A Book of Psalms

Year after year, people have come to the Psalms in their spiritual quests. Here, the author adds one more layer of experience and tradition to the unnumbered people who have added their own input to the historic tradition. For people looking for a fusion with eastern thought, this could be helpful. Also, there is a rich variety of resources on the psalms interconnecting with tradition and experience, particularly those written or editted by Stephen Breck Reid

i loved it. reading the bible always makes me feel spanked. mitchell has done with the psalms what G did for moveable type. something about universal accessibility.

When you open to Psalm 1 and find that it begins: "Blessed are the man and the woman / who have grown beyond their greed," you know that this is not your fathers' Psalter.Fair enough. Stephen Mitchell gives fair warning in his title (it's "a," not "the" Book of Psalms) and his short introduction (in which he states his intent to "[s]ing to the Lord a _new_ song" by following the spirit rather than the letter).And like all of Mitchell's work, these are lovely poetic renderings. But be aware that quite a few of them are (or at least include) improvisations that depart radically from the original text. Then, too, the local references to Jerusalem and/or the Temple have been erased and replaced with more universal allusions. (Other portions of the text are rendered even more politically correct.)My biggest beef is that Mitchell has turned most of the "complaining" Psalms (when he includes them at all; there are only fifty "psalms" in this volume) into statements of spiritual acquiescence. And he characterizes that acquiescence itself in terms that are foreign to the Psalms: e.g. Psalm 133's "my heart is not proud" is Buddhized to "my mind is not noisy with desires."But it's excellent poetry, and Mitchell at least has the good sense not to stray too far from the text when he renders perennial favorites like Psalm 23.As poetry, then, this book is one of Mitchell's better works. Just don't expect the biblical Psalms.

Regrettably this author only treats us to a selection of psalms, not the whole psalter, but his translation from the Hebrew into contemporary idiom is strikingly beautiful, as one might expect from a poet. This book opened my eyes to new meanings in some of my favorite psalms.