Gilgamesh

I wanted a thoughtful presentation of this ancient story and; not just a prose story just listing a series of events, sequenced, with the missing portions filled in by narrator's assuming subjective fillers. These authors presented translations of the available sources (tablets) and thought out reasoning for the interpretations of the missing source material. The book gave me an appreciation for the quality of information on the lives of people living in an ancient setting. For me it was a great history lesson.Ray

I bought this to replace a copy I'd had for years that got lost in a move. Those knowledgeable in the field undoubtedly have problems with this version. Indeed, that's recognized in Maer's introduction. However, I believe this is the best edition available for the amateur who simply wants to know the story and gain some understanding of its importance. The overall quality of the writing is the best of any version I've seen (given Gardner's abilities that's to be expected) and Maer's introduction covers the history of both this edition and of the work itself very clearly and usefully.

GILGAMESH : Translated from the Sin-leqi-unninni Version by John Gardner and John Maier, with the assistance of Richard A. Henshaw. 304 pp. New York : Vintage Books, 1985 (1984). ISBN 0-394-740-89-0 (pbk.)The present book is the fruit of a collaboration between John Gardner, literary scholar and writer who was responsible for the translation, and John Maier, who wrote the 50-page Introduction, the extensive Notes, and the concluding Appendix. Although both might be described as 'non-specialist enthusiasts,' and it was their intention to write "a translation for the non-specialist" (page 4), evidence of real scholarship is evident throughout, and it's clear that we are dealing here with enthusiasts who were madly in love their subject and knew a great deal about it.The Gilgamesh story has a very long history and reaches back to a real Sumerian hero of the Third Millenium B.C. Its late version was written, not in Sumerian but in Akkadian, the language of Sumer's conquerors, by the priest, Sin-leqi-unnini, around 1300 B.C., and it is this Middle Babylonian version that we have been given in the present book.Although Gilgamesh is usually presented as a poem in twelve books, Gardner and Maier, guided by the fact that each of its twelve cuneiform tablets has six columns on each side, and feeling that "the column is an important unit of composition" (page vii), decided to treat the tablets as seventy-two columns or separate poems. Hence the unusual column-by-column layout of their book.Most clay tablets that have survived are usually in a pretty battered condition, and have lost many words and lines of their text. These losses are usually smoothed over and largely hidden in translations for the ordinary reader. But in the Gardner-Maier the general intent seems to have been, not so much to give us a reader's version of Gilgamesh, but to literally transcribe, line-by-line and with all of the many gaps and losses caused by wear and breakage, what is actually on the tablets, thereby bringing us much closer to the extant text.This can make for a very different and interesting kind of reading experience, though one that involves work since we ourselves must use our imagination to try to fill in the gaps. Here is an example from TABLET IX Column i lines 15-24, with losses and editorial insertions in square brackets exactly as found on page 196, but with my obliques added to indicate line breaks :"Gilgamesh takes up the axe in his hand; / he drew [the weapon] from his belt / [and] like an arrow . . . he fell among them. / He struck . . . smashing them, / . . . [enjoying it]. / He threw . . . / he [guarded] . . . / Second . . . / He lifted . . . / . . ."Fortunately, most columns have far less damage than this, and some have none at all. Here are lines 1-5 of TABLET I Column iv :"The animals came, their hearts grew light in the waters. / And as for him, Enkidu, child of the mountain, / he who fed with gazelles on grass, / he drank with the wild beasts at the watering place / and with the hurrying animals his heart grew light in the waters" (page 77).Here we begin to touch on something of the beauty and mystery of this strange and compelling text. What is Enkidu, the wild man? What stage of human development does he represent? And how did he find his way into this poem of a highly civilized people? As for what happens when the sacred whore arrives a few lines later to "teach him what a woman is," I leave it to your imagination . . .If the first of the passages quoted above worried anyone, I should add that, following each column of translation, Maier has supplied extensive notes which can run to two or three times the length of the translated column. These notes attempt to supply us with as much relevant Gilgamesh scholarship as Maier has been able to pack into them, and make frequent references to the original language. Using these notes will sometimes help the reader to puzzle out the meaning of at least some of the damaged or missing lines.In addition to Maier's extensive notes, and his scholarly Introduction which will interest all students of the Ancient Near East, he has also gone to the trouble of giving us an interestingly illustrated 30-page Appendix, 'Translating Gilgamesh,' which shows us something of the difficulties of translating cuneiform.Mutterings have been heard about the appropriateness of this Appendix, but there is a real aura of romance about these extremely ancient and miraculously preserved clay tablets, and cuneiform is a fascinating and beautiful script. Given this, it's hard to see how anyone could be seriously interested in 'Gilgamesh' and not be interested in both its language and the ancient vehicles that brought this language to us. And anyway, you don't have to read the Appendix if you don't want to read it. Think of it as a bonus.The Gardner-Maier edition is, as I've indicated, the joint product of two real and very scholarly enthusiasts, men who assumed in their readers an interest in Gilgamesh and Gilgamesh-related matters as keen as their own. As such it's not an edition that I would recommend to most beginners. The newcomer to Gilgamesh would, I think, be far better off starting with something less ambitious such as the excellent Penguin Classics edition by N. K. Sandars, and to save the Gardner-Maier for later when they will be in a position to benefit from it more.But for those who have already fallen in love with this mysterious and wonderful story, and who would like to get closer to the original and dig into the details, it's doubtful that there could be any better version for the enthusiastic non-specialist. I just wish Maier had also thought to add a Bibliography and an Index, or if he did, that someone hadn't forgotten to include them.

