Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: This review and the stars are limited to the Kaufmann translation rather than the substance of Faust. Though confessing personal irritation as to reviews dealing with translation (for after all, who cares, and we would rather have your learned opinion of the book, please), after enduring this translation, I have happily passed the forgoing neophyte point of view, being here subject, as one in a symphonic pit, to questionable playing destroying some very good music. One hesitantly criticizes a dead man(Kaufmann) credited with such a large and apparently well done body of work (though Kaufmann's translation of Heine appearing in Norton Second Edition of Faust (2001) is similarly scrummed up.),including Kaufmann's introduction here, which takes pain to reveal that translators take liberties with Goethe, but that the Kaufmann translation is faithful and literal, where possible. But, like a gullible freshman, Kaufmann sets himself up by (laudably) including on the left the original German so that line by line comparison with his translation on the right is possible, at least for those with rudimentary German. Proceeding on past the intro, and faced with the constant page by page temptation to actually read the German, suspicions of "mistakes", and more disturbingly an awkward and tortured text begin their insidious accumulation. Such problems the reader is to attribute directly to Goethe, for Kaufman has warned in his intro " Goethe was not always at his best", that Goethe's style is like "sapphires in the mud" with a lot of mud and an occasional sapphire, and further, forwarding the implication that much of Part II is only questionably worth persevering through, a statement which might be big news to some very reputable critics. The phalacy of blaming Goethe becomes palpable, even shocking, on comparison of the Kaufmann with the Walter Arndt translation in the Norton Second Edition, and also by reading of Goethe's letters and conversations in the Norton which reveal with certitude the always eloquent writing of this genius who took such obvious pains to communicate artistically and clearly his every word. Where Kaufmann is clumsy, off the mark, constantly mistranslating basic German words, and misinterpreting meaning so as to cause impossibility in understanding, the exact same lines in the Norton are understandable, poetic and eloquent. These are two different books, one hesitant, choppy and questionably accurate, while the other appears to create in English the masterpiece that is Faust. Recognizing that any translation is at least partly a matter of individual preference and taste, this reviewer would nevertheless have to recommend at least a glance at the Norton prior to spending the considerable time necessary to make it through this timeless classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Questionable playing!
Review: This review and the stars are limited to the Kaufmann translation rather than the substance of Faust. Though confessing personal irritation as to reviews dealing with translation (for after all, who cares, and we would rather have your learned opinion of the book, please), after enduring this translation, I have happily passed the forgoing neophyte point of view, being here subject, as one in a symphonic pit, to questionable playing destroying some very good music. One hesitantly criticizes a dead man(Kaufmann) credited with such a large and apparently well done body of work (though Kaufmann's translation of Heine appearing in Norton Second Edition of Faust (2001) is similarly scrummed up.),including Kaufmann's introduction here, which takes pain to reveal that translators take liberties with Goethe, but that the Kaufmann translation is faithful and literal, where possible. But, like a gullible freshman, Kaufmann sets himself up by (laudably) including on the left the original German so that line by line comparison with his translation on the right is possible, at least for those with rudimentary German. Proceeding on past the intro, and faced with the constant page by page temptation to actually read the German, suspicions of "mistakes", and more disturbingly an awkward and tortured text begin their insidious accumulation. Such problems the reader is to attribute directly to Goethe, for Kaufman has warned in his intro " Goethe was not always at his best", that Goethe's style is like "sapphires in the mud" with a lot of mud and an occasional sapphire, and further, forwarding the implication that much of Part II is only questionably worth persevering through, a statement which might be big news to some very reputable critics. The phalacy of blaming Goethe becomes palpable, even shocking, on comparison of the Kaufmann with the Walter Arndt translation in the Norton Second Edition, and also by reading of Goethe's letters and conversations in the Norton which reveal with certitude the always eloquent writing of this genius who took such obvious pains to communicate artistically and clearly his every word. Where Kaufmann is clumsy, off the mark, constantly mistranslating basic German words, and misinterpreting meaning so as to cause impossibility in understanding, the exact same lines in the Norton are understandable, poetic and eloquent. These are two different books, one hesitant, choppy and questionably accurate, while the other appears to create in English the masterpiece that is Faust. Recognizing that any translation is at least partly a matter of individual preference and taste, this reviewer would nevertheless have to recommend at least a glance at the Norton prior to spending the considerable time necessary to make it through this timeless classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Kaufmann's translation doesn't compromise Goethe's poetry
Review: Walter Kaufmann's magnificent translation of Goethe's "Faust" preserves the original poetic qualities of the classic play. He neither compromises the integrity of the work by using shallow 90's-words or mires it in unpleasant, unreadable "ye" and "thou"s. In my opinion, it is the best translation of "Faust" I have come across, and Kaufmann's commentary (being a native German himself) proves that he is an authority on both the idiomatic elements of the original work and the intent of Goethe's style. The only drawback to the book is that most of Part II is excluded; while Pt. II generally is considered to drag on ad nauseum by first-time readers, students of German romanticism miss rich imagery and lush allusions by receiving only a synopsis of the robust scenes of Pt. II. Otherwise, Kaufmann's work is unequaled.
