The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems

Book Description

This collection of Neruda's most essential poems will prove indispensable. Selected by a team of poets and prominent Neruda scholars in both Chile and the U.S., this is a definitive selection that draws from the entire breadth and width of Neruda's various styles and themes. An impressive group of translators that includes Alistair Reid, Stephen Mitchell, Robert Hass, Stephen Kessler and Jack Hirschman, have come together to revisit or completely retranslate the poems; and a handful of previously untranslated works are included as well. This selection sets the standard for a general, high--quality introduction to Neruda's complete oeuvre.

Pablo Neruda was born in Chile in 1904. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Customer Reviews:

Gracias a la Vida de Pablo!.......2007-08-04

M.Eisner has compiled an elegant presentation of the profound Pablo's soulful echo. The translations are smooth and majestic. He has clearly discovered the light radiating from Neruda's heart. Thank you for this lovely red poppy edition!

Lovely Collection of Poetry.......2007-06-01

This beautiful collection of poetry contains both English & Spanish versions of Neruda's poetry. It contains great breadth & depth at the core and encompasses the vastness of Neruda's work - love, politics, everyday life, landscape. This is a GREAT gift book!

Wonderful tool (and treat!) for those learning Spanish.......2006-10-10

My husband is a linguist, and one of the things he suggested I do while learning Spanish is memorize various items -- stories, poems, songs -- that I can say to myself whenever I like. Other than "practice the verbs!" this has been the best language advice I've ever received. It helps me with pronunciation, understanding, fluency -- and, as a major side benefit, I have great pastimes for when I'm waiting in line, or stuck somewhere without a book.
"The Essential Neruda" is a goldmine of beautiful pieces, and most anyone will be able to find a poem that appeals to them enough to learn by heart. "Oda al Libro (II)" is one of my favorites, and it has helped me learn and retain the meanings of several great words.
Side-by-side bilingual texts like this one also serve as terrific motivators for language learners because as we grow in skill and are able to read in both languages, we can evaluate the translators' work and notice where certain nuances and meanings are lost in the shift from one language to another. Being able to understand a writer like Neruda in his original language is a glorious treat!

an exquisite allure.......2006-05-22

Drawn into the appeal of Pablo Neruda through an art project, I
approached this collection of poems taped together and bound by
a red sleeve at a local bookstore. I was moreoverly surprised
at how entrancing and delicately eloquent Neruda's writing style
was--even transcribed from spanish to english. The editor, Mark
Eisner did a fantastic job with the translations, and I didn't
feel like I was succombing to "Kung-Fu movie" subtitles as I
would have expected. This collection brought Neruda's poetry to
a managable and palpable understanding, such as I needed to
thoroughly perceive it. Though Chile, Neruda's homeland, is, as
any other cultured region would be, variable to my own, it
continued to bring insights to my own observations of life--and
all the beauty and exquisite allure contained in it.

it is all in the title.......2006-01-16

As a former student of Spanish literature, I have always held a deep appreciation for the work of Pablo Neruda. I have often wished to share the beauty of his work with friends and family - yet many of them have found Neruda translations to be inaccessible. I have also found that many of the other translations are stilted or do not properly recreate the rhythm and imagery of the Spanish original.
The Essential Neruda combines an excellent overview of Neruda's work with accesible and faithful translation. Whether you are new to the poetry of Pablo Neruda or have already read every one of his works - the Essential Neruda will give you valuable insight into his art and an appreciation of cutting-edge poetry translation.
This book also launched a non-profit organization and on-line community dedicated to Neruda and his work.

Check out www.redpoppy.net to learn about contemporary Neruda translation and scholarship, Chilean politics and more.

It also shows how you can get involved with the legacy of Neruda.

Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems (Edición bilingüe)

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Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems
Sucede que me canso de ser hombre
Que bueno
In agreement
UN LIBRO DE COLECCION

Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems (Edición bilingüe)
Pablo Neruda
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0395544181

Book Description

In his long life as a poet, Pablo Neruda succeeded in becoming what many poets have aspired to but never achieved: a public voice, a voice not just for the people of his country but for his entire continent. Widely translated, he probably reached more readers than any poet in history; justly so, for, as he often said, his "poet's obligation" was to become a voice for all those who had no voice, an aspiration that stemmed from his long-time commitment to the communist faith. Born in 1904 in the rainy south of Chile, he enjoyed from an early age the luck of attention. One of his first books, Twenty Love Poems, became a bible for lovers in the Spanish language, and confirmed him in his poet's vocation. At the same time he pursued a lifelong career as a diplomat, serving in a series of consular posts in the Far East and Europe. In 1971, while serving as Chilean ambassador to France, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. In a famous essay, "On Impure Poetry," Neruda calls for "a poetry as impure as old clothes, as a body with its foodstains and its shame, with wrinkles, observations, dreams, wakefulness, prophesies, declarations of love and hate, stupidities, shocks, idylls, political beliefs, negations, doubts, affirmations, and taxes."

