Review: I and Thou

I and Thou by Martin Buber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Translation is everything--and Walter Kaufman sucks. The only translator (from the original German) that GoodReads lists is Kaufman, but the Ronald Gregor Smith translation is everything, and puts Kaufman to shame. Compared side by side (oh how I wish I could read the original :-( , but each translation contrasted with the other, is honestly like reading entirely two different works. The Smith translation made me fall in love with the relational/relationship/sacred construct. I read it when I was barely 18--and never looked back. I became so obsessed, I read it many many times more, including Kaufman--and currently own several copies of the same damn translation! This is simply magical. It's everything a work of literature should be. It's definitely not going to be everyone cup of tea. All the complaints you've heard about it are likely true, e.g. it's repetitive, boring, confusing, etc. It's a tall drink of water, for sure--a deeply dense and philosophical work. It's the the dramatic case for trust and developing a sacred space in relationship. It's a fantasy of mine that I'd get to meet Buber. He's aGod, no joke. This I promise you: you will never read anything like this ever. Just for kicks, check it out of the library. By the way, the Smith translation came before the Kaufman one, and because Smith was so difficult to understand, Kaufman came along and tried to render it more accessible. Instead, he butchered it, and removed the beauty, instead making it mundane rather than ethereal. If you cannot get the Smith translation, don't bother getting t at all, because you'll get a skewed and distorted picture of Buber's message. It hurts me to think that you'd come away with that :-(

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