Samurai Ranabima from Senaratne
Ruwini Jayawardana
Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi, often referred to as the ‘Greatest Japanese
Epic Novel of all Time’, had been translated into Sinhala as Samurai
Ranabima by Senaratne Weerasinghe.
The novel which had appeared in several chapters in Silumina’s
Rasaduna magazine reflects on the dream of Thakesho, a youth whose main
goal in life is to become a Samurai soldier.
It is a journey of self discovery as the youth realizes that he
himself hold the power to make his dream a reality. The book focuses on
aspects of Buddhism as well as the qualities which are needed in making
a heroic Samurai soldier.
Senaratna had contributed immensely to the local literary scene with
a number of translations by globally renowned authors.
He had translated a number of internationally famed novels, short
stories and children’s books by writers like Rabindranath Tagore, Kamala
Das, Maxime Gorky, Sathyajith Ray, Meera Nayar, Adoor Gopala Krishna,
Agatha Christie and others. He recently launched the translation of the
Nobel Prize winning ‘Good Earth’ trilogy by Pearl S. Buck.
His latest addition, Samurai Ranabima, is printed and published by
Prabath Publishers, Veyangoda.
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