rjoberfoell's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
someone will remember us I say even in another time 🥺
raynaforreal's review against another edition
5.0
Stunning poetry, even in fragments. The fact that Sappho's poetry is so compelling even when incomplete is a testament to her talent as a writer.
hissingpotatoes's review against another edition
4.0
I love that the book includes the facing original Greek. Since it's from 2002, it should be read in conjunction with more recent scholarship on Sappho as discoveries have been made in the intervening years. Jarringly, one translation includes the anachronistic "car" instead of "chariot." The translations are more on the side of faithfully following the literal Greek; while this makes for more awkward/archaic-sounding poetry to the modern ear, I really appreciate the accuracy. I read this translation alongside Diane J. Rayor's 2023 translation, and it's very interesting to see how they filled in blanks and translated words differently. The commentary on each fragment is great, though it gives more weight to historical authors trying to reconstruct Sappho's life than Rayor's commentary does. The two editions necessarily supplemented each other.Â
hannah_bookworm's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
God this is so beautiful it hurts
kipepeo's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This kind of broke my heart. So much has been lost to time, but what we have is utterly stunning. And what a translation.Â
kstookley's review against another edition
2.0
Unfortunately, I am probably the wrong person to read or review poetry, since I just read it all in as close to one go as possible, instead of letting it sit (which I imagine is the correct thing to do). So, I thought this was fine-- there were some fragments that felt poignant, but many more that did not affect me. Kind of wish Carson had her notes with the poems, instead of tucked in the back, so I could read and understand the meaning/purpose behind the translation as I went along (but also understand the appeal of an uncluttered page and preserving the integrity of the original papyrus as much as possible).