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The Epic of Gilgamesh

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Start date: July 1, 2019

Finish date: July 31, 2019

Discussion: Current Group Reads

Why we're reading this: July 2019 Old School Group Read
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What Members Thought

Jan 03, 2021 Andreea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I did not expect to enjoy this so much - I initially read a poor version (not sure if it's the kindle layout or the translation, it made no sense), but I am glad I gave it another chance because it was EPIC (pun intended).

I absolutely loved it. It was not at all how I expected it to be. It was fast paced, dramatic, yet lyrical at the same time.

It could be an environmental cautionary tale of sorts; I mean, you go to destroy an entire forest and then you get the story of a flood - which was from ...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Sinisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literature, 2020

What else than 5 stars. It’s like giving a star rating to Egyptian pyramids or the Stonehenge.
The mere fact that you are reading some of the oldest saved literature pieces is thrilling – almost magical.
It’s impossible to compare it with anything modern, of course, but it gives us a wonderful window into the mind of the first civilized people.
The most important question for Gilgamesh is: Why do I have to die? What’s the meaning of everything if everything has to vanish, sooner or later.
Isn’t th ...more

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Nov 20, 2010 Mark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A wonderful translation of the first work of literature, the one that is the blueprint for every heroic work to follow. The work whose themes are THE themes-death, immortality, friendship, the meaning of existence, etc. All of that, and perhaps the greatest curse in all of literature (no one curses like the Sumerians, baby).

This translation is user-friendly, that is, it reads well and is easy to read. If you are wondering what people were thinking about several thousand years ago, well, it was ...more

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Sep 03, 2023 Jessica rated it it was amazing

I read the N.K. Sandars translation and the lengthy introduction was tedious to get through. I’d recommend watching some context from another source and then diving directly into the text.

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