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This is a semi-scholarly work with a fairly free translation from the original tablets showing gaps in narrative source material and using tablets that are from other dates and finds to maintain the narrative. The source tablets are all identified. This gives a somewhat disjointed feel to the narrative as one is aware of the original material all the time. The great advantage of this is that it maintains the sense that one is reading material from a great distance in time from a culture that was very different from our own and are lucky, moreover, to have it. It gives a constant sense of wonder that we are able to do this. The other possible means of giving this sense of distance is to give a more literal translation. This isn't a very good way of doing it however. One needs a little strangeness but not too much. My previous Penguin Classics translation gave a simple narrative that was in good english and no different from the translation of say, a contemporary French novel. It was very easy to read and I liked it as a story but it lacked the sense of adventure in time and culture that one has with the latest version. An absolute must-read.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
This a brilliant story, older than, but comparable to, the Iliad or the Odyssey. It is probably the earliest surviving heroic poem. Everyone ought to read it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I knew about this book before ordering. Very interesting and thought provoking. Would recommend to anyone with an open and inquisitive mind
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
A classic, well written and translated.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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