The Mahabharata

condensed and retold in prose form by William Buck

Apparently Buck worked from a translation of the original, being not much of a linguist himself, but it's supposed to be a good version, and he is a fairly good story-teller.  Once the actual story of the Pandavas kicked in, I found myself engrossed, although the tragedy of the war didn't come out except explicitly in the telling, perhaps because the Pandavas and their actions were glorified too much.

three stars