The theme of The Book of Job is nothing less than human suffering and the transcendence of it: it pulses with moral energy, outrage, and spiritual insight. Now, The Book of Job has been rendered into English by the eminent translator and scholar Stephen Mitchell, whose versions of Rilke, Israeli poetry, and the Tao Te Ching have been widely praised. This is the first time ever that the Hebrew verse of Job has been translated into verse in any language, ancient or modern, and the result is a triumph.
The Book of Job is one of the masterpieces of world literature. Its theme is nothing less than human suffering and the transcendence of it. Job pulses with moral energy, moral outrage, and deep spiritual insight. Now The Book of Job has been translated into English by eminent scholar Stephen Mitchell. This is the first time ever that the Hebrew verse of Job has been translated into verse in any language, ancient or modern. Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, and The Second Book of the Tao, as well as The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, and Meetings with the Archangel. "If Mr. Mitchell gives an eloquent account of the effects of Job's poetry in his introduction, in the translation itself he does even better: he makes those effects come alive. Writing with three insistent beats to the line, and hammering home a succession of boldly defined images, he achieves a rare degree of vehemence and concentration." - John Cross, New York Times
The Book of Job is one of the masterpieces of world literature. Its theme is nothing less than human suffering and the transcendence of it. Job pulses with moral energy, moral outrage, and deep spiritual insight. Now The Book of Job has been translated into English by eminent scholar Stephen Mitchell. This is the first time ever that the Hebrew verse of Job has been translated into verse in any language, ancient or modern. Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, and The Second Book of the Tao, as well as The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, and Meetings with the Archangel. "If Mr. Mitchell gives an eloquent account of the effects of Job's p