Customer Reviews

Faust, Part 1 (Pt.1)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Looking at some reviews by other reviewers, I realized that not everybody has heard of Faust or of Goethe, and I was pretty shocked.

The first part of what I'm saying is about this translation. As Luke so graphically showed in his "Translator's introduction", there are many things that pull at the translator's central agenda: rhyme, metre, primary meaning, nuance, and so on, and the translator has to achieve a balance. Among the translations I've read and from snippets of what I've seen of other translations, Wayne's translation has the most smooth-flowing, elegant rhyme I've seen.

As positives for this translation: The elegance is unparallelled; the wit is sparkling; the metre is almost flawless; the deviation from Goethe is usually acceptable; and there is never, repeat, never, an obvious rhyme-holder word.

As negatives for this translation: There is in a few cases too much of deviation from the original; Wayne at times infuses his own interpretation and character into the work; and the English, though just perfect for, say, a 1950's speaker in England (and those of us used to that kind of word-flow), may be distracting for Americans in 2000.

An example of the latter: "What depth of chanting, whence the blissful tone / That lames my lifting of the fatal glass?" This is pretty representative: if "lames my lifting" does not sound pretentious or obscure, and if the elegance of it strikes you, Wayne's translation is the one for you. If on the other hand, "lames my lifting" sounds straight out of a mediaeval scroll (as I believe is the case with many Americans), then look elsewhere for a translation you will enjoy (read: Luke).

Another, more involved example is in the final lines of Faust II: Wayne translates "Das unbeschreibliche / Hier ists getan" as "Here the ineffable / Wins life through love". Now that, of course is hardly a translation; but it fits in with Wayne's scheme of things - and that IS the point; Wayne has his "scheme of things", which you may or may not like.

The second part of what I'm writing is about Faust itself, the Masterwork: as any German will tell you, Faust is one of the centrepieces of literature, and it is worthwhile learning German JUST to read Faust. Each person comes away from "Faust" having found that that he/she was looking for. Every person is reflected in Faust; "Faust" is the ultimate story of Man. What tempts us, what keeps us, what draws us on, what tears us, what defines us, what lies in store for us - it is all there. "Faust" is a journey everyone should undertake. There is nothing controversial here - no "God", no "Hellfire", nothing but Goethe's straightforward but not blunt, sensitive but not compromised, philosophical but not dreamy, analysis of the human situation. "Faust" is the Master thinker Goethe's sincere attempt at looking at it all; and it does not fall visibly short of the task.

Part I should be read by everyone; Part II is not strictly a sequel, but in many ways is, as Wayne shows in his Introduction. Part II requires some knowledge of Greek Mythology; and does in many ways "complete the story". Only, it goes way beyond that.

I'd guess this is a book that reveals itself more thoroughly in experiences you have after reading it, so reviewing it now may be premature. There are many `big ideas' here, but I can't relate to the suggestion from one reviewer that Faust `held his morals under the worst circumstances' It seems more like Faust gave up his morals one by one under the most pleasant circumstances.

The way I read it, Faust didn't fight temptation; but his curiosity was strong enough to allow him to give in to all temptation without becoming trapped. This has significant metaphysical implications when applied to modern Christianity, and certainly follows the psychological maxim that repressed urges exert a controlling influence on us. It's also not hard to imagine Faust's Mephistopheles as the embodiment of Blake's metaphysical Satan, and maybe it's no coincidence both these artists lived in the same period.

I'm so curious to know how this comes across in German - and believe me, some of the contortions necessary to maintain the rhyme in English provided a temptation to learn German that Mephistopheles himself would have been hard-pressed to match. It's obvious Wayne has done a tremendous job, but there are limits to the achievable; and the feel of this poetry is not natural to the touch except in some later sections of part II. Or maybe it just wasn't so distracting after several hundred pages...

This bilingual copy of Goethe's Faust is a very good edition for students of German, poetry, or the play itself. First, it's very affordable, which is always a plus with the student crowd. More importantly, though, the translation is one of the better ones I have read; it uses just the right touch of poetry and high drama in the language to convey the beauty of Goethe's original German. In the end, though, no translation can ever be as good as the original, so read the German text if you can--it can be difficult, at times, but you won't regret it.

