THE NEW MOON (cont'd)
I thought it was interesting how much more detail this version of the Ramayana went into telling us how the troops crossed the ocean. Samudra, the Ocean Lord, appeared to be new character. Rama definitely seemed a little over aggressive at first with him. The little story about the squirrels and the mark on the back was also interesting.
THE BUILDING OF THE BRIDGE
It definitely makes sense that this book is so much longer than the previous book that we read. There was barely a mention of the building of the bridge in the previous book. I love how matter of a fact Vibhishana is when he speaks to Ravana. You can definitely tell how frustrated Vibhishana has become with his brother's foolish decisions. He finally reached his breaking point with Ravana. I was really glad that Rama accepted Vibhishana. Vibhishana is such an interesting character to me, because he was the brother of Ravana, but still chose to follow Dharma. He definitely proved himself when he caught Sardula and Sarana.
I love how Ravana gets caught in his lie about Rama's death. It was actually kind of humorous when General Prahasta came in talking about how Rama is crossing the ocean. I thought the idea of receiving what you believe to be your husband's head was very ghastly though. I can't even imagine how Sita must have felt before she realized that it was all an elaborate lie. Again, we get to see more of Trijata which definitely gave me more material for my storybook. She seems so kindhearted. It's so interesting how she can shape shift into whatever she wants! Malyavan was an interesting character. I really liked the idea that his devilish features faded, and I'm hoping to use that idea in my storybook.
THE SIEGE OF LANKA
The battle between Nala and General Prahasta was rather epic and intense. It seems that this version of the Ramayana is gonna talk about the battles in much greater detail which I like. It was really creepy what Ravana did with his dead. I thought it was very wrong, because he should have appreciated their loyalty and willingness to die for him.
I thought it was funny how Kumbhakarna immediately asked Ravana what he had done wrong and then just tells him in a matter of fact tone, well just give her back. That would seem like the smarter solution, wouldn't it? It seems that he knows his brother well. I love how all of Ravana's brothers think he is an idiot. I don't know why Kumbhakarna fought for Ravana though, if he so strongly felt that Ravana was in the wrong. It must have been out of some loyalty to his brother. It was kind of sad how willing Ravana was to risk the lives of all of his warriors. Kumbhakarna's death kind of reminded me of the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" where the character has each limb cut off one at a time, but somehow continues going, even saying, "'tis but a flesh wound",when his arm gets cut off. I thought it was nice to see a little bit of remorse from Ravana at the end of this chapter.
THE INVISIBLE WARRIOR
It definitely seems unfair that Indrajit can just go around being invisible in the battle. How is that honorable? Good thing they had Vibhishana on their side! It was really sad to see some of the characters we had come to care for die in this chapter, like Angada and Nala.
The part about Hanuman having to retrieve a plant in order to revive Rama and Lakshmana was new. I was surprised that they changed this part, because in the last book it just seemed like Rama and Lakshmana only looked dead, but were not. In this book, they actually die. I can't believe that Hanuman was able to pick up the mountain! What a crazy idea!
I did find myself liking Indrajit during his discussion with Rama, but then I really disliked him again when he cut that poor woman disguised as Sita in half. I feel like Ravana should feel incredibly guilty over Indrajit's death, because Indrajit didn't even think it was a good idea to continue fighting, but he did it anyway for Ravana.
