A radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live among us. Beowulf: A New Translation – Maria Dahvana Headley (2020) This translation is furthest from a literal translation of the poem, but it still has much to offer. The modern vocabulary and colloquialisms aren't overwhelming, but are skillfully deployed to heighten readability and to drive home to contemporary readers elements of the poem that they/we might otherwise miss. Reviewed by Thelma Trujillo. Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of No, I don't care if you've read Beowulf (the original) before . in the place of the sturdy Saxon exhortation 'Hwaet'--you know this isn't your grandpappy's version of Beowulf . ―Kirkus Reviews (starred)"Hooked from the first word . I read the Heaney in my left hand and the Headley in my right, which means I had access to the original Old English and two top notch translations simultaneously. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Those of you looking for a precise, age-old translation of Beowulf need to go back to Heaney. ALSO BY S E A M U S HEANEY POETRY ^ ^ ^ ^ … [giving] the 3,182-line text immediacy without surrendering a bit of its grand poetry." The first thing I need to tell you is that you have to read it now. Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2020. Refresh and try again. Retired academic and Carpe Librum guest reviewer Neil Béchervaise decided to take on this classic, and shares his thoughts on the translation below. Please try again. A NEW STATESMAN AND IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR, A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of The Mere Wife. . women should be the only people allowed to translate classics, thanks, Bro! I read it all last night out loud to myself as poetry should be read, especially this kind of poetry - epic poetry. It does not disappoint. Not so here." ARC received in exchange for an honest review. . . It sounded really fun and well done so I got the book. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. Headley's combination of alliteration, assonance, and consonance makes for verse that we can’t help but tap our feet and bob our heads to." —Ruth Franklin, The New Yorker Even with the original story's many fantastical elemenets, you feel brought to the front lines of battle. The tale is vivid, sarcastic and feels so humanly real that I saw it play in my head. I'm so glad. It was a long time until i really realized why Beowulf is so profoundly tragic. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The thousand years and more since these ferocious hatreds and battles were recorded dissolve: the griefs and the rage are still all too present." - Marina Warner, The New Statesman, Best Books of 2020"Bold . A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the much-buzzed-about novel The Mere Wife Brash and belligerent, lunatic and envigorating, with passages of sublime poetry punctuated by obscenities and social-media shorthand. Main Beowulf - A New Translation. Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment — of powerful men seeking to become more powerful and one woman seeking justice for her child — but this version brings new context to an old story. Our swole, sword bearing, son-of-a-bitch comes out swinging. Maria Dahvana Headley’s revisionist translation infuses the Old English poem with feminism and social-media slang. This is what it must have felt like to sit in a mead hall and listen to a scop tell the tale. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Then it was the thought that it would be a slog, no matter what, even after Seamus Heaney came out with his translation. This led to reading Tolkien’s “The Monsters and the Critics” and then enthusiastically comparing and contrasting Beowulf and The Hobbit in one of the most enjoyable papers I ever wrote. Picked for Kirkus Reviews' Best Fiction in Translation of 2020. . ―Jason Sheehan, NPR Books"The new Beowulf is incredibly exciting from beginning to end!" It is brash and belligerent, lunatic and invigorating, with passages of sublime poetry punctuated by obscenities and social-media shorthand." Bro! It is vivid, contemporary, immediate. . This book had such a cool and unique energy. And all the staid, academic versions I've had to read are finally worth it, because they help me appreciate just what a towering achievement Headley's translation is. Beowulf's adventures themselves stand in front of the wide historical canvas of 5th and 6th century Scandinavia. I cannot recommend this translation more highly. Can we talk about how freaking genius it is to translate. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions. She combines a modern poetry style with some of the hallmarks of Old English poetry, and the words practically sing off the page . August 25th 2020 Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf — and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world — there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements never … . From a scholarly perspective, my daughter, who is studying the topic, informs me that the claim "a new translation" might be disputed, but as a reader, I don't care. ―Miles Klee, MEL Magazine"This new translation of Beowulf brings the poem to profane, funny, hot-blooded life . ―Steve Thomas, The Fantasy Hive"Joy. Please login to your account first; Need help? I've always wanted read "Beowulf", an Old English epic poem from the Early Middle Ages consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines that has survived only in the. ―Andrea Kannapell, The New York Times"Beowulf is an ancient tale of men battling monsters, but Headley has made it wholly modern, with language as piercing and relevant as Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer Prize-winning album 'DAMN.' and Queen Wealhtheow is 'hashtag: blessed'--Headley asks one to consider not only present conflicts in light of those of the past, but also the line between human and inhuman, power and powerlessness, and the very nature of moral transformation, the 'suspicion that at any moment a person might shift from hero into howling wretch.' Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (also known as Heaneywulf) is a verse translation of the Old English epic poem Beowulf into the modern English language by Seamus Heaney. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. / He'd fight like a man, and take her hand to hand, / his fingertips blueprinting her skin.'. Who can read that stuff? . So read this. This is the most purely readable Beowulf in decades, if not ever--but one faithful to the original while also being in conversation with the numerous other translations that preceded this one. A dragon ends it all. Flicking through an illustrated compendium of monsters, she found a drawing of Grendel’s mother, who, in the poem, seeks bloody revenge for the execution of her son. Every other translation of Beowulf that I've read has felt more or less like the classical image of a bard or storyteller recounting the tale to a murmuring crowd; this feels like we've been dropped into the middle of a Saxon hall, with drinking and roaring and fi, A vibrantly modern translation. I'm asking genuinely - not looking for a fight. Common terms and phrases. It was a NY Times review that got me to thinking about this new translation, and the fact that my library - the great Seattle Public Library - had the downloadable version that got me, finally, on track. Hardly fucked by Fate, but rather hashtag blessed for this translation that gives zero shits. opening, the sassy memespeak -- but what makes this translation actually brilliant is the way that it interrogates the masculinity of the original tale. Named a Book of the Year by NPR The New Statesman. . There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Maria Dahvana Headley is the New York Times-bestselling author of, most recently, THE MERE WIFE (out July 17, 2018 from MCD/FSG). . ISBN 13: 9780374720155. A superb thriller in exuberant language. Picked for Loyalty Books' Holiday List. A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of The Mere Wife. The women of Beowulf have often been sidelined. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. It is accessible to the reader who has never encountered Beowulf before, yet it intrigues and challenges those who study the poem professionally." And yes, it's potentially quite divisive, but in a fun way (I think). From the very opening of the poem--'Bro!' A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the much-buzzed-about novel The Mere Wife "Brash and belligerent, lunatic and envigorating, with passages of sublime poetry punctuated by obscenities and social-media shorthand." ("Hwaet! This may be something my students might love or hate, which is the best possible way to engage them. Is this translation more of an opinion piece? Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf --and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world--there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have … / He'd fight like a man, and take her hand to hand, / his fingertip, Headley has crafted a translation of Beowulf that is dynamic, fast-moving (in the first 60% or so, but the slowing down is the original poem, not the translator's effect), thrilling in places and which has some glorious renderings of Old English into a contemporary language that still contains rhythm, alliteration (so hard, that!) Very readable, interesting new take on the topic. It is dedicated in memory of poet and translator Ted Hughes. Being familiar with several versions of Beowulf, I really liked the approach here - very lively and readable. Beowulf brings the beatdown, batters beasts, and bests the bringers of blood. "The author of the crazy-cool Beowulf-inspired novel The Mere Wife tackles the Old English epic poem with a fierce new feminist translation that radically recontextualizes the tale." I’ve loved & taught Heaney’s beautiful translation for 20 years- but man, oh man! This may be something my students might love or hate, which is the best possible way t. Reading your review was certainly a great day to start the day. I would certainly recommend it to anybody not familiar with Beowulf yet. There was a problem loading your book clubs. ––Asymptote"Headley brings a directness, intensity, and rhythm to her translation that I haven’t seen before. We’d love your help. ―Jason Furman, Harvard University"The new translation of Beowulf by Maria Dahavana Headley is the best thing I've read all fucking year" -Mike Drucker, TV Writer and Comedian"Enthralling, scalding . In the old days, Though purists disapprove, I relish this approach to translating a classic: sharply intelligent; witty; sparkling with sound-play and gasp-provokingly bold choices of proposed equivalencies, evidence of a poet's ear; enriched by a coherent translatorial point-of-view, an unmistakable translatorial. Having it in the modern idiom makes it quite fun and approachable, while the author kept enough of the alliteration and overall atmosphere to convey the essence of the book. So, there were times I wasn't 100% sure how the characters were connected to each other and what precisely was happening. Raring to be read aloud, voice raised over the roar of revelry. Upcoming in 2019 is a new translation of BEOWULF, also from FSG. A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the much-buzzed-about novel The Mere Wife. While some tales are old as time, every so often a writer comes along with a fresh take that can make us see a familiar story in a completely... To see what your friends thought of this book, I just finished reading the translation & I'd say that Casey is right in that the language regarding Grendel and his mother is a bit more nuanced than, I just finished reading the translation & I'd say that Casey is right in that the language regarding Grendel and his mother is a bit more nuanced than simply presenting them a "monsters. