#the forest of enchantments

[quotespile]

Perhaps that was why I had to endure pain — because true transformation can only happen in the crucible of suffering. All impurities fall away from gold only when it’s heated to melting.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Forest of Enchantments

[litsnaps]

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Forest of Enchantments | Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni | Publisher: HarperCollins (2019)

[themelodyofspring]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge

March 11, 2025 - By The Forest

[marquisoforder]

I’m reading a feminist (author-proclaimed) retelling of Ramayana and the way it talks about Ravan and Sri Lanka is lowkey hilarious talking about “He came from an island in the faraway southern ocean, inhabited by monsters”, what monsters girl that’s my great great granddaddy you talking about 😭

[fishyyyyy99]

"But regardless of intention, the author is dead and the text is subject to interpretation on its own merits."

I just read this on Reddit in the context of someone talking about a specific show, but I just felt like putting it out there, because it applies to all TV shows, movies, books, etc.

[yoddhasblog]

Listen, as much as I love this era of retellings of historical or religious stories, as much as I adore reading about different point of views on stories that I've practically grown up hearing about, I believe when writing these retellings, the author has a certain duty to do the original story justice. I don't like this trend of picking people up from the stories, warping up their personalities and then completely changing the entire narrative just to satisfy your own.

[wordsshmords]

This was my first lesson on the nature of love: that in a moment it could fulfill the cravings of a lifetime, like a light that someone might shine into a cavern that has been dark for a million years. -The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

[meowsdesk]

started this and man oh man Chitra never disappoints

[maureen2musings]

New Zealand's Goblin Forest

Honoured to have received some wonderful results from this year’s @greatwalksmag Wilderness Photographer of the Year competition, including a win for ‘Creatures in the Shadows’ (photo 1)

benjamin.maze

[rashinimadhushani]

Living in a fairytale 🌸💐🧚🏼🦄🧚‍♀️🧚‍♂️

[quotespile]

It’s not enough to merely love someone. Even if we love them with our entire being, even if we’re willing to commit the most heinous sin for their well-being. We must understand and respect the values that drive them. We must want what they want, not what we want for them.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Forest of Enchantments

[litsnaps]

[faytree]

Pixel forest art 🦌🌿💐🧚

[themelodyofspring]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge

03.Sep.2024 - Mythical Being 🏹

[marquisoforder]

I’ve lowkey given up on The Forest of Enchantments cause for a book that calls itself the Sitayan it still punctuates itself with key moments of Ram’s life. This leads to the book having a janky timeline (the least of my grievances), with a ten year time jump between two certain chapters, where Sita mentions in one sentence that she has been solving issues (no clarifications) as a princess of Ayodhya. Why not give examples? Why not exercise the freedom from the canon to extrapolate on what that role would have looked like? Why is Ram the temporal centre of a book that claims to have a feminist focus on Sita? Why is Urmila and the cousins taking such a backseat when the prologue insists that this is their story too? Why does Kaikeyi devolve into the “bitches be crazy” stereotype against how her character was established in the beginning? Just pissing me straight off