Faust in Classics and the Western Canon

Dec 16, 2011 Moira marked it as amazon-wishlist · review of another edition

AUGH. This is $199. ...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Wendy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: blooms-western-canon, plays, auf-deutsch, classics, all-time-favorites

Goethe's Faust is one of those rare classics that you feel good about reading and that you actually enjoy reading--well, I did anyway, to the point where my husband was laughing at my eagerness to "go snuggle up with some Faust" as he put it. An accurate observation. But that doesn't mean this is an easy read. I had the good fortune to get my hands on an outstanding edition translated by Walter Kaufmann, who through a mix of rigorous work and sheer genius managed to impart the rhyme, rhythm, and Goethe's Faust is one of those rare classics that you feel good about reading and that you actually enjoy reading--well, I did anyway, to the point where my husband was laughing at my eagerness to "go snuggle up with some Faust" as he put it. An accurate observation. But that doesn't mean this is an easy read. I had the good fortune to get my hands on an outstanding edition translated by Walter Kaufmann, who through a mix of rigorous work and sheer genius managed to impart the rhyme, rhythm, and meaning of the original into English version. The edition is laid out with the German text on the left page, and the English on the facing right, so that that I could read the German and let my eyes flick over to the English side during the denser, more poetic sections to make sure I hadn't missed anything important.

I think most of us have encountered some version of the old "sold my soul to the devil" trope, but how many of us know the original story (ok, there were many versions of Faust/Faustus before Goethe put his spin on it, but still)? This isn't as dull or tragic a "tragedy" as most of us have somehow been led to believe. The story and language are earthy and funny, especially the devil-incarnate Mephistopheles who can draw wine from a table. The titular Faust himself is naive and silly and dangerously ambitious, but his love for Gretchen is touchingly real, if misguided, and you just want it to work out, knowing there's no way it can... But I think what surprised me most about Faust is the moral ambiguity in this story about making deals with devils, which on the surface sounds (morally) pretty cut and dry (I hear Marlowe's version adheres to more Church-approved messages). Goethe himself was not a religious man, and it's clear from the choices he makes as a writer that, in his view, good and evil are messily intertwined.

I can't recommend this book and this edition highly enough.

**I should mention that this translator included all of Part One, and judiciously chose to summarize most of the more rambling and esoteric Part Two: only Acts 1 and 5 appear in full, and from the introductory explanations, I think it was a wise choice.** ...more

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