Faust: Parts I & II

Having tried my hand at translations myself, I am awestruck by the performance of Walter Arndt. Faust is rightly regarded as a climax in German letters and,together with Don Quixote,The Divine Comedy, War and Peace and King Lear,in world literature. The nobility of its language, the sharpness of its mockery, the breadth of its subject matter and the beauty of its lyricism all make it unique. And all pose seemingly insuperable problems to the translator What should a translator do? Try to convey meaning as literally as possible? Reproduce rhyme and meter patterns as faithfully as possible? Convey the spirit of the work more than its form and letters? All of these are worthy objectives but they all are competing and, seemingly, mutually exclusive ones. It is a measure of Mr.Arndt's artistry that these conflicts seem to dissolve in his text. From the beautiful and melancholy Dedication that precedes Part I to the mystical and esoteric completion of Part II I was unable to find a single jarring note, even though I love the German text with some fanaticism. Compare the following: Ihr naht Euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten Die frueh sich einst dem trueben Blick gezeigt Wag ich es wohl Euch diesmal fest zu halten.. Once more you near me, wavering apparitions That early showed before the turbid gaze Will now I seek to grant you definition... Or this: Alles Vergaengliche Ist nur ein Gleichniss Das Unzulaengliche Hier wird's Ereignisss Das Unbeschreibliche Hier ist es gethan Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan. All that is changeable Is but refraction The unattainable Here becomes action Human discernment Here is passed by Woman Eternal Draw us on high. One may quarrel with the last line (I would have preferred "draws" since the chorus is not praying but praising), but what matters much more is that the sensation of "Ausklang", of a closing chord, is reproduced perfectly without doing (much) violence to the meaning. Mr. Arndt's (or are they the Editor's?) generous explanatory footnotes are a mine of erudition and good sense. Only the quality and relevance of the Essays by various authors, appended to the work, are of variable quality.

Norton Critical, Second, Edition by Walter Arndt and Cyrus Hamlin. You get the full translation of Faust I and II, plus, nearly 400 additional pages of interpretive notes, contextual artwork, chronologies, comments by contemporaries, and modern criticisms. Additionally, there are numerous footnotes throughout the translation, which give useful background information. This Arndt translation of Foust, in this edition, is from around 1975. Arndt’s translation is arguably one of the top-five modern translations and it is quite good. However, I found it to be somewhat archaic and overly formal; kind of like reading the King James Version of the Bible. I much prefer the David Luke (Oxford) translation from 1987. It is much more readable without sacrificing accuracy. I read both books, and both translations, at the same time; they complemented each other perfectly. This Norton Critical edition is better than taking a graduate course on Faust. You walk away with an understanding, not only of Faust, but also of Goethe, the German and European cultural milieu of Goethe’s time, and a good bit about theatre.

I started with the dramatic reading bc that was the free audiobook from the library and I could tell the story itself was good but the language was confusing and the dramatic style was driving me insane. I restarted with this and wow. Firstly the dramatic version skips the entire first part between the comedian and dramatist. Reading it with whispersync is perfect bc I can see who is talking. The translation is SO much better than the dramatic version, this is just making way more sense to me and I am enjoying it more.

Good book in that it had intrepretive notes for the book , illustration for Faust and writing of Goethe on Faust. The translation was not very easy or poetic.

Fantastic

The Norton edition is invaluable in that much information is given explaining the ideas behind this wonderful piece of art. Goethe's references and allusions are clearly explained in detail. Despite what one reviewer said, there is much here to fully enlighten a new reader. Be prepared to fall in love. However, this being said, it must also be said that Arndt's translation is far from helpful. For me, it gives new meaning to the term `obscure, esoteric erudition'. The Stuart Atkins translation from Princeton is much easier to understand even without the copious footnotes given by Norton. Interestingly, Norton provides a thirteen page review of Faust written by Atkins. I use the Atkins translation in conjunction with Norton's notes. This means paying for two books when one ought to do. But, this is hardly a high price to pay should one wish to grasp the thoughts of a truly magnificent mind - that of Goethe. But if one wishes to experience German poetry translated into English poetry then Arndt is recommended. I am sure Goethe's poetry is outstanding. All those who ought to know say so. But I would much rather have a clear understanding of what he said, not of how he said it. Faust: A Tragedy (Norton Critical Editions)

Very much enjoying the verse translation, and the notes! The notes at the bottom of the page are short enough that they don't interrupt the flow of reading, and often provide a line or two from a literary allusion. The material at the back helps firm up your understanding of the sections you just read. The verse usually sorts itself out after a second reading-- actually a little easier going than Shakespeare. I generally plow straight through to get a sense of a literary work, but there's a lot going on in this story with literary allusions, characters making cameo appearances, and back and forth between the highly educated Faust and sophisticated Mephistopheles. Some of the characters would be more obvious if you were watching them on-stage, with the visual take on who their personas represent. I decided to slow down, and look at the supplementary material. Jumping back and forth between the notes, supplementary material, and the prose turns out to be fun, as this critical edition is so well done. Tried this first in the original German, which sounds much better, but found I was missing too much of what was going on, even though I was a German major back in the day. Glad to have discovered this translation and a different approach. There's enough imagery and original turns of phrase that the story is still an enjoyable read when you look at it in chunks, and return to the main text. Before I started, I jumped in back and read what my old friends Heine and Emerson had to say. Haven't talked to them (but briefly) for years, since college. Felt like going back to a reunion. My professor said to read Faust after you are 40, not just as an undergrad. The perspective is definitely different once you're in the circumstance of Dr. Faust, when you've discovered your own limits on how much knowledge you can reasonably acquire, and have to start engaging with what is actually out there in the world for you to experience. Am looking forward to reading this masterwork a few different ways in the upcoming year!

There are good reasons why it is difficult to find a translation of Faust Part II in English. The frequent changes of scene, the barely consistent plot and the bevy of characters the reader must handle all make for difficult reading. Add to that that Goethe wanted to comment on the ancients as the proper guide to life, the relationship between nature and man and the final meaning of the divine, make it, for the casual reader, virtually impenetrable. But there are reasons to try to sort through the morass that is Faust part II and understand something of the great Romantic’s vision. Goethe saw the emulation of the ancients, properly conducted, as the best way for man to interact with nature. The nascent sciences, so bent on control and dominion, were leading mankind to profound estrangement from himself. All of Greco-Roman mythology, even all of nature, were just a parable leading man to his end in God. Thus, it is not so much a matter of a soul recovering from original sin and being led to the vision of God as man returning to his true relationship with nature and thus naturally being led to divine kinship. At least that is how I read it. Faust part II certainly isn’t for casual perusal. But if you are interested in the Romantics and particularly these themes, reading it is actually enjoyable. Perhaps, with renewed interest in civilization’s often fraught interaction with nature, more attention will be paid to the second part of Faust and it will be standardly included in English translations. (N.B. This edition also contains part I but that is available in numerous English translations and so I focused on the rarer second part.)

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Fabulous, the of association of character for creating the the story is just amazing. A lot of Greek mythology and Roman, mixed with the Bible, makes wandering what is life, what is God, are you the devil?

OK

Excellent!

Leider habe ich einen fehlerhaften Artikel erhalten. Ein paar Seiten waren bereits lose. Enttäuschend! Das Buch war als Geburtstagsgeschenk gedacht und der Mangel erst beim Auspacken und Durchblättern entdeckt. Das Cover ist zumindest hübsch.