louisaisreading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
crystal_reading's review
3.0
This reminded me of Beowulf with the fighting, kings that show their power through many gifts, etc.... Quite the bloodthirsty group of characters.
christian_mcguire's review
3.0
The Nibelungenlied is a German heroic epic from around 1200 (although it comes from a oral lineage that dates back further). Although it is easy to compare to other Medieval epic poems in form, such as Beowulf, The Song of Roland or El Cid, not to mention The Illiad for being a war epic, The Nibelungenlied is most comparable in plot to Shakespeare's tragedies. To explain while minimizing spoilage, the story is thus: the large cast of characters slowly assemble until a particular and casual wrongdoing occurs and animosity between characters gradually escalates until most of the characters are dead via violence. Much like with Shakespearean tragedy, the theme revolves around violence and its causes. In this case, The Nibelungenlied is about blood feuds, and how what we now understand as toxic masculinity leads to people doing awful things to eachother out of arrogance and pride. Many of the characters end up dead (which the poet tells us frequently, he periodically and gratuitously foreshadows) because their compulsion to get revenge or otherwise solve problems by just killing people leads to their own doom. In short, The Nibelungenlied is about humanity's inherent propensity towards violence creating all sorts of destruction and sorrow. Secondarily, it seems to accept that this is mostly a problem of men, but that women (the character of Kremhild) are capable of it as well. This is a rather grim and pessimistic story without a resolution.
Although I fully enjoyed the story and loved its agony and twists, as well as its slow buildup and literally fiery climax, I can't say that the Nibelungenlied poet was an amazing writer. There is a problem of stuttering. This book stutters in quality, on all levels. There are a few points where the pacing slows to a snail's pace due to the Poet's attention to detail, where he elaborates on events that don't matter or could have easily been condensed. There are paragraphs within chapters where the attention to detail again ends up becoming a slog, and within paragraphs there are sentences that feel pointless. I know this is eight hundred years old and what I am suggesting is unreasonable, but this guy needed an editor. Its three hundred pages long and it easily could have been trimmed down to two hundred without losing anything of value. This is not a dry read; the Skaldic tradition placed great emphasis on being exciting and entertaining. Rather, its dry periodically in a way that I have a hard time excusing. The writing overall is just too damn analytic and thorough, and needed to be more pithy. As for Hatto's translation, it is a prose translation which I believe is a good thing. Some epics are just better if they read like novels, due to not benefiting from being poems. This is one of those cases. What I read was essentially a novel, and I have no problem with that. Hatto was clear, modern and easy to read, yet still seemed accurate and medieval. I can't judge the original but I can judge the translation, and I think its a good one. The problems with the writing come down to substance, not the prose on a mechanical level.
In summary, I recommend this to fans of epics and medieval literature, as well as tragedies, because it is one of the greats in all three categories, but get ready for some slog moments.
Although I fully enjoyed the story and loved its agony and twists, as well as its slow buildup and literally fiery climax, I can't say that the Nibelungenlied poet was an amazing writer. There is a problem of stuttering. This book stutters in quality, on all levels. There are a few points where the pacing slows to a snail's pace due to the Poet's attention to detail, where he elaborates on events that don't matter or could have easily been condensed. There are paragraphs within chapters where the attention to detail again ends up becoming a slog, and within paragraphs there are sentences that feel pointless. I know this is eight hundred years old and what I am suggesting is unreasonable, but this guy needed an editor. Its three hundred pages long and it easily could have been trimmed down to two hundred without losing anything of value. This is not a dry read; the Skaldic tradition placed great emphasis on being exciting and entertaining. Rather, its dry periodically in a way that I have a hard time excusing. The writing overall is just too damn analytic and thorough, and needed to be more pithy. As for Hatto's translation, it is a prose translation which I believe is a good thing. Some epics are just better if they read like novels, due to not benefiting from being poems. This is one of those cases. What I read was essentially a novel, and I have no problem with that. Hatto was clear, modern and easy to read, yet still seemed accurate and medieval. I can't judge the original but I can judge the translation, and I think its a good one. The problems with the writing come down to substance, not the prose on a mechanical level.
In summary, I recommend this to fans of epics and medieval literature, as well as tragedies, because it is one of the greats in all three categories, but get ready for some slog moments.
charly06's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
calalo's review against another edition
2.0
Esperaba una historia más cercana a la mitología que a duelos caballerescos masivos y exagerados. La primera parte sobre Sigfried es la más interesante y la que se acerca más a mis expectativas; la segunda ,enfocada en el honor y la lealtad, termina siendo muy repetitiva . Casi todos los personajes son la misma persona con diferente nombre y proveniencia, salvo los mas interesantes Brunilda, Sigfried y Hagen. Sin embargo la importancia histórica e influencia del texto es innegable, hay muchos detalles sobre el contexto social y costumbres de diferentes épocas. Es obvio que la narrativa pierde agilidad en el formato de cantos aunque el objetivo en la época era precisamente realzar fervientemente las hazañas y virtudes de los héroes hacía un pueblo. Si se busca más acción alguna adaptación gráfica es buena alternativa .
c2pizza's review
4.0
Just an incredible amount of sensible violence and uncalled for provocation whenever a head started to cool. In other words, a perfect description of where honor culture will get you (and why I run away as fast as I can from anyone who throws the word 'disrespect' around).
elijahlerch's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, what a glorious time I had!! Blood! Betrayal! Murder! Revenge!
Such a fun read, both in Middle High German and a modern translation. The amount of work someone had to put in this epic poem is insane. They crafted a rhythm, a cohesive rhyme scheme over 600 pages which just seems mind-boggling to me. Whoever did this back in the day, I'm giving you a metaphorical, time-traveling kiss on the forehead!
One of my all-time favorite uni-reads.
Such a fun read, both in Middle High German and a modern translation. The amount of work someone had to put in this epic poem is insane. They crafted a rhythm, a cohesive rhyme scheme over 600 pages which just seems mind-boggling to me. Whoever did this back in the day, I'm giving you a metaphorical, time-traveling kiss on the forehead!
One of my all-time favorite uni-reads.
sinbad's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25