Inferno
FAUST by Goethe — Part 1 (first published in 1808)
I’ve been rereading the David Constantine translation during these dark times and have concluded that we are being ruled by a Faustian character who has made a pact with the Devil disguised as Capitalism. Click on the audio file above and listen to me read the Dedication, which is the short poem at the beginning of the book.
In the Dedication, Goethe describes his thoughts as he sits in his office readying himself to write his treatise on the human condition. Constantine’s translation gives it a prose quality while also retaining the heightened text and (for me) it is the best version of this great tragedy to read aloud while in quarantine.
