A New Translation of the Bhagavad Gita

[George Thompson]

Yes. We stayed at the same hotel, and I remember several enjoyable 
conversations that we had. My wife and I walked to the banquet together 
with you. Pleasant memories of Leiden!

Beest wishes,.

George

Dipak Bhattacharya wrote:

>Noted the information on your transl. of the Bhagavadgiita. Thanks! Didn't  we meet Leiden in 2002?Wish you the best.Sincerely
>  D.Bhattacharya
>
>George Thompson <gthomgt at COMCAST.NET> wrote:
>  Dear List,
>
>Even though the Spring semester is only a month behind us, and Summer is 
>still not quite yet upon us [at least officially] here in the USA, many 
>of us are already being asked to submit book orders for next Fall's 
>classes. I'd like to call the List's attention to my new translation of 
>the Gita, to be published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, a distinguished 
>literary publisher, this summer [ apparently in August]. It will be 
>published in an inexpensive paperback edition aimed at students in 
>courses that many of us teach. I have translated it with our students 
>very much in mind. I have used my translation with my own students for 
>the past year and a half and I think that it has been more effective 
>than any of the previous translations that I have used.
>
>The galleys of this edition have been circulated among Sanskritists, 
>Indologists, Historians of Religion, Classicists, poets, and Comparative 
>Literature specialists. The feedback from them has been very encouraging.
>
>Let me call your attention to the June 12, 2008 issue of the New York 
>Review of Books. In that issue, on page 4, facing the Contents page, is 
>a full page advertisement from Farrar Straus & Giroux celebrating their 
>forthcoming summer reading list. It culminates with a photo of my book's 
>cover [with a lovely image of Krishna that the art historian Anna 
>Dallapiccola generously recommended to us], and this blurb from 
>Stephanie Jamison:
>
>"George Thompson brings his fine-tuned sense of poetic language and his 
>deep knowledge of the Indian -- especially Vedic -- religious tradition 
>to this fresh and vigorous new translation of a foundational text."
>
>On the back cover of the book will be this comment from Victor Mair 
>[whose popular translation of the Tao Te Ching makes very interesting 
>connections between the Gita (and yoga) and Taoist thought]:
>
>“With this elegant, new rendering of The Bhagavad Gita, George Thompson 
>has achieved the seemingly impossible: his translation is accurate, yet 
>readable; written in crisp, straightforward prose, but filled with 
>poetic brilliance; accompanied by a learned introduction and valuable 
>commentary, both of which are informed by profound Indological 
>scholarship that illuminates rather than intimidates. In short, this is 
>a gem that will be appreciated by anyone who wishes to familiarize 
>himself or herself with one of the world's greatest religious and 
>philosophical classics.”
>
>- Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, 
>Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of 
>Pennsylvania
>
>I have just learned that the right to publish this translation in India 
>has been proposed by the publisher Macmillan India, although the date 
>for publication in India is still to be determined.
>
>Anyone who is interested in looking at a sample of this translation, or 
>its introduction, in order to determine its usefulness in the classroom 
>should feel free to contact me. I can send pdf files of any sections of 
>the text that may interest you.
>
>This message has been sent to a handful of email lists. I apologize to 
>anyone who may receive it more than once. I trust that this book notice 
>does not offend any list ethics regarding book notices. If it does 
>offend, then please accept my apologies and delete it.
>
>George Thompson
>
>
>       
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