Faust (Faust)

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read.
Review: I never knew how enjoyable reading plays could be until I read Part I of FAUST. I enjoyed it much more than The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet. It has an interesting plot and several lines that I will never forget. It also shows how able a man is to hold his morals under the worst circumstances. Buy the Philip Wayne translation. He translated the work without using any Old English, makes it very easy to understand by the word order, and most of all makes great rhymes.

MEPHISTO:I would have the devil take me instantly, but I myself am he.

Rating:
Summary: The most elegant among the translations I've read
Review: Looking at some reviews by other reviewers, I realized that not everybody has heard of Faust or of Goethe, and I was pretty shocked.

The first part of what I'm saying is about this translation. As Luke so graphically showed in his "Translator's introduction", there are many things that pull at the translator's central agenda: rhyme, metre, primary meaning, nuance, and so on, and the translator has to achieve a balance. Among the translations I've read and from snippets of what I've seen of other translations, Wayne's translation has the most smooth-flowing, elegant rhyme I've seen.

As positives for this translation: The elegance is unparallelled; the wit is sparkling; the metre is almost flawless; the deviation from Goethe is usually acceptable; and there is never, repeat, never, an obvious rhyme-holder word.

As negatives for this translation: There is in a few cases too much of deviation from the original; Wayne at times infuses his own interpretation and character into the work; and the English, though just perfect for, say, a 1950's speaker in England (and those of us used to that kind of word-flow), may be distracting for Americans in 2000.

An example of the latter: "What depth of chanting, whence the blissful tone / That lames my lifting of the fatal glass?" This is pretty representative: if "lames my lifting" does not sound pretentious or obscure, and if the elegance of it strikes you, Wayne's translation is the one for you. If on the other hand, "lames my lifting" sounds straight out of a mediaeval scroll (as I believe is the case with many Americans), then look elsewhere for a translation you will enjoy (read: Luke).

Another, more involved example is in the final lines of Faust II: Wayne translates "Das unbeschreibliche / Hier ists getan" as "Here the ineffable / Wins life through love". Now that, of course is hardly a translation; but it fits in with Wayne's scheme of things - and that IS the point; Wayne has his "scheme of things", which you may or may not like.

The second part of what I'm writing is about Faust itself, the Masterwork: as any German will tell you, Faust is one of the centrepieces of literature, and it is worthwhile learning German JUST to read Faust. Each person comes away from "Faust" having found that that he/she was looking for. Every person is reflected in Faust; "Faust" is the ultimate story of Man. What tempts us, what keeps us, what draws us on, what tears us, what defines us, what lies in store for us - it is all there. "Faust" is a journey everyone should undertake. There is nothing controversial here - no "God", no "Hellfire", nothing but Goethe's straightforward but not blunt, sensitive but not compromised, philosophical but not dreamy, analysis of the human situation. "Faust" is the Master thinker Goethe's sincere attempt at looking at it all; and it does not fall visibly short of the task.

Part I should be read by everyone; Part II is not strictly a sequel, but in many ways is, as Wayne shows in his Introduction. Part II requires some knowledge of Greek Mythology; and does in many ways "complete the story". Only, it goes way beyond that.

Rating:
Summary: Either 3 or 5 stars depending on who you are
Review: This is a review of the work, not a particular translation (as I couldn't find the translation I read on amazon). Personally, my 4 star rating is a kind of inadequate "average", based on two ratings: 3.5 stars and 5 stars.

The 5 star rating is if you enjoy poetry, especially epic poems. In this case, the story truly does speak through the ages and is timeless. Goethe takes some very old traditions: the main plot is that Mephistopheles (who is the devil) is given permission by God to test the weary scholar Faust by offering to buy his soul in exchange for being Faust's servant. This bears a resemblance to the biblical book of Job and this resemblance continues throughout part 1 as it touches on many philsophical parts of existence.

The story of Faust also has a tradition pre-dating Goethe. In Goethe's work, the story hinges around the initial attempts by Mephistopheles to appease Faust (whereupon he can claim his soul), Faust's affair with Margaret (aka Gretchen) and finally the descent into the chaos that could only have been expected when dealing with Satan. Although people tend to read too much into the work (it has many mundane things as well as profound ones), it probably comes from the fact that Goethe captures many aspects of humanity, desire and obsession so well - so even the most "ordinary" reference is profound.

The 3 star rating is for those who find poetry (and especially epic poetry) difficult. This is the category I fell in. I found all of the above reflections to be true - but they were hard to get to. I believe that the original German is sublime, but it is almost certainly difficult - as would be most translations. Goethe used a whole host of metres and poetic styles so the difficulty is inherent. However, if you bring your concentration and read slowly, it will still be a memorable and enjoyable work.

Hope my powers of concentration improve when I decide to read part 2!