Review of my book of Martial translations
 

I just discovered that my book of selected translations of the Latin poet Martial has been reviewed by classicist Anthony Verity in Classics for All Reviews. I was pleased by his assessment and, of course, grateful for the publicity.

https://classicsforallreviews.wordpr...cted-epigrams/

Susan

Entertaining and erudite book, great review. Congrats!

I'd call that a rave review. Congratulations!

Classy, Susan. It's great when brainy work is recognized and you have got much well-deserved attention for these translations.

Good stuff Susan. Good Martial translations are not as common as one might hope. How do you do the one to the little dead slave-girl?

That's great, Susan!

Duncan

There's a lot a glow in that review, Susan, praising the wit and lightness of the book, and its accessibility to the general reader, but I'd bet this remark is one of your favorites: McLean "even manages to reflect the different rhythms of elegiac couplet and hendecasyllable."

Congratulations. Here's hoping this will grace a lot of shelves.

Best,

Ed

A fine review. Congratulations!

Yes! Hearty congratulations, Susan.

Nemo

I enjoyed the review. Kudos, Susan!

Thanks, everyone. The review was very gratifying, and I was glad that Verity posted the Latin with the translations (something the press did not wish to do), so that anyone who knows Latin can see how close I stuck to the meaning.

John, that poem about the dead slave girl was published in Measure in 2006, but since it is not available online, I am not sure that my publisher would appreciate my posting it. I will PM you a copy of it.

Ed, I was pleased that Verity noticed that I had tried to adjust the rhythm of my translations to suit the rhythm of the originals. It was even nicer to have a classicist not object that I should have reproduced the original meter in English form. I think I was most pleased, though, by the first line, "Susan McLean is a poet, and it shows." In general, I think poetic skill is undervalued among poetry translators, since critics of translations are more likely to value the critical and linguistic skills that they themselves possess.

Susan

Susan's Martial translations call to mind another 'f' word: fun. Congrats on the well-deserved review!

Kudos, Susan. The review is concise and well focused. I especially appreciate his "rhyme is the best way in English to achieve epigrammatic tightness"!

Susan, just bought the book. The translations he quoted were predictably wonderful. Congratulations!

C

Andrew, the translations were a lot of fun to write, so I am delighted to hear that you found them fun to read.

Terese, I can't think how one could begin to capture Martial's wit in English without using rhyme. Meter alone doesn't have the same authority in English as in Latin. The rhyme adds both surprise and force to the statement.

Chris, I hope you enjoy the book. I look forward to reading your own collection of translations.

Susan

Fantastic work, Susan!!! Very impressive—and I think you may be one of those rare poets who can turn ancient texts into modern must-reads. Looks great!

"Predicatably wonderful." There you go.

Ed

Congratulations, Susan. Good to get praise from someone who clearly knows what he's talking about - and who appreciates good poetry in both languages.

Sorry to be late to the party, Susan. I agree with Andrew about the "fun." The translations make me wish they'd been around when I was learning Latin years ago. And the review was lovely. Congrats!

Charlotte