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snailz_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cadillaceazy's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
nooneyouknow's review against another edition
4.0
Bro! What an interesting translation. I have never read Beowulf and I just decided to start here and I decided to listen to it since I suspected I might not be entirely motivated to plow through a written version. I was annoyed to find myself listening to a long introduction but I’m glad I did because it really set the stage for the translation to come. It was a novel idea to imagine and hear this tale as one told by an old timer at the end of a divey bar. And I get the sense that this is more a translation of the story instead of a literal translation of the words, but it worked for me.
ivyisbanned's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
emily_gaynier's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not fully sure where I stand on this book
I really enjoyed the story and beowulf's actions but I hate epic poem formats. I find them so hard to follow and I get lost in the line breaks.
*2023*
Highly recommend the audiobook for this
I really enjoyed the story and beowulf's actions but I hate epic poem formats. I find them so hard to follow and I get lost in the line breaks.
*2023*
Highly recommend the audiobook for this
poisonenvy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I did it! I read this book in less than a year! One day short of a year, granted, but hey, a day counts. It wasn't that it was impossible to read or anything, but I read it solely during my free time at work and it went something like this:
a) Read the Beowulf poem/translation through over the course of a couple weeks.
b) Started reading the Beowulf poem again, this time in conjunction with Tolkien's commentary on it, which was more than twice as long.
c) Didn't touch the book at all for like, several months while I filled my free time at work with other things
d) Read the rest of the book and Tolkien's commentary in a couple of weeks when I realized I was coming up on the one year mark
e) read Sellic Spell and The Lay of Beowulf in a single day before the year mark.
I thought this was great. Beowulf is one of the first fantasy stories in history, and one of the only surviving stories that was written in Old English. It's a little dry, as is Tolkien's commentary, but hey, it's still worth reading.
I had no idea what Sellic Spell was, but it turns out it was Tolkien's Fix-It Fanfiction (which he then translated into Old English what a fucking nerd) and it was *way* more engaging than Beowulf and I flew right through it. And The Lay of Beowulf is rhythmic and once again shows what a master post Tolkien was.
Anyway, absolutely worth picking up for any fans of Tolkien or fans of mideveal literature/Beowulf.
a) Read the Beowulf poem/translation through over the course of a couple weeks.
b) Started reading the Beowulf poem again, this time in conjunction with Tolkien's commentary on it, which was more than twice as long.
c) Didn't touch the book at all for like, several months while I filled my free time at work with other things
d) Read the rest of the book and Tolkien's commentary in a couple of weeks when I realized I was coming up on the one year mark
e) read Sellic Spell and The Lay of Beowulf in a single day before the year mark.
I thought this was great. Beowulf is one of the first fantasy stories in history, and one of the only surviving stories that was written in Old English. It's a little dry, as is Tolkien's commentary, but hey, it's still worth reading.
I had no idea what Sellic Spell was, but it turns out it was Tolkien's Fix-It Fanfiction (which he then translated into Old English what a fucking nerd) and it was *way* more engaging than Beowulf and I flew right through it. And The Lay of Beowulf is rhythmic and once again shows what a master post Tolkien was.
Anyway, absolutely worth picking up for any fans of Tolkien or fans of mideveal literature/Beowulf.
old_odd_biscuit's review against another edition
3.0
Stephen Mitchell's translation of Beowulf enjoyable and accessible. I read it alongside two other translations for comparison: one in verse by J. Lesslie Hall and one in prose by Ernest J. B. Kirtlan. I also listened to the audio book of another verse translation by Francis B Gummere. Mitchell's is the easiest to read for the casual reader.
Hall and Gummere seem to lean more towards the rhythm and shape of the original Anglo Saxon, making you accept archaic word order that can take adjusting to. Stephen Mitchell is noticeably more modern at the expense of such accuracy. It would take someone more attuned to poetry than me to say if his rhythm still echoes the original in any way.
As to the story content, it's wonderful. Recommended if you enjoy ancient legends and authentic glimpses at past cultures. The emphasis on gift-giving reminded me of Homer, as does obviously the notions of fame and honour in battle. I does interest me in Beowulf that in this very brutal, battle-hard culture, the idea of kindness is prized so highly. It's very intriguing and leaves me wanting to know more about this culture.
And if only I had the time and opportunities to learn Old English and read the poem in the original!
Hall and Gummere seem to lean more towards the rhythm and shape of the original Anglo Saxon, making you accept archaic word order that can take adjusting to. Stephen Mitchell is noticeably more modern at the expense of such accuracy. It would take someone more attuned to poetry than me to say if his rhythm still echoes the original in any way.
As to the story content, it's wonderful. Recommended if you enjoy ancient legends and authentic glimpses at past cultures. The emphasis on gift-giving reminded me of Homer, as does obviously the notions of fame and honour in battle. I does interest me in Beowulf that in this very brutal, battle-hard culture, the idea of kindness is prized so highly. It's very intriguing and leaves me wanting to know more about this culture.
And if only I had the time and opportunities to learn Old English and read the poem in the original!
bella_buchanan's review against another edition
2.0
Ok so I get that when reading older books like this, I can’t expect the same experience as a modern book. But, I still want to share a few opinions I had.
