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Title: If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Sappho, Anne Carson ISBN: 0375410678 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 27 August, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 5
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant
Comment: This work is a treasure, I don't know how we can thank Pof. Carson enough.
Rating: 5
Summary: Beautiful new translation of an ancient favorite
Comment: There is precious little known about the ancient Greek Poet, Sappho. Most of us know the obvious, that she was a famous poet and lyricist (meaning, she composed music to be sung with the lyre) and that she lived on the island of Lesbos off the Greek coast in about 630 B.C.. However, almost all other details about her life, such as they are, come from texts written about her by other ancient writers; of the 9 books of lyrics she is reported to have written, none survive today.
Fragments of poetry written by Sappho still exist, but most are damaged or illegible. Hence, here as in other previous works of the poetry of Sappho, the reader is left with only fragments of what clearly must have been delicate and breathtakingly beautiful poetry. As Ms. Carson says in her introduction to her translations, the reader is left with a profound sense of wonder when confronted with the small snippets of Sappho's poetry. For example, all that survives of poem 36 is "I long and seek after". What, we wonder, does the rest of the poem pertain to? What flowing scenes did she paint with her words that we can never know?
I personally am not a Classicist, though I HAVE read through many of the surviving texts of the ancient worlds: Beowulf & The Odyssey, for example, and occasionally I'll attack some texts in Latin and have a go at the translation. However, for the most part, I am not a scholar of ancient times or texts. I'm here to say that one does NOT, even for a second, need to know much about ancient Greek culture, text or times to thoroughly enjoy these translations. Granted, you will find that most poems are little more than bits of a whole (sometimes only a word or two survives), but even these small pieces will cause your imagination to soar.
Ms. Carson has also boldly gone where no translator has gone before (to my knowledge). In previous translations of Sappho's poetry that I've read, the pages are crammed tight with the fragments themselves, explanations and footnotes. In Ms. Carson's book, each page is dedicated to one fragment of Sappho's poetry, regardless of it's length. In this respect, a poem that is only three words long has an entire page dedicated to itself. This is a wonderful touch, as it means that the reader's entire attention can be focused only on that poem, no matter how small, without the distraction of commentary by the author (Ms. Carson puts an extensive appendix at the back where she adds her thoughts and comments on the fragment's origin, word meaning and characters). Opposite the English translations are the original fragments in their original Greek characters. I myself cannot read Greek, but I found it a beautiful and thought-provoking touch to be able to look at what Sappho wrote in her own language. Though I'm not able to read Greek, it made the text more alive to have it there for me to look at and examine.
In conclusion, anyone who enjoys ancient Greek culture, ancient history or simply enjoys reading poetry should not hesitate to add this book to their collection. I'd personally go so far as to say that if you've got a different volume of Sappho's poetry, make some shelf space to add THIS book as well. For the clean, uncluttered page and lyrical, moving translation, I highly recommend this work and highly compliment Ms. Carson on her work.
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Title: Eros the Bittersweet by Anne Carson ISBN: 1564781887 Publisher: Dalkey Archive Pr Pub. Date: 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Glass, Irony and God by Anne Carson, Guy Davenport ISBN: 0811213021 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson ISBN: 037570129X Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos by Anne Carson ISBN: 0375707573 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 19 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: After Nature by W.G. Sebald ISBN: 0375504850 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 03 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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