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A review by st_leo
Du Fu: A Life in Poetry by Du Fu, David Young
5.0
As a forewarning, I am not a scholar of Chinese literature. I have never studied it and I consider myself very ill-read (in all senses of the word) in all forms of Chinese literature. These are just my thoughts as a casual enthusiast of fiction and poetry in general, so they may be highly misinformed and lacking in insight.
With that said, this is my favorite translation of Du Fu's poems by far.
In the past, with previous translations, I found that the tone of his words did not match the subject matters in his poems, somehow.
But with Young, Du Fu has found a new voice--a more restrained, abstemious one--that resonates with his poetry more harmoniously than before.
If Du Fu's one distinction that separates him from the rest of his contemporaries is his connection with the non-aristocratic class, as Young notes, then much of what the previous translations seem to miss is that the language--or more specifically, diction--should reflect the portrayals of said common folk. The point is not to disparage their lack of formal education, but display the deceptively simple yet concise uses of everyday words. I feel that Young achieves this quite well.
It is also quite helpful to watch the poems "grow," as they've been arranged chronologically. A lot of his earlier poems are rather affected and conventional for his time, but as time progresses and his disposition changes, he flows into a much more composed and sincere voice.
I may never get to experience the full breadth of his poems in their original forms, but this highly intimate translation does a fine job of exploring a view at Du Fu like never before.
With that said, this is my favorite translation of Du Fu's poems by far.
In the past, with previous translations, I found that the tone of his words did not match the subject matters in his poems, somehow.
But with Young, Du Fu has found a new voice--a more restrained, abstemious one--that resonates with his poetry more harmoniously than before.
If Du Fu's one distinction that separates him from the rest of his contemporaries is his connection with the non-aristocratic class, as Young notes, then much of what the previous translations seem to miss is that the language--or more specifically, diction--should reflect the portrayals of said common folk. The point is not to disparage their lack of formal education, but display the deceptively simple yet concise uses of everyday words. I feel that Young achieves this quite well.
It is also quite helpful to watch the poems "grow," as they've been arranged chronologically. A lot of his earlier poems are rather affected and conventional for his time, but as time progresses and his disposition changes, he flows into a much more composed and sincere voice.
I may never get to experience the full breadth of his poems in their original forms, but this highly intimate translation does a fine job of exploring a view at Du Fu like never before.