Best enjoyed in its superior French version, Cyrano is as “classy” as it gets. Simple, yet most effective, full of humor yet very sad. It is both a touching love story, and the horrible testimony of a flawed human nature constantly fooled by appearances. ( )

I consider this among my favorite plays for both its romantic air of the grand opera and the poetic monologues of its eponymous hero. An unconventional love story, it is more a fable for the importance of virtue, loyalty and friendship. What more magnanimous man in literature is there than Cyrano de Bergerac? I am sure that I will return to this play again and again as it reminds me of the best that is possible for man and mankind. ( )

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The "Unhappy Hooker", for all that it's maligned, has its moments where it simply works far better than any of the latter, lighter translations.

Worth reading, if only for Hooker's preface and the fidelity to which he sticks to the source material. In the end, if I had to pick a favourite translation I'd be selecting bits from all of them, including numerous parts of Hooker. ( )

The Burgess translation is certainly bouncier than the older Hooker but, in his desire to insert rhyming couplets and make the rest of the prose flow, some of the jokes get trampled on and lost. I won't say it's better, but merely different. ( )