As unfair as it is, part of this bad review is because I found it impossible to enjoy this book because I had to read it for school, and my English teacher is awful. IN WHAT WORLD DOES AN HONORS ENGLISH CLASS HAVE NO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT A BOOK THEYRE READING????!!!!!! So I really wasn’t able to find much value in this book.
I want to start off with what I loved about this book. The writing is actually beautiful. I appreciate the words in this book (for the most part) and the translation is fantastic. There were so many times where I found myself entranced by the words in this book. So beautiful job there!
Also, I appreciate the book’s ability to stand the test of time and inspire other works.
My major complaint is well…pretty major. I’ve found that if I’ve written pages upon pages of rants in a book, that means I probably did not enjoy the book very much, and that was the case with this one. And yes, I do mean pages, I think if I edited them together, it could be a pretty long essay. What did I rant about? A lot of things, but the biggest one is Beowulf’s lack of a character arc. He is the same at the beginning as he is the end, for the most part at least. Why is he this way? Because the way that this book is structured is like this:
Part 1- Beowulf tries, Beowulf succeeds
Part 2- Beowulf tries, Beowulf succeeds
Part 3- Beowulf tries, Beowulf succeeds
And then bam! That’s the end of the book. A flawless character is a bad character. The main flaw that he had was hubris, I guess, but what’s the most awful part about that flaw is he NEVER sees any repercussions for it. The story is actually interesting, but Beowulf made it boring and unbearable at times. Also, he’d casually mention something interesting then moved on to his own boring self. Like I wanna read about the queen who chopped off the heads of men who looked at her! What’s going on with her?
My other main complaint, one that is probably slightly less valid with a text like this, is that I hate hate hate when a book is controlled by fate. That’s because it reflects an attitude that I hate in real life as well. I hate it so much when people expect “fate” to fix things for them. When something bad happens and they just blame fate. Like that’s the best way to make every single action of any character completely meaningless! And when a book is meaningless, then it’s a bad book. And hey, I’m a Christian, I believe that God’s Will will be done. But does that mean I take 0 responsibility for my action and I don’t try to make things better? Of course not! But in this book, everything is so reliant on fate, it feels like nothing the characters do has an impact on the story. Like Beowulf would do something, and it was all up to chance after that. And that kind of sucks.
Anyway, sorry to rant for a while, I just had to because I know I won’t get to talk about this book in my English class for some stupid reason, and I had to get my thoughts out. I want to be considerate when reading old books like this, but I also don’t want to give them positive ratings just because they’re old. This is all my thoughts and if I failed to find the proper meaning in it (or my teacher failed at her job) then that’s on me. But I don’t want to lie about my thoughts and feelings toward this book. Thanks for reading!
As unfair as it is, part of this bad review is because I found it impossible to enjoy this book because I had to read it for school, and my English teacher is awful. IN WHAT WORLD DOES AN HONORS ENGLISH CLASS HAVE NO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT A BOOK THEYRE READING????!!!!!! So I really wasn’t able to find much value in this book.
I want to start off with what I loved about this book. The writing is actually beautiful. I appreciate the words in this book (for the most part) and the translation is fantastic. There were so many times where I found myself entranced by the words in this book. So beautiful job there!
Also, I appreciate the book’s ability to stand the test of time and inspire other works.
My major complaint is well…pretty major. I’ve found that if I’ve written pages upon pages of rants in a book, that means I probably did not enjoy the book very much, and that was the case with this one. And yes, I do mean pages, I think if I edited them together, it could be a pretty long essay. What did I rant about? A lot of things, but the biggest one is Beowulf’s lack of a character arc. He is the same at the beginning as he is the end, for the most part at least. Why is he this way? Because the way that this book is structured is like this:
Part 1- Beowulf tries, Beowulf succeeds
Part 2- Beowulf tries, Beowulf succeeds
Part 3- Beowulf tries, Beowulf succeeds
And then bam! That’s the end of the book. A flawless character is a bad character. The main flaw that he had was hubris, I guess, but what’s the most awful part about that flaw is he NEVER sees any repercussions for it. The story is actually interesting, but Beowulf made it boring and unbearable at times. Also, he’d casually mention something interesting then moved on to his own boring self. Like I wanna read about the queen who chopped off the heads of men who looked at her! What’s going on with her?
My other main complaint, one that is probably slightly less valid with a text like this, is that I hate hate hate when a book is controlled by fate. That’s because it reflects an attitude that I hate in real life as well. I hate it so much when people expect “fate” to fix things for them. When something bad happens and they just blame fate. Like that’s the best way to make every single action of any character completely meaningless! And when a book is meaningless, then it’s a bad book. And hey, I’m a Christian, I believe that God’s Will will be done. But does that mean I take 0 responsibility for my action and I don’t try to make things better? Of course not! But in this book, everything is so reliant on fate, it feels like nothing the characters do has an impact on the story. Like Beowulf would do something, and it was all up to chance after that. And that kind of sucks.
Anyway, sorry to rant for a while, I just had to because I know I won’t get to talk about this book in my English class for some stupid reason, and I had to get my thoughts out. I want to be considerate when reading old books like this, but I also don’t want to give them positive ratings just because they’re old. This is all my thoughts and if I failed to find the proper meaning in it (or my teacher failed at her job) then that’s on me. But I don’t want to lie about my thoughts and feelings toward this book. Thanks for reading!