Sher's Reviews > Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment

Book 53 2012 Reading Challenge-- This retelling of the Buddha's life was okay. Like, Siddhartha written by Hesse , this text also has Hindu elements. I began by listening to this book on tape, but I wasn't able to enjoy Depak Chopra's narration. I found the heavy accent and emotional emphasis added to certain words and phrases --distracting. Normally I can tolerate any narrator, but not this time. So, I switched and read the book in print. I found the story has a quite a bite to it and a variety of elements- such as a the role of Mara in Buddha's development- at odds.

The writing doesn't compare artfully to White Clouds or Hesse's Siddhartha, and the sensational elements may make this a more popular novel about Gotama's origins and development attractive, but, for me it was unbalanced and overdone. I wasn't reading this book just for fun though; I was looking at it quite critically to decide whether to add it as a text for a literature / Buddhist themes class.