Reviews for Storytellers, saints, and scoundrels

The average rating for Storytellers, saints, and scoundrels based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-21 00:00:00 Randall Pulver Very readable and engaging, especially to a scholarly and cultural outsider on the subject, such as myself. I wish she had kept the kind of organization and purpose she laid out in the introduction, I find that her methods devolve into a hodge-podge of themes and ideas loosely connected by stories rather than in in-depth focus of the stories themselves. Narayan was more prone to chase topics that came up as a result of a story or idea and follow those tangents rather than bringing it back to the story and claim itself, even though it did connect in the end. As a result, some sections were needlessly repetitive when they could have had more power in their designated chapters, such as the theme of self-serving gurus and the critique of westernization. I would have liked to see more comparative analysis. Overall, the conception and thesis of her book was well-founded and strong, but the execution failed to fully live up to the paradigm she set.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-06-08 00:00:00 Patrick Jesu Narayan's work is quite readable (as far as the standard academic text goes) and it is interesting to learn about the Swamiji and his stories through the lens of Kirin's time doing her ethnographic work. I learned a lot about storytelling within Indian culture, and Narayan draws together some very enriching academic work through which she is able to discuss storytelling (and stories) in somewhat of a comparative light. It's an interesting read, but was not spectacular for me; a little slow at times.