Far better than the movie ....

books:


	• Beowulf (Signet Classics) Anonymous Signet Classics, 1999 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Far better than the movie ....

The translation is easy to follow and read. I did lose the narrative thread at points toward the end. This may not be the translator's fault. There are beautiful passages scattered throughout.

The story is about a hero who kills monsters. Beowulf is proud. He brags about himself at the drop of a hat. However, he is the strongest and best fighter in the world. His search for fame for himself and his family is his purpose in life. There are great passages here about God, the world, and man's place in it. When he fights the dragon, Beowulf knows he is too old to defeat it, but yet he tries anyway. The pursuit of fame drives him. but he knows he is the best man for the job. The poem also gives great snapshots of life at that time.

The book is a great look on how the author viewed life at that time. I enjoy other epics better: this poem definitely drags at times. However, this poem is definitely worth the read for the stirring action, the examples of bravery, the world view of the people at that time, and Beowulf, himself, is a tragic character unmatched in literature.

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Beowulf

Excellent poem. It transmits through words very pure feelings and attitudes of men and societies already forgotten.

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Classic

While going to school in the 70s and 80s, I never had to read any classic literature. I have decided to "go back to school", so to speak, and read the classics that I never did when younger. This was my first. I enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The epic poem of war and adventure.

Beowulf is the earliest extant poem in a modern European language. It was composed in England four centuries before the Norman Conquest. But no one knows exactly when it was composed, or by whom, or why. As a social document this great epic reflects a feudal, newly Christian world of heroes and monsters, blood and victory and death.

* Burton Raffel's modern language translation from the original Old English remains the most celebrated introduction of the poem to students and the general reader alike
* Includes a glossary of terms

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