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robinbsmith 's review for:
Faust I & II
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(I read the Atkins translation)
Brilliant but kind of crazy.
On the one hand, I love it and it's full of gemstone-caliber nuggets of wisdom, and it's highly literate and informed. On the other hand, I found certain aspects and portions of it to be tedious (esp. in Part 2) and did not think it really hung together as a complete work, despite the claims of the translator about its cohesiveness.
It's worth reading if only for the marvel of the acute mind that composed it... even if that mind composed it in a very unbalanced and haphazardly scattered way. Still, even this aspect of it is worthy and inspiring, to a certain extent. As a life's monumental work, it is very esteemable, if only for the scope of its conception and view of its composer it provides. In total, it is a virtuoso piece of writing, with a wealth of classical elements added to a tradition of Faust-lore that is second to none. Marlowe is still the man with the crown, but Goethe stands right next to him showing off his skills and insights in a glorious aria on a theme. Mic Drop: "HOMUNCULUS mounts DOLPHIN-PROTEUS"
Without having any other translation to compare it to, my feeling was that Atkins did a tremendous job, because there were innumerable lines that I found quote-worthy and proverbial. Obviously, Goethe deserves most of the credit for this, but Atkins deserves rich credit as well.
Brilliant but kind of crazy.
On the one hand, I love it and it's full of gemstone-caliber nuggets of wisdom, and it's highly literate and informed. On the other hand, I found certain aspects and portions of it to be tedious (esp. in Part 2) and did not think it really hung together as a complete work, despite the claims of the translator about its cohesiveness.
It's worth reading if only for the marvel of the acute mind that composed it... even if that mind composed it in a very unbalanced and haphazardly scattered way. Still, even this aspect of it is worthy and inspiring, to a certain extent. As a life's monumental work, it is very esteemable, if only for the scope of its conception and view of its composer it provides. In total, it is a virtuoso piece of writing, with a wealth of classical elements added to a tradition of Faust-lore that is second to none. Marlowe is still the man with the crown, but Goethe stands right next to him showing off his skills and insights in a glorious aria on a theme. Mic Drop: "HOMUNCULUS mounts DOLPHIN-PROTEUS"
Without having any other translation to compare it to, my feeling was that Atkins did a tremendous job, because there were innumerable lines that I found quote-worthy and proverbial. Obviously, Goethe deserves most of the credit for this, but Atkins deserves rich credit as well.