Davis doesn’t breathe as much life into the poem as Heaney, but conveys the storylines accurately and accessibly.
This translation of Beowulf synthesizes older translations of the Anglo-Saxon epic into a new prose rendering.
Davis’ (Don Quixote: The New Translation, 2012) effort is a departure from most translations; he bases his work primarily on the 19th-century Kemble and Hall translations, and his version focuses less on the poetry of the original and instead highlights the meaning of the text. (Seamus Heaney’s is one of the few translations that captures the dense sound play and verse structure of the original.) Davis covers all the plot points: Beowulf’s boasts; his battles with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon; the construction of Hrothgar’s mead-hall; and the rest. This tale faithfully follow the original, and it will appeal to those who want to know exactly what Beowulf’s anonymous poet said. But for those seeking a more complete experience, it may disappoint. This prose version ignores the syntax of the original poetry, including its rhythm, as well as the strict formal elements, such as the caesura (an intralinear pause) and the more standard techniques of lineation. Davis’ diction is almost biblical, which preserves Beowulf’s heroic and antique mood but occasionally hampers readability. For instance, a passage from Hrothgar’s speech of thanks to Beowulf evokes kingly haughtiness but also feels a bit cumbersome: “Now, Beowulf, most excellent of heroes, I shall esteem you in my heart as mine own son. Preserve you henceforward this new kinship. You will never lack aught you desire of world-goods which are mine to command.” It’s clear that Davis understands Hrothgar’s character, even though his commitment to a high register sometimes blunts the force of the original. The storytelling is lucid and lively, however, and may strongly appeal to those who haven’t yet tackled Beowulf and want an easier entry point.
Davis doesn’t breathe as much life into the poem as Heaney, but conveys the storylines accurately and accessibly.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-1491250181
Page Count: 110
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
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