Buddha volume 7 : Prince Ajatasattu

by Osamu Tezuka

Paperback, 2007

Series

Publication

Imprint: New York : Vertical, Inc., c2007. Originally published in Japanese as 'Budda dai nanakan Ajase' by Ushio Shuppansha, Tokyo, 1988. Edition: First paperback edition. Responsibility: Osamu Tezuka, translated by Maya Rosewood. OCLC Number: 123959837. Physical: 1 volume : 418 pages : chiefly illustrations, maps ; 21 cm.

Call number

Graphic / Tezuk

Barcode

BK-07642

ISBN

9781932234626

Collections

Your library, Adult Materials, Arts and Letters, Young Adult Materials

CSS Library Notes

Description: The seventh volume in the story of Siddhartha, Gautama Buddha. Taking Prince Ajatasattu under his tutelage, Devadatta plans to wrest control of the emerging Buddhist sect from its founder, who daily grows weaker but continues to give sermons.

Contents: Part Five (continued) -- Nenuvana -- Imprisoned prince. -- Part Six -- Sariputta and Moggallana -- A Crowd of critics -- Death swamp -- Madwoman Visakha -- Encounter with Prince Crystal -- A Battle of wills -- Emancipation.

FY2017 /

Physical description

418 p.; 21 cm

Description

Osamu Tezuka’s vaunted storytelling genius, consummate skill at visual expression, and warm humanity blossom fully in his eight-volume epic of Siddhartha’s life and times. Tezuka evidences his profound grasp of the subject by contextualizing the Buddha’s ideas; the emphasis is on movement, action, emotion, and conflict as the prince Siddhartha runs away from home, travels across India, and questions Hindu practices such as ascetic self-mutilation and caste oppression. Rather than recommend resignation and impassivity, Tezuka’s Buddha predicates enlightenment upon recognizing the interconnectedness of life, having compassion for the suffering, and ordering one’s life sensibly. Philosophical segments are threaded into interpersonal situations with ground-breaking visual dynamism by an artist who makes sure never to lose his readers’ attention. Tezuka himself was a humanist rather than a Buddhist, and his magnum opus is not an attempt at propaganda. Hermann Hesse’s novel or Bertolucci’s film is comparable in this regard; in fact, Tezuka’s approach is slightly irreverent in that it incorporates something that Western commentators often eschew, namely, humor.… (more)

Language

English

Original language

Japanese

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User reviews

LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger

A delightful take on the life of the Buddha. I would not use it in a research paper, but the graphics catch the eye, and the plot keeps you reading.

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LibraryThing member dmcolon

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.

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LibraryThing member greeniezona

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.

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