Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse

I've read two translations of Gilgamesh over the years ( Dalley's in Myths from Mesopotamia, and the prose version published by Penguin classics ). I enjoyed them but Ferry has given us a beautiful poetic version that, although faithful to the translations, is liberated enough from them for the artistic spirit to soar, thus giving us the heart and beauty of this timeless story.

Gilgamesh is one of the best works in world literature. I have read all the translations into English, and I find David Ferry's "rendering" , as he calls it , the best. It is readable, poetic and conveys what may come close to the aura and tone of an ancient work of literary art. Literal translations of what exists of the original poem (about 60 % of the cuneiform text) are very hard to appreciate artistically. Ferry manages to convey the sense of the original, leaving nothing out, and not adding anything too imaginary, and at the same time creates a work of art out of fragments that comes across as an integral whole. I teach David Ferry's "Gilgamesh" every year in my Great Books course.

This English verse translation of Gilgamesh, by David Ferry, is not taken literally, but is translated so a to make sense to English readers. Hence it is easy to read for any good readers. The book tells the story of Gilgamesh, the stormy-hearted ruler of the city-state of Uruk. At the request of the people oppresed by him, Gilagemesh is given a companion, Enkidu. The two become inseparable, and have many adventures together. First they slay the Dragon Huwawa of the Cedar Forest, and make a great gate for their city. Then they kill the Bull of Heaven. This angers a Goddess Isthar, who convinces the Gods that Enkidu must die. After Enkidu's death, Gilagamesh becomes distraught, and dreads the fact that one day, he too will have to fact the same end that Enkidu did. Attempting to avoid his fate, he starts on a nearly impossible mission the meet Utnapishtim, the only immortal man, in hopes that he too might gain immortality. He is unsuccesful at getting eternal life, however so he returns home. One day he is able to talk with the spirit of Enkidu from the Netherworld, and learns that those who have many to mourn for them live the most comfortably in the Nether. The book contains 92 pages of wellp-spaced lines of easily understandable prose, as well as an introduction at the beginning and some notes at the end. Any fluent reader will have no problem reading this book and it is very exciting and suspenseful. A tale from ancient civilizations, it contains similarities to the story of Noah and the flood from the Bible, with Utnapishtim being the "Noah" character. It is a must read for anyone who enjoys ancient stories, and a good read even for those who don't.

Translating poetry is a tricky thing. Some people maintain that it can't be done. I would say that the translator can set himself three possible goals. First, he can try to create a "trot," a plain, "literal" translation where every word of the original is explained. See Nabokov's "Eugene Onegin" for an example of this. Second, he can try "simply" to translate it, to give his reader a good idea of what is there on the page, the mood, and so forth. LOTS of translators do this. Third, and most elusive, most difficult, is to create a work of literary art IN ENGLISH (or whatever the target language is). Hopefully this third goal will automatically include all the most important elements of "mere translation." But, if the translator succeeeds, he will have created an independent work of art which will then take on a life of its own. The most famous example of this would probably be FitzGerald's "Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam," probably better described as a fantasy and variations on themes of Omar Khayyam. Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's "Iliad" surely has legs, still in print after all these years. David Ferry has attempted the third goal in his translation of "Gilgamesh," and to my mind he succeeds. The result is a moving and beautiful work of literary art, and I predict a very long life for it.

My son read this book for summer reading for his Theology class, he is a freshman in High School. He read it very fast and enjoyed it enough to give the video games a break for a few days!

Overall, I knew when I was buying the book in 'good' condition, it wasn't going to be perfect, but there was no indication as to the extent of good. Book arrived on a timely manner and once opened, had several pages full of writing and highlighting. It works for my purposes as a broke college kid who will read it a few times and maybe jot down a few notes herself, but I expected better when the seller listed it. Overall, the seller was great with timing, but be cautious about the depth of the wording-- to what extent does 'good' cover?

This is one of the best stories I have ever read! If you want a complete Gilgamesh this is a good "translation" (he did not actually translate it) however if you want a scholarly edition don't bother with this. This is a grand story of friendship and mortality. Gilgamesh is a sort of ant-hero who is described as great and terrible in the same sentence. For being 5 thousand years old there is a surprising amount of color and emotion.

This translation is very easy to understand and helps you get through anceint texts quickly. It helped me easily earn an A in my humanities class.

This is one of the best renderings of Gilgamesh that I have read. It flows. It's a page turner. Only Herbert Mason's is better because of it's slightly greater overall literary quality

I browsed quite a few Gilgamesh translations, but this is by far the most enjoyable reading experience. Other translations have been too academic for my taste, spending inordinate time interrupting the narrative with considerations of different versions of the epic in different tablets. This one provides full immersion in a rich language that keeps the reader engaged till the end.

great read.