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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book in class and in my opinion, it is virtually unreadable on your own as the language is incredibly hard to understand, especially if you don't have any explanations. The only good thing is that you'll learn cool Faust quotes to throw around and sound smart, so maybe I should give the book another star for that? Though you can look them up online too, so ... no. This is just bad. Sue me.
slow-paced
challenging
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
I read this beautifully illustrated version of Faust that seemed oddly unfinished, until I checked the original German version to find out it was only the first part. A shame really. My mind still thinks and reads in rhyme, even when I read another book. Odd feeling.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I quite enjoyed Goethe's writing style (I read it in the original German) and his subtle criticising of the catholic belief and human nature
Goethe's most complex and profound work, Faust was the effort of the great poet's entire lifetime. Written over a period of sixty years, it can be read as a document of Goethe's moral and artistic development. As a drama drawn from an immense variety of cultural and historical material, set in a wealth of poetic and theatrical traditions, it can be read as the story of Western humanity striving restlessly and ruthlessly for progress.
Faust is made available to the English reader in a completely new translation that communicates both its poetic variety and its many levels of tone. The language is present-day English, and Goethe's formal and rhythmic variety is reproduced in all its richness. With stylistic ease the translation conveys both the sense and the tonal range of the German original without recourse to archaisms or to interpretive elaborations.
This was one that I decided to read for the sake of having read it, although I kind of hoped I'd actually enjoy it, too. I kinda didn't, really. The first half was OK, but the second was just so full of allegory and whatnot that you really lose the train of the story of Faust. And sure, maybe I can read it as "the story of Western humanity striving restlessly and ruthlessly for progress," but I didn't really get that from it, either. All I know is that Faust would just disappear for entire acts, during which we'd be introduced to a whole host of mythical and/or historical figures who would come in, say who they were (or not - this play would be even harder to follow onstage than it is on paper.), talk for a few lines, and then make way for the next one. I'm sure it all has a deeper meaning and everything, but I don't get it.
Beyond that, I'm really not too sure what else to say. It's a little difficult when you didn't have a clue what was going on half the time. Some passages were very pretty - I have a particular attachment to the passage where Gretchen is bemoaning her fate while she spins, because there's a gorgeous German song using that text that I'm just waiting for an opportunity to perform.
One other thing I observed is that I have absolutely no idea how on earth one would actually perform this play - especially in the time it was actually written. Nowadays, with enough money, you could probably pull off most of it. But there is some crazy shit in this play. A mountain erupts, people fly all over the place, burst into flames, there are instant set changes... Not to mention the bazillion characters. Even if you doubled, and tripled, and quadrupled, etc, the casting, you'd still need a massive cast. Perhaps it's not really meant to be performed. I'm sure it has been though, at least a few times, and it would be interesting to see.
In any case, it was a slog, but I got through.
Faust is made available to the English reader in a completely new translation that communicates both its poetic variety and its many levels of tone. The language is present-day English, and Goethe's formal and rhythmic variety is reproduced in all its richness. With stylistic ease the translation conveys both the sense and the tonal range of the German original without recourse to archaisms or to interpretive elaborations.
This was one that I decided to read for the sake of having read it, although I kind of hoped I'd actually enjoy it, too. I kinda didn't, really. The first half was OK, but the second was just so full of allegory and whatnot that you really lose the train of the story of Faust. And sure, maybe I can read it as "the story of Western humanity striving restlessly and ruthlessly for progress," but I didn't really get that from it, either. All I know is that Faust would just disappear for entire acts, during which we'd be introduced to a whole host of mythical and/or historical figures who would come in, say who they were (or not - this play would be even harder to follow onstage than it is on paper.), talk for a few lines, and then make way for the next one. I'm sure it all has a deeper meaning and everything, but I don't get it.
Beyond that, I'm really not too sure what else to say. It's a little difficult when you didn't have a clue what was going on half the time. Some passages were very pretty - I have a particular attachment to the passage where Gretchen is bemoaning her fate while she spins, because there's a gorgeous German song using that text that I'm just waiting for an opportunity to perform.
One other thing I observed is that I have absolutely no idea how on earth one would actually perform this play - especially in the time it was actually written. Nowadays, with enough money, you could probably pull off most of it. But there is some crazy shit in this play. A mountain erupts, people fly all over the place, burst into flames, there are instant set changes... Not to mention the bazillion characters. Even if you doubled, and tripled, and quadrupled, etc, the casting, you'd still need a massive cast. Perhaps it's not really meant to be performed. I'm sure it has been though, at least a few times, and it would be interesting to see.
In any case, it was a slog, but I got through.