Aaron:
You're not alone. I accepted the request thinking I would like the translation because I like David Ferry's work generally (and I think the world of the man), but I was sorely disappointed for reasons I lay out with my usual pedantic detail. I do note that the Ahl translation is significantly worse & place the Ferry translation just slightly above the Fagles version.
It is a remarkable thing, IMO, that the best available translations of the Aeneid and the Odyssey are both first-ever translations by women. I don't think their gender matters much, although there have been some over-the-top testosterone-driven versions. It's more that you have two brilliant, hard-working PhD's in classics (Sarah Ruden for the Aeneid & Emily Wilson for the Odyssey) who disciplined themselves to write in taut iambic pentameter--the best meter for mimicking the original text despite (because of?) the compression it requires.
I gather now that CRB won't be releasing its spring issue until June or so, but I'll let ya know when it goes online.
Mike
Last edited by Michael Juster; 03-14-2018 at 06:27 AM.
Reason: Bats flew into the room, coffee spilled & I got distracted.
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