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Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya; The Great Classic of Central American Spirituality, Translated from the Original Maya Tex
Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya; The Great Classic of Central American Spirituality, Translated from the Original Maya Tex | Allen J Christenson
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The Popol Vuh is the most important example of Maya literature to have survived the Spanish conquest. It is also one of the world s great creation accounts, comparable to the beauty and power of Genesis.Most previous translations have relied on Spanish versions rather than the original K iche -Maya text. Based on ten years of research by a leading scholar of Maya literature, this translation with extensive notes is uniquely faithful to the original language. Retaining the poetic style of the original text, the translation is also remarkably accessible to English readers.Illustrated with more than eighty drawings, photographs, and maps, Allen J. Christenson s authoritative version brings out the richness and elegance of this sublime work of literature, comparable to such epic masterpieces as the "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata" of India or the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" of Greece."
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(Review is of an edition not in Litsy)

An epic poem of creation and culture from the K'iche' people of what is now Guatemala, newly translated into verse by Michael Bazzett.

This came out August 2018 and I had an eARC that I was late to get to. I found it breathtaking and intriguing throughout, but I especially liked the long period before the humans turn up, and how many elements of the culture are embedded into the creation story.

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Translator Dennis Tedlock did an great job at explaining the nuances of the cultural significance of the myths.

I found it particularly interesting that most of the stories in the Popol Vuh can be linked to specific astronomical/calendrical events. An incredibly complex and sophisticated world-view.

The journeys of the hero-gods into the underworld realm of Xibalba were both funny and horrifyingly grotesque at the same time. Though probably 👇🏼

Bookwomble ... not as horrifying as the semi-historical section towards the end in which the mythic origins of human sacrifice are explained.

Tedlock very generously acknowledges the help he received from contemporary Quiché Maya practitioners, particularly Andrés Xiloj who initiated him as Daykeeper, one who is able to perform divinations using the 260-day ritual calendar of the Maya.
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