W. J. Johnson (1) (1951–)

Not the easiest thing in the world to review, you might think, since it's kind of like reviewing one book from the Odyssey. It could have been disastrous, but Johnson does a great job in all sorts of ways: he translates this as poetry! The translation is readable! The annotation is deep and helpful without being overwhelming! The story itself is fascinating and fun, and deserves five stars. There are only two problems: Johnson, for whatever reason, is obsessed with structuralist interpretation, which sullies the introduction and the notes. More importantly, I now want the rest of the Mahabharata in bite sized chunks. Please, Oxford University Press, make it happen!… (more)