Faust: 0 (Norton Critical Editions): A Norton Critical Edition

Very much enjoying the verse translation, and the notes!The notes at the bottom of the page are short enough that they don't interrupt the flow of reading, and often provide a line or two from a literary allusion. The material at the back helps firm up your understanding of the sections you just read. The verse usually sorts itself out after a second reading-- actually a little easier going than Shakespeare.I generally plow straight through to get a sense of a literary work, but there's a lot going on in this story with literary allusions, characters making cameo appearances, and back and forth between the highly educated Faust and sophisticated Mephistopheles. Some of the characters would be more obvious if you were watching them on-stage, with the visual take on who their personas represent. I decided to slow down, and look at the supplementary material. Jumping back and forth between the notes, supplementary material, and the prose turns out to be fun, as this critical edition is so well done.Tried this first in the original German, which sounds much better, but found I was missing too much of what was going on, even though I was a German major back in the day. Glad to have discovered this translation and a different approach. There's enough imagery and original turns of phrase that the story is still an enjoyable read when you look at it in chunks, and return to the main text.Before I started, I jumped in back and read what my old friends Heine and Emerson had to say. Haven't talked to them (but briefly) for years, since college. Felt like going back to a reunion. My professor said to read Faust after you are 40, not just as an undergrad. The perspective is definitely different once you're in the circumstance of Dr. Faust, when you've discovered your own limits on how much knowledge you can reasonably acquire, and have to start engaging with what is actually out there in the world for you to experience.Am looking forward to reading this masterwork a few different ways in the upcoming year!

In one volume you have an excellent translation, very useful notes within the text and a comprehensive selection of critical writings giving invaluable insight into this fascinating work! As well as being of use to the Faust scholar this is also a great introduction to the piece for those who have yet to discover it. And don't be put off by the accumulated weight of intellectual opinion it has gathered over the years. Goethe, himself, suggested you can read it just for fun!

Includes detailed notes which are essential in understanding this poem. Very good translation. Many detailed essays are included after the text of the 2nd part, which improve understanding of this very complex work ( many allusions to arcane references). A critical text is necessary. This is the one to have.

Having tried my hand at translations myself, I am awestruck by the performance of Walter Arndt. Faust is rightly regarded as a climax in German letters and,together with Don Quixote,The Divine Comedy, War and Peace and King Lear,in world literature. The nobility of its language, the sharpness of its mockery, the breadth of its subject matter and the beauty of its lyricism all make it unique. And all pose seemingly insuperable problems to the translator What should a translator do? Try to convey meaning as literally as possible? Reproduce rhyme and meter patterns as faithfully as possible? Convey the spirit of the work more than its form and letters? All of these are worthy objectives but they all are competing and, seemingly, mutually exclusive ones. It is a measure of Mr.Arndt's artistry that these conflicts seem to dissolve in his text. From the beautiful and melancholy Dedication that precedes Part I to the mystical and esoteric completion of Part II I was unable to find a single jarring note, even though I love the German text with some fanaticism. Compare the following: Ihr naht Euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten Die frueh sich einst dem trueben Blick gezeigt Wag ich es wohl Euch diesmal fest zu halten.. Once more you near me, wavering apparitions That early showed before the turbid gaze Will now I seek to grant you definition... Or this: Alles Vergaengliche Ist nur ein Gleichniss Das Unzulaengliche Hier wird's Ereignisss Das Unbeschreibliche Hier ist es gethan Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan. All that is changeable Is but refraction The unattainable Here becomes action Human discernment Here is passed by Woman Eternal Draw us on high.One may quarrel with the last line (I would have preferred "draws" since the chorus is not praying but praising), but what matters much more is that the sensation of "Ausklang", of a closing chord, is reproduced perfectly without doing (much) violence to the meaning. Mr. Arndt's (or are they the Editor's?) generous explanatory footnotes are a mine of erudition and good sense. Only the quality and relevance of the Essays by various authors, appended to the work, are of variable quality.

Norton Critical, Second, Edition by Walter Arndt and Cyrus Hamlin. You get the full translation of Faust I and II, plus, nearly 400 additional pages of interpretive notes, contextual artwork, chronologies, comments by contemporaries, and modern criticisms. Additionally, there are numerous footnotes throughout the translation, which give useful background information. This Arndt translation of Foust, in this edition, is from around 1975.Arndt’s translation is arguably one of the top-five modern translations and it is quite good. However, I found it to be somewhat archaic and overly formal; kind of like reading the King James Version of the Bible. I much prefer the David Luke (Oxford) translation from 1987. It is much more readable without sacrificing accuracy.I read both books, and both translations, at the same time; they complemented each other perfectly. This Norton Critical edition is better than taking a graduate course on Faust. You walk away with an understanding, not only of Faust, but also of Goethe, the German and European cultural milieu of Goethe’s time, and a good bit about theatre.