A review by jasonfurman
Bakkhai, by Euripides, Anne Carson
5.0
This was so different from every other Greek tragedy that I've read that I found it fascinating and exciting. Dionysus is in disguise and is arrested by King Pentheus who is trying to keep order even while the people around him, including elders, are being corrupted by his ecstatic and frenzied rituals. It starts out feeling like a silly comedy but then Dionysus gets his brutal and gory revenge. It doesn't not feel completely coherent but it all feels interesting and weird and engaging.
I read the Anne Carson translation and loved it. It was stylized, used interesting ways of displaying the text, and all of it worked well in the context of this play. I really didn't like her translations of [b:An Oresteia|4770925|An Oresteia|Anne Carson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312074533l/4770925._SX50_.jpg|84600574] which I found were mannered in a way that interfered with a fluid reading of the texts. I liked [b:Antigonick|13305951|Antigonick|Anne Carson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597593225l/13305951._SX50_.jpg|59618794] because it did not have the pretense of being a translation.
I read the Anne Carson translation and loved it. It was stylized, used interesting ways of displaying the text, and all of it worked well in the context of this play. I really didn't like her translations of [b:An Oresteia|4770925|An Oresteia|Anne Carson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312074533l/4770925._SX50_.jpg|84600574] which I found were mannered in a way that interfered with a fluid reading of the texts. I liked [b:Antigonick|13305951|Antigonick|Anne Carson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597593225l/13305951._SX50_.jpg|59618794] because it did not have the pretense of being a translation.