Title: Great story, too-literal translation
Product review: I first heard about the Kalava in middle school when I wrote a term paper about Finland, and learned that its poetic meter was copied by Longfellow when he wrote "The Song of Hiawatha." Recently I ran across it again while doing research on mythology, and decided to actually read it this time. The stories are fascinating, and now I know where Tolkein (a great favorite of mine) got some of his ideas! However, the translation was disappointing. I think the author was trying to be as true to the original as possible, but the result is clunky and not at all poetic. For instance, every time someone speaks, it says, "he/she declared, chattered," which sounds more like a cocktail party than an epic poem! Finally I purchased a different translation which preserves the original meter, and found it much more readable. I've kept this one for reference in case I want to know the literal meaning of a passage.
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