This is a review of the work, not a particular translation (as I couldn't find the translation I read on amazon). Personally, my 4 star rating is a kind of inadequate "average", based on two ratings: 3.5 stars and 5 stars.

The 5 star rating is if you enjoy poetry, especially epic poems. In this case, the story truly does speak through the ages and is timeless. Goethe takes some very old traditions: the main plot is that Mephistopheles (who is the devil) is given permission by God to test the weary scholar Faust by offering to buy his soul in exchange for being Faust's servant. This bears a resemblance to the biblical book of Job and this resemblance continues throughout part 1 as it touches on many philsophical parts of existence.

The story of Faust also has a tradition pre-dating Goethe. In Goethe's work, the story hinges around the initial attempts by Mephistopheles to appease Faust (whereupon he can claim his soul), Faust's affair with Margaret (aka Gretchen) and finally the descent into the chaos that could only have been expected when dealing with Satan. Although people tend to read too much into the work (it has many mundane things as well as profound ones), it probably comes from the fact that Goethe captures many aspects of humanity, desire and obsession so well - so even the most "ordinary" reference is profound.

The 3 star rating is for those who find poetry (and especially epic poetry) difficult. This is the category I fell in. I found all of the above reflections to be true - but they were hard to get to. I believe that the original German is sublime, but it is almost certainly difficult - as would be most translations. Goethe used a whole host of metres and poetic styles so the difficulty is inherent. However, if you bring your concentration and read slowly, it will still be a memorable and enjoyable work.

Hope my powers of concentration improve when I decide to read part 2!

This is truely a classic and brings into focus the fickleness of the human nature. The language is easily understandable butstill retains it classic feel. I enjoyed reading it for this simplicity. Definately one of my favourite books.

I never knew how enjoyable reading plays could be until I read Part I of FAUST. I enjoyed it much more than The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet. It has an interesting plot and several lines that I will never forget. It also shows how able a man is to hold his morals under the worst circumstances. Buy the Philip Wayne translation. He translated the work without using any Old English, makes it very easy to understand by the word order, and most of all makes great rhymes.

MEPHISTO:I would have the devil take me instantly, but I myself am he.

I had always wanted to read von Goethe's classic Faust. It gets referenced alot in historical and biographical works. It seems to be a foundational work in Western thought. I knew that it had some kind of allegorical connection to the Book of Job. And I knew that, one day, I would read it.

So, about a year ago, I picked it up, and began to read. It took me about a year to get through it. It was easy to put down and forget about for periods of time. I was cognizant of reading entire passages, and groups of pages, without really getting what was going on.

I was surprised to find that it is written as a play, and also in a poetic form. There is a rhyme in every single line. I marveled at the translator, who, by recreating it in English from the original German, did so while setting forth the rhymes as in German. This struck me as perhaps more brilliant than von Goethe's putting it to paper in the first place!

The work was begun circa 1810, in Germany, and completed in 1832. This is a period of time in German history, when my forbears, the Gottlied Durr family, were contemplating a move to the United States. I did wonder about this factor as I read. What was it in German life, that brought about such a great piece of literature, at the same time that many Germans were leaving their homeland for a better life across the Atlantic?

The piece does seem to be infused with a lot of cynicism. The primary theme has to do with the relationship of Mephistopheles (Satan) and the protagonist, Faust. Faust is like so many of us - wanting more out of this life: love, wealth, fame, power. He promises his allegiance to Satan, if he could produce a romantic liaison with the object of Faust's affections, the virtuous Gretchen. The meeting comes about, ultimately resulting in the deflowering of Gretchen. From there Faust's life begins to degrade morally, in parallel with his stunning ascension to power and wealth.