Rating: 
Summary: THE ETERNAL FEMININE LURES TO PERFECTION...
Review: Walter Kaufmann's stunning translation of the closing verse of FAUST links it with Dante's closing hymm to Grace and THE MEDIATRIX of Salvation in The Divine Comedy. Dante's work is the preeminent literary discourse on FAITH in Medieval literature. Many regard it as the Christian Poet's SUMMA to parallel Thomas Aquinas' Theo-Philosophical magnum opus. FAUST was Goethe's life-long work challenging faith in ANYTHING (("If I say to the Moment 'Stay thou art so fair'...my soul etc...")). Many regard "Faust" as eponymous with the Modern Western Project (rightly or wrongly perceived as WILL to POWER incarnate).Goethe himself was called "The Last Aristocrat of the West" by Nietzsche,the man who heralded much of the intellectual disaster and mediocrity currently engulfing us under the terms Post-Modernism and Deconstructionism.I mention DECONSTRUCTIONISM because it is AGAINST these forces of CHAOS that Goethe's hero utters words that should cost him his soul: THE DAM is Being built to save; to conserve; to Be: It represents LOGOS...and WHAT can EXIST. That Faust is saved by a pure-of-heart Christian girl in a fairy-tale ending with huge gnostic overtones may rightly befuddle readers who try to reason a "Leap of Faith" Goethe couldn't make but little Gretchen heroically does. The real point of this review is praise of Kaufmann's translation.It may not be word-for-word accurate. But it doesn't devolve into trite Post-Modernism's more suited to graphic novels than profound World Literature.My German is barely adequate. Try reading awkward translations of Nietzsche or poets like Heine. Then you'll appreciate Kaufmann as both gifted philosopher and poet in his own right. This translation of FAUST...full of grandeur, wisdom, irony, cynicism,pathos and occasional gnostic nonsense, is THE TRANSLATION to beat.
Rating:
Summary: A passable attempt
Review: While the translator deserves praise in his efforts of tackling a difficult work, the result is average at best. The excision of text, as has already been noted by other reviewers, is the biggest reason to avoid this translation, but I will admit that it is perhaps the most accessible and easily read translation available. For those with a serious interest in Goethe and Faust, I would recommend the Walter Arndt/Cyrus Hamlin critical edition from Norton. I believe that to be a much more accurate rendering of Goethe's exemplary work.
Rating:
Summary: Neat Story, Bad Translation
Review: While this version of Faust does its job in telling the story, Kaufmann sacrificed good translation for style. He mimicks the style of the German, but what rhymes in German doesn't rhyme in English. When I read it, I had to cover the page in German because as a fluent German speaker, I noticed how poorly it was translated. Some sentences are very odd. He translates "Der Faust traegt einen Schmuck" which means Faust wears jewelry as "He was a dandy beau." Read this version only for its story, not its translation.
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