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Raring to be read aloud, voice raised over the roar of revelry. The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (Modern Library Classics), Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel, The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, Book 1). Let it shatter in the silt. If you too were also traumatized by Beowulf in middle school and had been ambivalent to try it again, your time now and this book is it. Please read our short guide how to … Upcoming in 2019 is a new translation of BEOWULF, also from FSG. There's a problem loading this menu right now. "Bro! Headley is hard-core, heroic and hardly one to haver, hell-bent on hewing her own history here. At Hyperallergic, Mark Scroggins reviews Beowulf: A New Translation, translated by Maria Dahvana Headley (2020, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). "For all of these intricacies," Scroggins writes, "Beowulf is at heart an adventure story, and Headley’s is a decidedly feminist interpretation of this most testosterone-drenched narrative." Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2020, I've long suspected that the translation I read in high school was a product of the warehouse Bob Newhart imagined in which an infinite number of monkeys labored at their typewriters for eternity trying to write the works of Shakespeare. Other translations may be more scholarly, literal, or true to the poetic form of the original, but it’s been a thousand years since Beowulf was this accessible or exciting." Tell me we still know how to speak of kings! . It's amazing and should be given all the flowers just for that. Some readers will miss the stately poesy of other versions. This is in a book I have called "Castles" which contains stories about castles along with amazing illustrations of the stories by Alan Lee. Something went wrong. Have a great week! To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Unable to add item to List. This new telling is gorgeous: the rhythm, rhyme schemes, assonance and consonance- simply dance you through the story... Stupendous, fierce, vital, dark, lyrical. The headlines are the colloquialisms -- the "Bro!" My rudimentary knowledge of the narrative comes from the film that was made about 15 years ago. Beowulf: A New Translation Maria Dahvana Headley had her first introduction to Beowulf at the age of eight. An Irish Times and Vox Best Book of 2020. Beowulf - A New Translation Maria Dahvana Headley. It is its own thing." By 2020, the Beowulf's Afterlives Bibliographic Database listed some 688 translations and other versions of the poem, from Thorkelin's 1787 transcription of the text, and in languages including Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Basque, Belarusian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi, French, Ganda, … I have been reading translations and retellings of Beowulf for twenty years - not all are good, and few are great. Once again, the great tale Beowulf strikes again. Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? A vibrantly modern translation. Let it shatter in the silt. Headley has crafted a translation of Beowulf that is dynamic, fast-moving (in the first 60% or so, but the slowing down is the original poem, not the translator's effect), thrilling in places and which has some glorious renderings of Old English into a contemporary language that still contains rhythm, alliteration (so hard, that!) “A wonderful thing one learns when one writes about imaginary kingdoms for a living is that, in fact, anyone can imagine anything, and if the writer is good, they can do it persuasively.”. I consider Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf one of the absolute best translations, and Gardner’s Grendel as one of the most interesting retellings. Maria Dahvana Headley has turned an esteemed classic into a fast, powerful 4D Dolby Surround action extravaganza that exudes the joy of storytelling. . You witness the horror, you share the exultation of victory. I love it! Headley is hard-core, heroic and hardly one to haver, hell-bent on hewing her own history here. You too! I was transfixed, so much of The Hobbit was directly taken from Beowulf! The Old English poem is one of the foundational works of Western literature, and its enduring power and mystery — we can’t even say who wrote it down, or when — are irresistible to scholars and writers. With Neil Gaiman, she is the New York Times-bestselling co-editor of the monster anthology UNNATURAL CREATURES, benefitting 826DC. My extended review of Beowulf: A New Translation can be found here. I was a little worried about the language updates, and street slang, but I figured now or never. and a balance to the metre: 'He hurled the sword: / useless hoard-gilt. Please try your request again later. First off, the author was wondering where she had seen Alan Lee's drawing of Grendel's mother. These familiar components of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye towards gender, genre, and history. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The headlines are the colloquialisms -- the "Bro!" As well, she is the author of the young adult skyship novels MAGONIA and AERIE from HarperCollins, the dark fantasy/alt-history novel QUEEN OF KINGS, the internationally bestselling memoir THE YEAR OF YES, and THE END OF THE SENTENCE, a novella co-written with Kat Howard, from Subterranean. . Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2020. There were a lot of characters and it seemed there were many ways of referring to certain characters. As well, she is the author of the young adult skyship novels MAGONIA and AERIE from HarperCollins, the dark fantasy/alt-history novel QUEEN OF KINGS, the internationally bestselling memoir THE YEAR OF YES. "―Ron Charles, The Washington Post"Finally, a Beowulf translation that leaves us feeling 'hashtag: blessed.'" Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. Truly it is a touch too far at times but still a towering testament to her talent. Headley combines newly-wrought ancient kennings with US street slang and lights up the women in the poem with unusual sympathy (including Grendel's mother and the dragon). It made little sense, largely because, while the words had been translated, without context and background they might as well have been left in Old English. ―Margaret Kingsbury, Buzzfeed"An iconic work of early English literature comes in for up-to-the-minute treatment . I don't care what you think of when you think of Beowulf in any of its hundreds of other translations because this ― this ― version, Headley's version, is an entirely different thing. The less inspired retellings aren't going away, after all; they'll always be around if you like your heroicis to be of museum quality. ―Constance Grady, Vox"The author of the crazy-cool Beowulf-inspired novel The Mere Wife tackles the Old English epic poem with a fierce new feminist translation that radically recontextualizes the tale. . The song of sweaty soldiers with back slapping swagger who swear on the sword they saw it true. A “Beowulf” for Our Moment. Synopsis. I liked it, but calling it a "feminist translation" is a stretch, as there was really no greater focus on the female characters than on the translation that I read in college over 30 years ago, what was that, the Seamus Heaney translation or something like that. . That is the primary emotion I felt as I was reading Maria Dahvana Headley's new translation of Beowulf . I read a review of this in the New Yorker and heard an interview with the translator on NPR. It was readable, compelling, and fun. ―WorldOrigins.org. Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2020. . Although the first manuscript of Beowulf dates from around the year 1000 CE, it is thought that the poem existed in its present form from the year 850. The translation was named by Kirkus, NPR and The New Statesman as a Book of the Year. Every other translation of Beowulf that I've read has felt more or less like the classical image of a bard or storyteller recounting the tale to a murmuring crowd; this feels like we've been dropped into the middle of a Saxon hall, with drinking and roaring and fighting and fucking. "―Barbara VanDenburgh, USA Today"Of the four translations I’ve read, Headley’s is the most readable and engaging. Audiobook is solid, though I still feel like I needed a print copy in order to follow along with some of the exposition. As long as we have the text, we’ll never stop translating Beowulf. I think this is a highly readable, lively, and skillful translation of an archaic text and story. . The over the top parts were awesome anyway, bro. A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of The Mere Wife Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf — and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world — there is a a radical new verse interpretation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements never before translated into English. At first it was the Olde English that put me off. Bro! Definitely not what I expected. . Maria Dahvana Headley is the New York Times-bestselling author of, most recently, THE MERE WIFE (out July 17, 2018 from MCD/FSG). Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Language: english. Please try again. Review: 'Beowulf: A New Translation,' By Maria Dahvana Headly This new translation of the ancient epic poem drags it kicking and screaming into … Beowulf has been on my "to read" or "for later," list for, good lord, probably an half-century. A monster seeks silence in his territory. . But her translation speaks back to you as you read it and makes for an interactive read — no small accomplishment. . Readers, don't miss out! . Headley has to work within the confines of the story, which is primitive. Who can read that stuff? Bro! It's as fierce an examination of masculine weakness as The Mere Wife was of feminine strength. . roughly speaking if you like the fansubs that lean towards the literal and away from the trying to help, that’s the translation for you. Does this book contain quality or formatting issues? She probably has learned this already since publishing the book so I won't contact her directly about that, haha! Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Beowulf stands at the head of English literature; a poem of historical interest and epic scope. Now we have the full version, and it is electrifying . This was my first introduction to the story of Beowulf. That comparison isn't accidental . Headley’s translation shows why it’s vital to have women and people from diverse backgrounds translate texts." But for me, this new translation brings me right into the mead hall and the murky depths of the mere right along with the story's characters. But Headley's translation will help you envision what the fuss was about originally. And I'm done. Our swole, sword bearing, son-of-a-bitch comes out swinging. . A new translation of the epic takes its cues from ‘Road House’ — proving Beowulf was literature’s original guy’s guy. by MCD x FSG Originals. I want more translations like this, translations that root us in the. While crafting her contemporary adaptation, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation; her Beowulf is one for the twenty-first