But even here, I am not sure if I am getting all of this right! The middle part of the book detours into all these dialogues between mythological characters, peppered with biblical and historical references. There is a storyline developing in the Heavenly places, that parallels Faust's own life. A classic "good versus evil" theme permeates, but there is ample gray area here. The life promoted by Mephistopheles is none other than a conventional ladder of success most coveted in modern Western culture. Work hard, meet the right people, hang out with the best looking women and most powerful men, worry not about moral ambiguity; go for the gusto and live the good life.

Mephistopheles makes a strong, convincing case for living this life, while portraying the virtuous life as boring, vain, of no point. Indeed, the most interesting and engaging character in Faust is the Devil himself! And as such, the story prefigures the modern era's Western collapse, resulting from a decaying moral code.

But . . . I may be totally wrong here. I did manage to jot down some very powerful points made. Here is a sample of some of my favorites:

It's true, at last we all depend
On creatures we ourselves created.

And, this from one of the "Four Grey Women", the one named "Worry":

Whom I once possess will ever
Find the world not worth endeavor;
Endless gloom around him being,
Rise nor set of sun he's seeing.
Be each outer sense excelling,
Still is darkness in him dwelling;
He cannot through any measures
Make him lord of any treasures.
All luck turns into caprices;
Him midst plenty hunger seizes.
Be it joy or be it sorrow,
He postpones it till the morrow,
Waiting for the future ever
And therefore achieving never.

It is full of excellent prose and wisdom like this, but you have to be very diligent to catch it when your eyes pass over it.

I had thought the book a tragedy, and this is how I expected it to end. Yet, we find the "immortal part" of Faust being taken up to Heaven, while his mortal part is being dealt with by the demons in the underworld. This of course does not square with orthodoxy. His soul, too, is unconscious upon leaving his body. As it is being heralded upward, it does not awake. In many ways it seems a highly impersonal entity. It is just some living part that is aware of nothing. We have the sense that, once dead, Faust is indeed, gone. He is dead, and thus is no more. His immortal part is with us, yet inanimate. And is this not what our senses tell us anyway?

So, I'm not sure what the whole point was. The man spent his life in league with the devil, and ends up "saved" anyway.

It sounds like another reading is in order, and participation in a Faust disussion group! But if you want to fill your repertoire with the greatest works in history, definitely read Faust!

People have been reviewing the book but my review is for the condition of the book I received. I purchased with prime at full price and assumed the book would be new. I guess I should never assume because my book isn't entirely new. the back corner is bent and the spine is slightly warped on the bottom. Overall the book in pretty good condition and I can still read the book just fine but it was kind of disappointing receiving a book that is damaged when it was purchased for full price.

This review exclusively addresses the Kindle edition of this Bantam edition of Faust, Part I. I jumped at the chance to order this, since according to the Kindle preview, the text included the line numbers which, in a classic work where line numbers have been assigned, is essential when you need to find a quote, given a reference in some other work. Otherwise, what I saw in the preview was all positive. When I opened the Kindle edition,the conversion from text to electronic text left artifacts, squares, lots of them, on every line of the play, in both the English and the German edition. As an aside, I would point out that the English and German do NOT occur on facing pages in the Kindle rendition. I can't speak for the paper edition, although, like virtually every dual language book in existance, the two languages are commonly found on facing pages.

Amazon, or whomever did this conversion may correct this some time in the future, but you will not be able to detect the problem unless you actually purchase the edition. I would steer clear of this edition, unless you hear that the problem has been corrected. I would also look for a bi-lingual version with two languages on facing pages.

I wish I had read Faust without knowing the story or having seen/read the numerous knockoffs that have appeared over the years. Having said that, it will influence my review. Unfortunately, I am too familiar with the story to have enjoyed it. The translation seemed too archaic for my liking. I found it hard to keep my attention and appreciate not only the story, but the style of the writing.
I'm giving it three stars because a book doesn't last without it being influential and liked by many generations. If not for me, this book does that for many other people.
Ultimately, I am disappointed that the book didn't hold my attention. I am a voracious reader and I love the classics. Perhaps it was the translation I was disappointed with. If you read this book, give it time and appreciate the nuances of the story.