Mahabharata by William Buck
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Book Summary Author: William Buck Illustrator: Shirley Triest Introduction: B.A. van Nooten Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2000-11-14 ISBN: 0520227042 Number of pages: 440 Publisher: University of California Press |
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Book Reviews of the Mahabharata
Customer Review: Confused narrative
Summary: 1 Stars
I have today finished reading William Buck's retelling of the Mahabharata and am disappointed. English-language readers might be better advised to read Rajagopalachari version to get an overview of the epic.I should like to mention that I have Indian antecedents and have read various abridged translations of the Mahabharata in both English and Gujarati.
This rendition is riddled with careless editing of the narrative. For example, the entire episode of the Aswamedha is omitted from the narrative yet Buck refers to Yudhisthira as "King of Kings".
Besides removing important events and characters Buck displays a lack of understanding of dharma. An example will suffice: Buck has Arjuna marry Uttara, the daughter of Virata at the end of the 13-year exile -- since Arjun had been her teacher this act would be adharma. (Arjun's son Abhimanyu marries Uttara in Vyasa's Mahabharata.)
Overall I cannot recommend this version.