The Koran

#1026
Title: The Koran
Author: Anonymous
Translator: N. J. Dawood
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 621/2004
456 pages

This is not a review of the text, but of the Audiobook reader. This is a person who cannot pronounce many words, including these frequently repeated ones: Scourge, respite, Job, God ("Gaaawd").

The Ramayana

#1004
Title: The Ramayana
Author: Anonymous
Translator?: Bulbul Sharma
Publisher: ? Audible edition
Year: 2012
Country: India
~180 pages

The rating is for this version, not for the Ramayana per se. Though entitled "The Ramayana," this is a gloss of the text into a narrative told at about a middle reader level. While it tells me the story, I have no idea whether the details are accurate. Certainly the structure has been altered and I have no sense of the meter.

The Upanishads

#1003
Title: The Upanishads
Author: Anonymous
Translator: Juan Mascaró
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Year: 500 BCE/1965
Country: India
144 pages

This is unlike most Penguin volumes in that there are no explanatory notes. Instead, there is a rambling religious essay by the translator, the gist of which is that if you're a right-thinking person, you'll understand that the religious views espoused in the text are correct. This perspective is supported by quotes from other religious texts, Shakespeare, and poets. Not impressive and not what I expect from Penguin.