Modern Greek Poetry

Rating:
Summary: HEROIC
Review: An excellent book for the experianced lover of modern Greek poetry or for the uninitiated. A bottomless treasure chest of beauty and mystery that can and will be returned to for years. Buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: Buyer beware!
Review: Kimon Friar had one advantage over Keeley and Sherrard, the two big names in the translation of Modern Greek poetry, and that was that he was more skilled at recreating the form of the poem. (Keeley and Sherrard nevertheless have moments in their Elytis translations when the result is good English poetry.) Friar has translated the massive Odyssey by Kazantzakis and skilfully reproduced the complex metre of the epic. One could compare him to Richard Lattimore, the translator of ancient Greek texts, in his ability to produce translations that were literal and still captured something of the poetry. HOWEVER, you should be warned that the price will be shocking when you see the actual book. It is pocketbook size, and somewhat poorly bound. It's a shame that this book, which satisfies such an important need, should do it with such undeserved exclusiveness.

That said, the book is still indispensable. Anyone interested in Modern Greek literature cannot afford to be without it. Even at this price.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of an Anthology
Review: Not simply a compilation of the best of Greece's modern poets, this work is also a journey in time, a book that touches both the ancient mysteries and the splendour and the dream that will always be Greece.