sgagnon's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ombudsman's review against another edition
3.0
i always feel like i like anne carson more in theory than in practice. she always has some great phrases and passages but they always feel disjointed from what's around them. i think it's because everyone shares carson's (rather disinterested, detached and academic) voice; interpersonal conflict doesn't feel nearly so meaty when it feels like there's only one person involved.
chrxiao's review
5.0
AHHH anne carson!!! i knew when i picked this up at harvard book store that i was going to love it bc 1) antigone 2) anne carson. carson is such a good translator for the classics mwah. also i am a slut for translation it's so good so meaningful a medium.
some more concrete thoughts. i really appreciate the beginning translator's note directed towards antigone; i think it makes it clear the purpose of this is not so much a ""faithful"" (putting that in quotes because i don't believe there's such a thing) translation of sophocles's antigone but an exploration of translation and antigone's story. the lyrical form it's in also sets the tone for the translation and the importance of the act.
next. the titular nick. there was a slight thrill to read "nick, mute, always on stage, stands and measure things" (approx.) in the character list — who is this guy? it becomes efficiently and apparently clear soon that nick is short for nick of time (at least in my reading; i'm sure there are actually numerous interpretations) and it's in some ways about how antigone is a story of so close, just missed-it bits of time "nicked" from the characters. and also tragedy: time goes on regardless, which is why nick stays on the stage forever and even past the end of the play. both halves of the duality of antigone's story being a series of close call near-coincidences, and permeating through time with its universality which makes the first point slightly unbelievable.
finally: loved loved loved the language, but it's anne freaking carson so what's new. lots of cool things done, from this meta-awareness of philosophers past the characters' time, performances of antigone, etc. (really goes well with above point and also the translator's note). also separation of "i" and [name] as a fracturing of identity with kreon!! god it's so good. absolutely loved it.
some more concrete thoughts. i really appreciate the beginning translator's note directed towards antigone; i think it makes it clear the purpose of this is not so much a ""faithful"" (putting that in quotes because i don't believe there's such a thing) translation of sophocles's antigone but an exploration of translation and antigone's story. the lyrical form it's in also sets the tone for the translation and the importance of the act.
next. the titular nick. there was a slight thrill to read "nick, mute, always on stage, stands and measure things" (approx.) in the character list — who is this guy? it becomes efficiently and apparently clear soon that nick is short for nick of time (at least in my reading; i'm sure there are actually numerous interpretations) and it's in some ways about how antigone is a story of so close, just missed-it bits of time "nicked" from the characters. and also tragedy: time goes on regardless, which is why nick stays on the stage forever and even past the end of the play. both halves of the duality of antigone's story being a series of close call near-coincidences, and permeating through time with its universality which makes the first point slightly unbelievable.
finally: loved loved loved the language, but it's anne freaking carson so what's new. lots of cool things done, from this meta-awareness of philosophers past the characters' time, performances of antigone, etc. (really goes well with above point and also the translator's note). also separation of "i" and [name] as a fracturing of identity with kreon!! god it's so good. absolutely loved it.
savfoyet's review
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
xomeera's review
4.0
Reading Antigone for class my freshman year of college kind of altered my brain chemistry, so this definitely did something for me. Although this was more of an interpretation rather than a direct translation, this was so distinctive and I loved many of the choices Anne Carson made here—especially the ones I didn’t expect, like how colloquial the language was and the occasional flippant dialogue between characters. The prose isn’t too flowery and I think that works in its favor, because it really distills the characters’ relationships with one another down to their essence, honing in on the heart of the play.
irmingard's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gabbiebrandt's review
4.0
I keep coming back to this over the years after reading it in a poetry class. I can set aside the fact that Carson’s translations definitely take some artistic liberties and aren’t 100% accurate, since she writes moments that are breathtaking. Classic works for the modern reader.
paulataua's review
3.0
[Enter Antigone and Ismene}
Antigone: We begin in the dark and birth is the death of us.
Ismene: Who said that
Antigone: Hegel
Ismene: Sounds more like Beckett
Antigone: He was paraphrasing Hegel
Ismene: I don’t think so
I have always loved the ‘Antigone’ story both in Sophocles’ version, and in its many reincarnations such as the one by Anouilh during the Nazi occupation of France and the one by Seamus Heaney in ‘The Burial at Thebes’. Like all great Greek classics, the stories can be modernized and adjusted to new conditions to say new things. This one, however, escaped me. It’s clever and at times witty, and yet I found it quite unsatisfying. It didn’t flow for me, and the references to Hegel, Beckett, and others were just too intellectual. It is probably a great work of art in itself, but for me, coming from a love for the original drama and story, it didn’t feel like ‘Antigone’ to me.
Antigone: We begin in the dark and birth is the death of us.
Ismene: Who said that
Antigone: Hegel
Ismene: Sounds more like Beckett
Antigone: He was paraphrasing Hegel
Ismene: I don’t think so
I have always loved the ‘Antigone’ story both in Sophocles’ version, and in its many reincarnations such as the one by Anouilh during the Nazi occupation of France and the one by Seamus Heaney in ‘The Burial at Thebes’. Like all great Greek classics, the stories can be modernized and adjusted to new conditions to say new things. This one, however, escaped me. It’s clever and at times witty, and yet I found it quite unsatisfying. It didn’t flow for me, and the references to Hegel, Beckett, and others were just too intellectual. It is probably a great work of art in itself, but for me, coming from a love for the original drama and story, it didn’t feel like ‘Antigone’ to me.
phoos_ultimate_library's review
5.0
Anne Carson's translations aren't written in a usual sense of 'translating', per se. I like to describe it more of as an interpretation on the original works. That said, the original play by Sophokles is already a legend on its own--but Carson's version evokes certain emotions for certain topics in a sense that, contemporary readers won't understand by reading the original.
I LOVE IT
I LOVE IT