As this is the only translation I've read of this tale, I may not be best placed to write a review.

I found this book fairly easy to read, especially in comparison to the texts that are available online. The endnotes were especially helpful, though I am not sure if some matters were left out as there were references to, say, the history of the bulls themselves, but nowhere in the book was this history related. Perhaps I missed it? I would also have apprecited an pronuncation guide to the names when listed in the endnotes. As I am not an Irish speaker, this would have been invaluable.

I did have some difficulty with the poetry[?] sections, as I could not make sense of them, but I imagine this is because of the difficulty in translating from Irish, with its propensity for double meanings.

Overall, a good introduction to the Táin Bó Cúailnge. ( )

Really a reread, though it's been forever since I read it. I decided to read it again in anticipation of Ciaran Carson's translation that I'm told is less than literal--though if you want to get technical about it, Kinsella's translation also isn't a literal word-for-word translation. But I still love the story and the illustrations in this version, which are purposely primitive, add so much.

However, I can't always find I'm sympathetic to Ulster simply because of the origins of the pangs. Kind of serves them right--the king does speak for his people after all, and therefore he caused his people to suffer. That's not to say Maeve of the Friendly Thighs is not a bit greedy herself. Nor Ailill. Really, everyone's to blame, except our hero CuChulain, who just goes so crazy when challenged that he's never at fault. But then, that's what happens when your father is a god. ( )

I didn't like the vast majority of this saga. The one exception is the story of Etain. Otherwise, we're stuck with a whole bunch of stories about the overly stuffed with testosterone boy, Cuchulainn, who does nothing but steal from the queen (I was rooting for her). It's nothing but war and cattle- the Decemberists capture the feeling of the stories very well in their album "The Tain." ( )

Making love, religion, drinking and fighting, all the things that the Irish love doing are to be found in this epic work. ( )

The unexpected treasure of my senior year required reading list. This is ancient Ireland's fantasy universe, where even heroes are bloodthirsty and Fairy Land is a strange and sinister place. Recommended to anyone who loved their Homer or wants to know more about Ireland. ( )