Reviews

Beowulf: A Verse Translation (Second Edition) (Norton Critical Editions) by Daniel Donoghue, Seamus Heaney

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theos_sunlit_bookcafe's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense

3.5

slferg's review

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adventurous challenging inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

A translation of Beowulf that is a double language book. The original language on one page and the modern English translation facing it. The tale is not difficult to get through. There are notes to the side that relate a summary of the text. Quite interesting.

gather_ye_rosebuds's review

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

alexpullen02's review

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

ed_m00re's review

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adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Though written during around 750 in Anglo-Saxon England, that being over 1200 years ago, the tale of Beowulf was surprisingly readable and ‘modern’, md crediting that to Heaney’s success in his translation of the old epic. Such poem follows the Norse king Beowulf as he quests to defeat three monsters, being Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon . Though not a burden to read, the poem was somewhat limited in what I found to be a lack of development, there being no description of Grendel or his mother and causing wide scholarly debate of what these creatures are. Beowulf as a hero also faces the same problems I considered Odysseus to have (Homers epic being the first comparison that came to mind), each of their plot armour making battles and threats underwhelming. Beowulf does differ to Odysseus however in what could be seen as the ‘twist’ given the perception given throughout most of the poem. I shan’t however discredit this too much, as with translation and it’s great age much has been lost or not recorded from its oral origins. Instead, I can only praise Heaney for his revival and means of granting accessibility to this ancient tale.