Customer Reviews:

Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems.......2006-08-21

I was a rookie when it comes to reading stylized writings like that of Pablo Neruda. I ordered the book as a friend suggested thinking it would be an impressive addition to my library not realizing that I would really enjoy his deep, thought-provoking and yet whimsical poems. My recommendation is to try it, you'll like it!!

Sucede que me canso de ser hombre.......2006-06-25

Neruda was my companion during a 7 months journey and i remember clearly as water how many times i took this book with me to read it in front of the ocean. I am not very fond to poetry but with Neruda its impossible not in fall in love with the magic of words. You should have this book in your hands and heart.

Que bueno.......2006-02-25

Que bueno la traduccion y el original... Neruda es lo mejor de los mejores. Un libro exquisito.

In agreement.......2005-08-29

I actually got this collection to study up on my Spanish, and I found myself emmersed in his tangible words. I found it interesting that some of the translations seem slightly weaker in English, but maybe that's just me.

What I like about Neruda is that his poetry can really talk to a general readership without sacrificing the aestheticism of poetic language. He seems to have an uncanny way of being brutally raw with his lanugaue, while letting the images, hard as they are, float softly, like flower petals.

Maybe I'm in love with the guy. Oh to be a poet.

UN LIBRO DE COLECCION.......2002-10-25

A MUST HAVE. Es sin duda un libro que vas a cuidar y conservar con mucho cariño. La recoleccion de poemas es brillante, exquisita, de primera. Quien no ha leido a Neruda? Lo bello del libro es que ofrece los poemas en el idioma que fueron escritos y en Ingles. La traduccion al ingles es excelente. No hay mucho que hablar sobre este libro, los poemas son una obra de arte y que esten a la vez traducidos al Ingles ya es mas que un buen regalo. No pienses dos veces en obtenerlo.

Average customer rating:

A missed opportunity. Una lastima.
Essential For Any Lover of Neruda
A 'must' for any college-level collection
You will fall in love with the Chilean poet
Beautiful

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0374529604
Release Date: 2005-03-24

Book Description

The most comprehensive English-language collection of work ever by "the greatest poet of the twentieth century--in any language" (Gabriel García Márquez)

"In his work a continent awakens to consciousness." So wrote the Swedish Academy in awarding the Nobel Prize to Pablo Neruda, the author of more than thirty-five books of poetry and one of Latin America's most revered writers, lionized during his lifetime as "the people's poet."

This selection of Neruda's poetry, the most comprehensive single volume available in English, presents nearly six hundred poems, scores of them in new and sometimes multiple translations, and many accompanied by the Spanish original. In his introduction, Ilan Stavans situates Neruda in his native milieu as well as in a contemporary English-language one, and a group of new translations by leading poets testifies to Neruda's enduring, vibrant legacy among English-speaking writers and readers today.

Customer Reviews:

A missed opportunity. Una lastima........2007-06-22

I was very excited for this book, hoping to fill in gaps of my Neruda collection. but after reading it I was frustrated and disappointed, not only in the quality of many of the translations and the lack of the Spanish there next to the English, but I feel the editor left out many important poems while putting in a lot of Neruda's weaker work. It was clunky. I found a review in the New York Book Review on the web by the poet Charles Simic which explains my thoughts perfectly:

"As one would expect from an undertaking aiming to be so comprehensive in scope, The Poetry of Pablo Neruda is an uneven book. There are first-rate translations by John Felstiner, Margaret Sayers Peden, Jack Schmitt, Greg Simon, Alastair Reid and a dozen others alongside many mediocre ones. I'm not competent to judge the accuracy of individual translations, but I can compare their quality as poems since there are previous renderings of the same poems which seem to me far superior to the ones we have here. For instance, neither of the two versions of "Walking Around" in this book are as good as the one I quoted by H.R. Hays, or the one W.S. Merwin did years ago. As their worst, the translations do not convey the stylistic range and verbal integunity of the original, making Neruda sound instead like a Chilean Carl Sandburg.

The choice of poems is also at times debatable. In order to make the book representative of all of Neruda's work, Stavans has left out some well-known poems and included plenty of questionable ones..."

A missed opportunity. Una lastima.

Essential For Any Lover of Neruda.......2004-04-30

I admit to being a ?Neruda junkie.? I read his poetry daily. In fact, I read everything about Pablo Neruda I can find. Although I can read and speak Spanish fluently, I was so happy to find this comprehensive volume of Neruda?s poetry in English.

Although Neruda was heavily influenced by both Rimbaud and Baudelaire, his style is really all his own. This book lets us see how Neruda changed and experimented over the years and also how the themes of melancholia and sensual, romantic love stayed with him throughout his life, though they were translated into his poetry in different ways, depending on the period one is studying.

Neruda began his career early in his life, writing sensual, erotic poems the public in Chile loved. The volume that ?launched? his career, ?Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair,? can be found in this book and it is, even today, Neruda?s bestselling volume of poetry worldwide. When Neruda was sent to Asia, however, his style changed and became more solitary, more meditative and Neruda, who felt very isolated in Asia, has translated this isolation well in the volume, ?Residence on Earth.?