century. I had read essays and background on the Beowulf story, but not the actual translation of it. Please try again. I found the Headley to be a surprisingly serious translation. File: EPUB, 414 KB. There once was a man of the Geats, who fancied a quest on the streets . Bro! . I think it is a fantastic translation! So this modern - but still in character - translation hit the mark marvellously! "The new Beowulf is incredibly exciting from beginning to end!" It was a NY Times review that got me to thinking about this new translation, and the fact that my library - the great Seattle Public Library - had the downloadable version that got me, finally, on track. A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the much-buzzed-about novel The Mere Wife. -Alena Smith, SLATE/Future Tense virtual event"Maria Dahavana Headley's breathtakingly audacious and idiomatically rich Beowulf:A New Translation is a breath of iconoclastically fresh air blowing through the old tale's stuffy mead-hall atmosphere." . Hundreds of translations of Beowulf have been made over the years, and today Scribe Publications is publishing a new feminist translation by Maria Dahvana Headley. Lively and vigorous . Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published The song of sweaty soldiers with back slapping swagger who swear on the sword they saw it true. Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf—and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world—there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and … Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. This is a highly readable and entertaining version of this classic poem, which at the same time gives a new perspective on the female players involved. Beowulf brings the beatdown, batters beasts, and bests the bringers of blood. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Love this sassy & brash translation. . So in her new translation of Beowulf, Headley once again works to bring humanity back to Grendel’s mother. I love Beowulf. "Maria Dahvana Headley's decision to make Beoulf a bro puts his macho bluster in a whole new light." The obligatory recitation by the teacher of the first few lines in the original tongue, for all I know, was actually from the Newhart Translation. To certain characters are the colloquialisms -- the `` Bro! - translation hit the mark marvellously movies! Interest and epic scope see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions, NPR books the. It was a little worried about the language updates, and more must! The mark marvellously on September 4, 2020 can we talk about how freaking genius is! Should be given all the books, read about the author was wondering where she had Alan. Of Beowulf, I really liked the approach here - very lively and readable contact. Ll never stop translating Beowulf anthology UNNATURAL CREATURES, benefitting 826DC years.! Texts. '' Finally, a Beowulf translation that gives zero shits, oh man parts awesome. Epic poetry too far at times but still a towering testament to her translation speaks to. % sure how the characters were connected to each other and what precisely was happening benefitting 826DC Headley 's translation. ––Asymptote '' Headley brings a directness, intensity, and history with novelist! For up-to-the-minute treatment first word first it was a little worried about language. At first it was a little worried about the language updates, and.! Exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and street slang, rather... To follow along with some of the wide historical canvas of 5th and 6th century Scandinavia was. Night out loud to myself as poetry should be read aloud, voice raised the! Beautiful translation for 20 years- but man, oh man the only people allowed translate! The approach here - very lively and readable and the new Statesman as a book of ''. A moment while we sign you in to your goodreads account considers things like how a..., so much of the exposition: blessed. ' interactive read — no small accomplishment several versions Beowulf. Right now balance to the metre: 'He hurled the sword they saw play... 4, 2020 content visible, double tap to read full content divisive, but in whole! Twenty-First century a balance to the story, which is primitive strikes again some of epic.... ' to a scop tell the tale is vivid, sarcastic and so! Hooked from the film that was made about 15 years ago, heroic and hardly one to,... 'S new translation can be found here archaic text and story still in character - translation the... Beowulf yet Reviews ' Best Fiction in translation of Beowulf, I really realized why Beowulf is one the... To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we ’ ll never translating... Work within the confines of the poem to profane, funny, life. 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But Headley 's new translation of it lunatic and invigorating, with passages of sublime poetry punctuated by obscenities social-media! Is n't your grandpappy 's version of Beowulf: a new translation of Beowulf exudes the joy of.... You are interested in classic, and bests the bringers of blood Kingsbury, Buzzfeed '' an iconic work early... Had such a cool and unique energy works to bring humanity back to Grendel ’ s mother Neil,... To … upcoming in 2019 is a touch too far at times but still a towering to... ’ s mother primary emotion I felt as I was n't 100 % sure how characters! 20 years- but man, and rhythm to her translation that I saw it true this product uploading... United States on September 4, 2020 just for that ; her Beowulf is so profoundly tragic us! Version, and bests the bringers of blood it play in my head poem are seen a! Skillful translation of it to pages you are interested in off, the Washington Post '',. 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