Faust, Part I
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Product Description
Goethe's Faust reworks the late-medieval myth of Dr Faust, a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract or wager with the devil, Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seek to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last for ever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephisto and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe's great work the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a life beyond his study and - in rejuvenated form - winning the love of the charming and beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire and self-delusion, Faust, served by the devil, heads inexorably towards destruction.
About the Author
David Constantine is a poet, novelist, biographer, playwright and translator. He has taught German at the Universities of Durham, Oxford and Rutgers, New Jersey and is currently Visiting Professor in the School of English at the University of Liverpool. He lives in Oxford and (with his wife the translator Helen Constantine) is joint editor of Modern Poetry in Translation. His book of poetry Something for the Ghosts was short listed for the 2002 Whitbread Prize and his translation of Hans Magnus Enzensberger’s Lighter than Air, won the Corneliu Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation in 2003.
David Constantine is a poet, novelist, biographer, playwright and translator. He has taught German at the Universities of Durham, Oxford and Rutgers, New Jersey and is currently Visiting Professor in the School of English at the University of Liverpool. He lives in Oxford and (with his wife the translator Helen Constantine) is joint editor of Modern Poetry in Translation. His book of poetry Something for the Ghosts was short listed for the 2002 Whitbread Prize and his translation of Hans Magnus Enzensberger's Lighter than Air, won the Corneliu Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation in 2003.
A S Byatt, novelist, short story writer, and critic, is the author of many books including Possession, winner of the 1990 Booker Prize; Babel Tower; The Biographer's Tale; and The Whistling Woman. She was appointed DBE in 1999.
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First Sentence
Friends, who so many times before In need and woe have stood by me, What do you think in Germany The prospects for our business are? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Friends, who so many times before In need and woe have stood by me, What do you think in Germany The prospects for our business are? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The story of Faust, the academic who sold his soul to regain his youth, has been with us for many years. There have been many versions, not least Christopher Marlowe's version in English literature. It is however, Goethe's version, that has fascinated so many artists and thinkers in modern times: composers like Berlioz, Gounod, Liszt, Mahler, thinkers like Nietzsche and Jung and many others.
Penguin Classics have been giving us Philip Wayne's translation for many years. The translation is good, but having been done in the 1940's, it is now showing it's age, not least in the language which can seem to contemporary tastes a little ponderous. David Constantine is one of the best English poets now writing. He is also probably the leading translator of German poetry. Thus I looked forward to how he would approach the task.
He does not disappoint. What we get is a poetic, Faust that is fresh, vibrant and alive. What's more it's easier to follow the narrative, with some very illuminating notes at the back (the Wayne version had none) on the origins of certain phrases. It's also a good read, the version I would recommend to any one coming to the text for the first time.
Thank you, David. I look forward to see what you have done with Faust, Part II: Pt. 2, which I've just ordered.
Penguin Classics have been giving us Philip Wayne's translation for many years. The translation is good, but having been done in the 1940's, it is now showing it's age, not least in the language which can seem to contemporary tastes a little ponderous. David Constantine is one of the best English poets now writing. He is also probably the leading translator of German poetry. Thus I looked forward to how he would approach the task.
He does not disappoint. What we get is a poetic, Faust that is fresh, vibrant and alive. What's more it's easier to follow the narrative, with some very illuminating notes at the back (the Wayne version had none) on the origins of certain phrases. It's also a good read, the version I would recommend to any one coming to the text for the first time.
Thank you, David. I look forward to see what you have done with Faust, Part II: Pt. 2, which I've just ordered.
Format:Paperback
There are many translations of Goethe's Faust but I would say this one is amongst the best I have come across. It is faithful to the original meaning but adapts well to a more modern world and the English language. The preface is very useful, with good help on how to interpret the text and plenty of relevant information.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I missed a few things in my childhood knowledge of literature, one of them was that an introduction can quite often spoil the plot of a book and the other is that a true literary genius will always lose something in translation. English language versions flow and are easier to read so read them first, unless you are a genius or really need to read Goethe.
----> Christopher Marlowe - Dr Faustus
----> Christopher Marlowe - Dr Faustus
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