A review by readerbot_lu
Beowulf: A New Translation by Anonymous

adventurous tense slow-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

Did I like it? Yes
Do I recommend it? Yes

Favorite Quotes

"We all know a boy can't daddy until his daddy's dead." (4)

"Horrors happen, I'm grown, I know it. Bro, Fate can fuck you up." (22)

Positives

I really like the translator’s concept of Beowulf as a bro story and paying special attention to how the women were portrayed in her translation. The introduction she wrote for the volume was really insightful for her process and perspective as a translator. Some of the reasons I like Beowulf are its kennings and alliteration and this translation has some fun with that. 

Beowulf was an oral text written down in one fraught copy and I like the idea of its history being layered into it. Both in the sense of its original transcription and in this translation to more modern poetry. It feels right for an oral text to have that shifting history visible. 

Negatives

While the mesh of modern and old vocabularies worked really well for the most part, there were a couple times where they brought me out of the story. 

Also, it can be hard to keep track of all the names and places in Beowulf and I just wish for a little diagram sometimes.