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A review by mrpatperkins
Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
One thing I liked: the author’s version of the tale is readable. He admits this isn’t a translation, but he takes the best of different versions and modernizes them.
Two things I didn’t like: his introduction and his endnotes. The introduction is basically a summary and analysis of the entire tale, and once you’ve read it, is there any point to reading the rest of it? Then there’s the notes, which make up a big chunk of the back of the book but aren’t linked in the text. Without numbering, how am I to know to look at the notes? It’s a weird and inefficient system.
Two things I didn’t like: his introduction and his endnotes. The introduction is basically a summary and analysis of the entire tale, and once you’ve read it, is there any point to reading the rest of it? Then there’s the notes, which make up a big chunk of the back of the book but aren’t linked in the text. Without numbering, how am I to know to look at the notes? It’s a weird and inefficient system.