataka Anthology, Part B

I enjoyed reading the Jataka Anthology very much. They were all written very well, and I got some good ideas on how I want my own story to turn out. I couldn’t just pick one that would be the kind of writing style I would go with. Instead I picked some ideas from 2 different stories that I think I could incorporate into my own writing. 

The Turtle being carried away by the Geese. Source: Wikimedia.

The first one that I really liked was the Two Turtle Jatakas by Ellen C. Babbitt. I liked the way the author showed the turtles’ personalities through the writing. In the first one, The Turtle and the King, I like that the turtle is portrayed as a naïve, helpless turtle until the very end when he actually tricks them into letting him go. And in the second one, The Turtle and the Geese, this turtle is portrayed as kind of an arrogant character because he kept talking too much. I thought at the beginning that the turtle in this story would be like the one in the “The Tortoise and the Hare” fable, but he turned out to be completely the opposite so I found that interesting. It would be a good idea to take a famous story like that and add a twist to it. 

The second story I really liked was The Foolish, Timid Rabbit also by Ellen C. Babbitt. In this story I liked that she added many different characters, and was still able to keep the Rabbit as the main character. Sometimes I can get sidetracked and end up writing about a different or minor point, so I think I’ll definitely come back and see how she kept the Rabbit as the center of attention. The story also reminded of the Disney movie Chicken Little. In that movie the character Chicken Little also thinks the “sky is falling” because he mistook a piece of a UFO to be a piece of the sky. 

The more stories I read, the more I realize that there are so many versions out there and every author adds their own sort of twist to it.

Reading A

After going through all of the reading options we have for Ramayana and Mahabharata, I think I am going to go with the PDE options for both epics. I like that there is an audio option because that means I can even listen to it on my commute home. I like that there is also text that goes with it so I can read along or just read if I want to. When I first saw that the PDE: Ramayana was like 80 pages, I was a little overwhelmed. But then I saw the readings weren't too bad. I saw that PDE: Mahabharata also has 80 pages as well so I'm definitely going to need to start reading both early on and not procrastinate on the readings. The readings I'm excited for are the comics. I've had friends who have taken this class before and say the comic books and the animated movies are the best parts. I watched a little bit of the Sita Sings the Blues video and I was actually really into it.

Sita Sings the Blues. Source: Wikimedia.