Tag Archive | Asia

E is for ENLIGHTENED: A Fictionalized Tale of the Buddha, by Sachi Ediriweera (Graphic Novel review) #A2Z

book cover of Enlightened: A Fictionalized Tale / words and art by Sachi Ediriweera. Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Locked safely in the palace after his mother’s death, lively Prince Siddhartha has never known suffering, never seen an old person – how can he be a good king in the future when he knows so little about real life?

Even when he marries, the King insists he and the princess stay inside the palace for safety. Their son is born, and yet the young family must remain there, suffering despite having the best of everything.

Enough! Siddharta leaves behind his wife and child, traveling into the countryside to meet his people, to try to understand the truths about suffering – however long it takes.

The king of a nearby realm leads Siddhartha to a monastery, where the prince will live and work and meditate as a monk, learning from a wise teacher.

After a year, Siddhartha has found inner peace, but not the answers for his deepest questions, and so he travels onward. Will fasting provide insight? More meditation?

Time passes as he journeys, and he suffers because he desires to see his family as much as he desires to know the truth about suffering. Clarity comes at last – suffering and desire are a never-ending cycle!

He refines his realizations into Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path that can end the pain of our cyclical existence: right view, right intention, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right endeavor, right mindfulness, right concentration.

As the Awakened One, he teaches to all who will listen as he travels back toward his homeland and the family he left behind, never again to be a prince, moving ever onward to establish monasteries for men and women in India and beyond.

Experience the Buddha’s life and journey toward enlightenment in this compelling graphic novel. Sri Lankan artist and author Ediriweera skillfully uses soft blue, umber, and orange tones to accentuate both the stillness and the action of its storyline.

What are your experiences with Buddhism?
**kmm

Book info: Enlightened: A Fictionalized Tale / words and art by Sachi Ediriweera. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

M is for Hayao Miyzaki masterwork: SHUNA’S JOURNEY west to save his people, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit (Graphic Novel review) #A2Z

book cover of Shuna's Journey, by  Hayao Miyazaki; translated by Alex Dudok de Wit. Published by First Second Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Shuna’s people are ever-hungry as no crops can thrive in their cold desert land.

When a traveler tells of a strong golden grain that grows far away, the young prince is determined to bring its seeds back to their mountain valley.

Riding west on his yakul, Shuna traverses strange landscapes, fights those who would capture him, despairs at the fortress slave market.

He rescues two sisters at great peril, and the trio travels west without stopping until they reach the cliffs of World’s Edge.

Can Thea and her little sister safely reach their home in the north?
Can Shuna reach the God-lands past these dreadful cliffs and find the golden grain?
Will Thea and Shuna ever meet again?

Just before co-founding Studio Ghibli in 1985, Miyazaki created this stunning illustrated story based on a Tibetan folktale about a prince’s epic pilgrimage to bring barley to his people.

Four decades after its publication in Japan, the classic graphic novel (read back to front) is available to English readers for the first time. Visit the publisher’s page here to look at its gorgeous artwork.

When the going gets tough, how do you respond?
**kmm

Book info: Shuna’s Journey / Hayao Miyazaki; translated by Alex Dudok de Wit. First Second Books/Roaring Brook Press, original 1983, English translation 2022. [translator interview] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.