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Title: Beowulf by Charles Keeping, Kevin Crossley-Holland ISBN: 0-19-272184-4 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.37 (177 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Undeniable Masterpiece, Still Rings True..
Comment: Many a public school students have had this epic tale shoved down their throat; thus turning them off from any further exploration of it. I, however, was never victim of such forced reading of this text, and as a result, grasped it on my own free will. This is one of the newest translations of Beowulf, and possibly the best one out there.
Undoubtedly, Heaney's translation is fairly easy to read. The pages are in old English and then Heaney's translation, facing one another. While this makes for an entertaining reading experience, I don't know how to read Old English and therefore this was lost to me.
In this book, Seamus Heaney manages to translate Beowulf accurately and carefully; the awkward language of many translations is not present here. Additionally, while not simplistic, Heaney's writing style is easily understandable. This book was truly a joy to read.
Also, what renders this book so interesting in my own mind is not only its age, but its continued appeal. Beowulf was penned anonymously some 1 000 years ago - give or take a few centuries. As a result, it was written in old English, the ancient great-great-great grandparent of our own jargon today. Nevertheless, the archtypical ideals remain the same: Beowful is fierce, and he battles a monster.
The heroics of the story, and the basic plot, remain unadultured even in our culture today. We still find ourselves drawn to heroics and the battle of good versus evil, this arguably the root of most stories. Beowulf just goes to show that a millenia later, we still are able to connect with the literary and sociological aspirations of our forefathers.
Rating: 5
Summary: A classic translation by a master poet
Comment: "Beowulf" is justly regarded as a cornerstone of English literature, but those of us who do not read Anglo-Saxon must approach it through a translation. Certainly there is no shortage of translations; I have at least a dozen sitting on my bookshelf. However, I would eliminate half of them as adequate vehicles for really appreciating this grand poem because they are prose versions. While they may accurately convey the literal sense of the Old English words and provide a readily understood storyline, prose can never adequately render the poetic essence of the original.
Verse translation, however, is of necessity an imprecise art; poetry is too tightly bound to the language of its creator for a valid direct transposition to another tongue. Anglo-Saxon verse relied upon strong alliteration and a balance of stressed syllables rather than the use of rhyme and formally patterned meter as in later English poetry. The contemporary translator has a formidable and delicate challenge to transform "Beowulf" into a poem suited for today while remaining loyal to its ancient timbre. Although I greatly admire Ruth P.M. Lehmann's 1988 translation for its steadfast replication of the tone and cadence of the Old English original, there is truth in what another "Alliteration is a key element in Old English metrics ... but long stretches of it in Modern English will stupefy the most ardent reader". At times the beat and alliteration of Lehmann's verse threatens to overwhelm the present-day listener, becoming a deadening drumbeat. Yet, if the translator strays too far from the Anglo-Saxon structure in attempting to create something palatable for present taste, then the result inevitably lacks the bardic flavor at the heart of the poem.
Achieving a fitting balance between the vibrant aural core of the original and the requirements of a contemporary reader is a matter of subtle artistry. It may be that Seamus Heaney is an ideal poet to meet that challenge in this era. He has produced here a work which, in its four-beat line and tempered alliteration, keeps faith with its source, yet avoids excessive archaisms which would alienate a Y2K ear. Still, Heaney allows the voice of the past to emerge here and there to keep us fixed in time, resulting in a blend of contemporary language seasoned with ancient echoes. Beowulf the warrior, virtually a caricature of exaggerated, implausible heroism in some translations, is rescued in this new version to stand revealed as someone credibly human. Heaney's translation is eminently readable, but does not sacrifice the poem's true soul.
The Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition is a markedly handsome volume, a bilingual presentation with the Anglo-Saxon original and Heaney's translation on facing pages. The US publication was delayed a few months, and I would not be surprised to learn that release was intentionally held until after announcement of the Whitbread Award in the UK. Heaney's "Beowulf" beat the latest "Harry Potter" novel for that prestigious honor by a single vote, proving the adolescent wizard to be as formidable an opponent as a grim monster from a mere.
To anybody who has been promising him- or herself to get around to reading this classic poem "one of these days" but has been deterred by vague memories of awkward verse from "Beowulf" may finally be here. Seamus Heaney's translation reads as smoothly as any prose, yet the poetry can always be heard, whispering in your ear.
Rating: 5
Summary: Astonishing lyrical translation
Comment: Seamus Heaney's Beowulf is the best translation of a classic work into a modern language that I have seen in years, it may yet be my personal favorite translation of all time (best to let the thrill of the reading wear off before that judgement is made, however). I have done a bit of translation work from modern languages other than English, and am fully aware of how difficult it is to translate a line of prose from one living language to another, while acomplishing the two tasks that are the goal of every translator; 1- convey the meaning of the words, 2-convey the aesthetic "feel" of the words. These two goals are very often in serious conflict with one another- and when one adds in the element of the subject being poetry it makes it even harder, because you have to mediate the first two goals, and then add another; fit it all into a lyrical framework.
Much of the time, translators simply drop the poetry, and represent the story as prose (the Rieus version of the Iliad does this)and this is a choice I usually respect. Trying to force a story into an alien rhyme scheme makes them, very often, unbearably cheesy (viz. most versions of the Aeneid); whereas the Rieus' Iliad is a rollicking good time.
Nevertheless, the loss of lyricism is indeed a loss; especially when the sounds of the words when spoken are particularly beautiful, or the lyrical framework particularly appropriate for conveying the mood of a story. Ironically, the better the poet is in the original language the more difficult it becomes for her voice to survive the translator's work.
And this is why (back to the orginal topic) Heaney's work is so jaw-dropping. The story works as faithful translation, beautiful writing, and poetry as well. It is entirely comprehensible, faithful to the original text, and yet has the distinct ring of an authentic saxon "voice." I would give my right arm to have half the ability with translating modern languages that Heaney has brought to bear on this translation of the classic saxon epic.
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Title: Grendel by John Champlin Gardner, Emil Antonucci ISBN: 0679723110 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1989 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Beowulf (Cliffs Notes) by Stanley P. Baldwin, Elaine Strong Skill ISBN: 0764585800 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 30 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Sir Orfeo by J. R. R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345277600 Publisher: Del Rey Books Pub. Date: July, 1988 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer, Nevill Coghill ISBN: 0140424385 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: The Canterbury Tales (Bantam Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer ISBN: 0553210823 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1982 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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