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- johngossmanThe reviewer, Philip Terry, is himself a very good, very clever poet. His "Dictator" is an absolutely brilliant translation into Globish, a simplified English designed for commerce. He reasons that cuneiform had a similar role in cross-language understanding. Terry refuses to use words outside Globish's 1500-word vocabulary, resulting in Gilgamesh being translated "Dictator", but also imposes a bizarre prose form, leaves out holes in the original tablets, and "translates" some idioms literally...all with great humor. The result looks like this:Then day | light break | …… [And] WILD | MAN make | of he | mouth a | shape… he say | to DIC | TATOR ‘Listen | to the | dream I | dream in | the night The sky | god | + + + the | war god | the god | of know | ledge and | the sun | god all | meet to | gether | in the | great court | of the | sky… And the | sky god | AN + + + | say to | the war | god… “Because | they kill | the MAN | COW of | the sky | + + + and | because | they kill | TREEGUARD the one* | who cut | down the | hard wood | tree on | the moun | tain side | must die”It shouldn't be your first read of Gilgamesh, but its a fun, insightful second.
- SharlinA very funny and informative book review of Gilgamesh (based on Andrew George’s 2003 edition/translation) by a guest author was recently published at Astral Codex Ten: https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/your-book-review-the-epic-o...Recommended reading for anyone interested in knowing more about the work.
- boonzeetIt was also interesting learning about the role of Poet Laureate, and the stipend. £5,750 per annum, and a barrel of Sherry; the latter being a tradition since 1630.I love these small slivers of old traditions that are kept up into the modern day.
- dsignI have some friends that come from that part of the world. It brings me to tears that they are good Christians and Muslims but don't remember Inanna nor Asherah, nor all the others who the priests murdered so that Yahweh could thrive...as a widower. Gosh though I don't think old Yahweh would have liked what the priests did to him either...
- simonsarrisSimon Armitage's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is exceptional, much better IMO than the Tolkien translation. So I'm very excited for this.The audio performance of it by Bill Wallis is also a family favorite:https://www.audible.com/pd/Sir-Gawain-and-the-Green-Knight-A...
- fguerrazI highly recommend this episode of BBC In Our Time: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080wbrq
- busssardThere is a free Translation by another Author from 1924:https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/epic-of-gilgamesh-ebook.htm...
- teruakohatuI have been wanting to read it. Is this the translation/interpretation I should start with?
- metalmanno mention of this bieng an actual translation from the original sumerian in any of the reviews, and the truely epic and laudable journey that is bieng replaced by the sleezy term 'verse translation', ie : hollywood sceen play ready, as that is what could be the most that can be expected from a former probation officer turned the official british royal panegrist.edit: the songs of innana and other older actual translations of gilgamesh are there for some little peeks into the sumerian world that continues to define ours in so many subtle ways.edit, edit: before commenting I did a fairly decent search for any details on this 'book' , of which nothing that I found written in plain text offered anything other than the standard devious prevercations found when some politico/legalistic thing is bieng floated. And I can state with absolute certitude that this 'translation/rewrite' of Gilgamesh will not age well even in the tiny demographic it is aimed at and will go further out on the limb and suggest that this 'work' will soon be evaluated and found to contain certain 'isms' from some of the one name only agregators of our literary present.
- thaumasiotes> Armitage wisely avoids rhyme, unlike some recent versions – there is no evidence of rhyme in the original textNo rhyme in the original doesn't mean there should be no rhyme in the English. Akkadian and English are different languages. English verse rhymes.