Still utterly fantastic. ( )

This series of eight graphic novels tells the story of Buddha's life through the stories of surrounding characters based both on actual historical figures and fictional ones. Told in the Japanese manga style it has a specific style and humour, and the themes are very mature including violence and nudity.

This volume is once again treading on familiar ground - how religious practices and precepts are twisted by those interested in amassing power. It started out simple enough. Individual men -- monks, commoners, princes, being moved by Buddha's teachings and devoting themselves to follow him. Then, as more powerful, teaching monks joined him, their followers joined him as well. Until there are thousands. Now that it's no longer a handful of followers, sitting at Buddha's side on a hill somewhere, there is a hunger for rules, for organization, for lines of power, demarcations of rank and status, and for right of succession.

All too familiar.

This volume is filled with tragedies that you can see coming a mile away. And a few, I suspect, that you can't.

One book to go. ( )

Alhoewel dit boek Prins Ajatasattoe wordt genoemd, is het slechts een klein gedeelte waar hij een rol in speelt. Dit komt omdat het slechts twee hoofdstukken bevat van wat het vervolg van deel vijf wordt genoemd en waarin hij aan bod komt. Blijkbaar heeft de uitgever er voor gekozen de delen zoals de schrijver dat heeft bedacht niet te volgen maar meer uit te gaan van gelijke dikte per deel. Dit is soms wat verwarrend voor de lezer, vooral als er tussen de delen door wat leespauze wordt genomen.

In het zogenaamde deel zes gaat het weer veel meer om Boeddha zelf, hoe hij steeds meer aanhangers krijgt en hij terugkeert naar zijn eigen geboortestreek. Daar is in al die jaren dat hij weg is geweest veel gebeurd. Zijn eigen volk zijn nu de slaven en de Kristallen Prins heeft de macht overgenomen. Spannend om de lessen van Boeddha in de praktijk te zien.

De tekeningen zijn weer onnavolgbaar met al zijn anachronisme en onverwachtse humor.

Voor mij nog slechts een deel te gaan en ik vind het nu al jammer dat er einde aan gaat komen. ( )

It's difficult to keep piling on the praise for this series, so I'll keep this review pretty brief. In volume seven, you see the Buddha getting older, heavier and not quite as cute as he's been in earlier volumes. In fact, I'd say I that I found him rather physically unappealing and tough to look at. And yet, this works to powerful effect in the book. The Buddha is still a human being and his teachings almost speak more to the reader when he's not so Manga-cute. I can't really relate to the earlier portrayals, but these connect with me. Much of this volume concerns the fate of Prince Ajatasattu, the son of King Bimbisara, who was prophesied to be killed by Ajatasattu. The result is that the king fears the prince and imprisons him. Trying to avoid the inevitable only makes it all the more likely to happen and you watch the story unfold. As a crucial side-story is the further tale of Devadatta. Devadatta tries to usurp leadership of Buddha's movement and impost order, rules, regulation, and control. Like king Bimbisara, he is trying to order his life and the lives of others.

This is obviously a long work -- 8 volumes and well over 1,000 pages. There are times when my attention and enthusiasm has flagged. And yet if I press on a bit, I am always rewarded with renewed enthusiasm and love of this series. I rarely reread books (sad, but true), and yet this is something I could see myself returning to periodically. ( )