They're pretty different in approach and were written decades apart iirc. I think preferred part 2, but if you read 1 you should probably read 2 as well.

There are about 40 years between the publication of both. The second part was published after his death.

The second part came out of Goethe taking the "start with the Greeks" meme very, very seriously, to the point that it's a hard read when you don't know the allusions, so most people skip it. The first part works fine on its own.

>>8197518
ah okay. i know the basics of the faust myth, is that covered in its entirety in part 1?

is part 1 a more or less complete narrative?

>>8197525
From what I recall yea, the fundament of the Faust myth is contained in part 1, and it can stand on it's own.

>>8197557
cheers. guess i'll just read part 1 for the time being

going to check what they've got at my library, is there any best english translation ?

>>8197562
Lol I just selected the sole translation my library had in stock. I don't remember who translated it but I do recall being impressed with the language and rhyme scheme.

>>8197513
Faust Part 1 has had a better shelf life because it has a salient romance plot, and is vastly more naturalistic in tone than Part 2, which is turbid by any standard.

Part 2 is fine, but is thematically harder to grapple with, because it represents the culmination of an entire life of study, and reflects Goethe's personal interests concerning rarer humanities (he tried to unify the mythologies of Greece and his own background) and science, as well as the revolutionary era he was part of, and veils it all in a shifting metaphysical narrative. It could be considered indulgent. Goethe actually admitted that Part 2 needed revision, but alas he died. Fortunately, as it is, the two parts form a complete work with a satisfactory conclusion.

I do think that Part 1 is a complete story in itself, but it doesn't address Faust's personal salvation, or occult nuance concerning alchemical transmutation, artificial life in bottles, personified deadly sins, or preserving a little brother's life in a suit of armor. So Part 2 is completely worth reading, if you're up to the challenge.

>>8197562
The David Luke translation is the modern standard for Faust. It has the best balance of natural sounding English and scholastically sophisticated tone. I started with Arndt, but I personally dislike his translation, as his word choice is turgid, and so recommend reading the Norton Faust only for the supplementary material. Arndt is a case where being more sophisticated resulted in a weaker overall performance.

This great post runs down a wider list of translations, so credits to him:
https://warosu.org/lit/thread/S8155372#p8157860

What's part 3 about then?

Part 2 is for patricians only.

>tfw still no one has comprehended the realm of the mothers yet except for you

>>8197720
Out of the few examples posted in that thread I think I prefer the Stuart Atkins translation. What are your thoughts on that?

>>8197524
>start with the Greeks

It's not really a meme if you're really serious about studying lit/phil that's where you should start.

>>8198572
Lol look at this special snowflake fag

>>8197513
>translation

>>8197720
hey thanks for the excellent followup man

>>8197524
>The second part came out of Goethe taking the "start with the Greeks" meme very, very seriously
Welp. Laughing uncontrollably IRL.

No review has ever fit better.

>>8197720
Part two is fucking fantastic though.

Part two isn't necessarily bad, but the whole thing about capturing an entire life is nonsense. Yes, he ages throughout the book, but it's all in weird bursts. You don't get a middle-aged Faust for instance. Instead he fights some battles, behaves vaguely steampunkish in antiquity and tries to create a new country. All with a song and dance of course.

To me the book felt like an old-fashioned circus. You get your elephants followed by knifethrowers. No particular relation between those two, but they're both cool on their own.

>>8200753
>completely missing what the book was about

>>8200761
It's hard to miss something that's all over the place.

W H A T W A S P A R T 3 A B O U T?
H
A
T

W
A
S

P
A
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T

3

A
B
O
U
T?

realm of the woooooombs

>>8202662
yeah whatever, key symbolism, it's not that deep dude

>>8198642
The Atkins translation is superb, my only aversion to it is a frivolous one. The original German rhymes and dwells in the memory better, Atkin's version does not rhyme, though it is still quite potent.

I really like the Bayard Taylor translation, though it is comparably vanilla for modern readers. It's more word for word accurate than that of David Luke.

Sorry for being terse, I'm at work. I wish I could elaborate more.