I love this edition of the book. It is a very direct translation that does not stray from the text at all. I bought it because of other favorable reviews and can say that they are all accurate. However, keep in mind due to the age of the text that large portions may not be readable, so for a less advanced reader I might recommend a different edition. However, when this does happen, the authors use parallel Hittite, Sumerian, and Ackadian stories to fill in the gaps. There is also an extensive amount of notes and details and other supplementary information that helps the reader gather more context about the story. Finally, the book is organized just as it would be on the original clay tablets; first by tablet, then by column and line which I believe helps to preserve the rhythm of the original. Overall, I would recommend this to any advanced reader who doesn't mind a few broken tablets.

I enjoyed this book because it brought a lot of things clear that were written in the Bible. Many people refer to the biblical flood and refer back to Gilgamesh's flood to relate to it. This interested me so I chose to read the book. There's a lot of explanation about the tablets. I didn't read a lot of them I just wanted to read the tablets and I did enjoy them. I may however later go back and read the analysis. Enjoy! (-:

Best rendition in my humble opinion, Gardner is a genius.

It's a very good quality used book. The letters are clear. No mark no highlight. It'a good deal if you dont want to buy a brand new book, since you probably only use for one week.

SO glad I read this book. I am a lover of classics but not a student of literature by any means. This was well front-loaded and supported just enough so you knew what was happening and what the context was, withouth being way to wordy and heavy for the reading layman.

This is a beautiful poetic translation of Gilgamesh.The Andrew George translation (Penguin) is more up-to-date. Andrew George includes many lines which are missing from the Gardner translation. Also, the Andrew George translation is better for the overall structure and background of Gilgamesh.Having said that, I think the Gardner reads much better.In truth, I recommend buying both translations because they go well together.See below for a sample from each translation.John Garner translation (1984):--------------------------------------------You're a cooking fire that goes out in the cold,a back door that keeps out neither wind nor storm,a palace that crushes the brave ones defending it,a well whose lid collapses,pitch that defiles the one carrying it,a waterskin that soaks the one who lifts it,limestone that crumbles in the stone wall,a battering ram that shatters in the land of the enemy,a shoe that bites the owners foot!Andrew George translation (1999):-------------------------------------------------[You, a frost that congeals] no ice,a louvre-door [that] stays [not] breeze nor draught,a palace that massacres ... warriors,'an elephant which ...its hoods,bitumen that [stains the hands] of its bearer,a waterskin that [cuts the hands] of its bearer,limestone that [weakens] the wall of ashlar,a battering ram that destroys [the walls of] the enemy,a shoe that bites the foot of the owner!

A little bit difficult top follow but nevertheless complete.