In 1934, Neruda left Asia for Spain where he was much happier. His happiness was short-lived, however, because the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936 and Neruda lost one of his best friends, Federico Garcia Lorca during this time period.

Back in Chile, Neruda decided to use his talent to further his political causes and his style became more and more simple, as it was directed to the masses rather than to the literary elite. An anarchist, Neruda became an ardent Communist, something that, in 1948, caused him to flee Chile for Argentina.

This book contains Neruda?s ?Canto general,? a historical epic of Latin America. I don?t particularly care for this long poem, but most experts consider it one of Neruda?s best and the book would certainly have been incomplete without it. Any serious lover of Neruda?s work should definitely familiarize himself with ?Canto general.? Whether one likes it or not, it is extremely important.

In 1950, Neruda returned to Chile and, instead of returning to his sensual love poetry, he wrote poems about the most ordinary things. His simple style, which encompasses ordinary ideas and themes, was very popular in Chile. Personally, it?s some of my least favorite of Neruda?s work.

The autumn of Neruda?s life was filled with productivity and he produced much love poetry, almost all of it inspired by his third wife, Matilde Urrutia. The poems written during this period are found in the books, ?The Captain?s Verses,? ?One Hundred Love Sonnets,? and ?Barcarole.? These volumes contain some of Neruda?s most beautiful love poetry and showcase a mature, shared love rather than the infatuation of youth.

Although most people will always associate Neruda with love poetry (he, himself, considered himself first and foremost a ?love poet?), this volume, THE POETRY OF PABLO NERUDA, shows us that there was a dark and violent side to Neruda?s nature as well as a sensual one and that his life?s work encompasses many styles and many themes.

As large as this book is, it doesn?t include all of Neruda?s work. He was extremely prolific. It does, however, contain Neruda?s best poems and a wonderful cross-section of his work through the years. The editor, Ilan Stavans, has sometimes included more than one translation of a single work, and many of the poems can be found in the original Spanish as well as in English translation.

THE POETRY OF PABLO NERUDA is a book for true lovers of Neruda?s poetry. It is a book they really can?t afford to be without.

A 'must' for any college-level collection.......2003-12-12

Poetry Of Pablo Neruda isn't just another slim coverage of poet Neruda's works: it's a definitive, comprehensive collection which makes available in a single volume of English nearly six hundred of his works, many in new translation, and many accompanied by the Spanish original. This sourcebook is an essential addition to any collection seeking a comprehensive gathering of Neruda's achievements under one cover: a 'must' for any college-level collection and many a public library holding.

You will fall in love with the Chilean poet.......2003-11-26

I had never read Pablo Neruda's poetry before until my girlfriend gave me this book for my birthday. I loved it! The early romantic poems are amazing. I also loved the way the Chilean poet wrote about his own country and about poverty and repression in Latin America. The reader gets a sense of history through an artistic viewpoint. There are plenty of poems in this excellent collection and the translations are really good. I think the editor did a great job. I highly recommend it.

Beautiful.......2003-09-14

I loved this book. I has my favorite poems by Pablo Neruda.

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

Wonderful!
Love poems for all of us
One of my favorite writers
the most romantic book of love poems ever written
Beautiful, wrenching poetry

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics)
Pablo Neruda
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143039962

Book Description

The Nobel Prize-winning poet's most popular work

When it appeared in 1924, this work launched into the international spotlight a young and unknown poet whose writings would ignite a generation. W. S. Merwin's incomparable translation faces the original Spanish text. Now in a black-spine Classics edition, this book stands as an essential collection that continues to inspire lovers and poets around the world.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful!.......2007-01-17

This book was very beneficial as I translated some of the poems myself. It allowed me to compare differences in the two translations and choose which was most accurate.

Love poems for all of us.......2007-01-09

Our Spanish is weak, mine much weaker than hers, but the language speaks, the tone of the language sings, as we sit on a beach and share these beatiful poems, in words we understand, and sounds we listen to.

One of my favorite writers.......2006-08-15

In this duel language edition, the voice is soft, sincere, and refreshing. His language borders on a passion that seems to rouse the senses like skydiving, or waiting for first rain. I recommend this book and all his books to the poetry reader.

the most romantic book of love poems ever written.......2006-04-07

perhaps this is the most romantic and most beautiful book of love poems ever written. every word, every stanza is so easily read, so quickly understood, like an arrow to the heard. give this gift to your lover and they will never forget it.

Beautiful, wrenching poetry.......2004-07-30

A beautiful gift for a lover. Perfect Valentine's Day gift or some other romantic moment. Draw a bath for them, light a candle, pour some wine, and sit and read them some of these often torrid poems. You will thank me later! MUCH later!

100 Love Sonnets: Cien sonetos de amor (Texas Pan American Series)

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Awesome!
When you cannot find the words to express how you are feel!
Honorable
A poor translation
A poor translation

100 Love Sonnets: Cien sonetos de amor (Texas Pan American Series)
Pablo Neruda
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0292760280

Amazon.com

If you've ever wished for a fresh and imaginative way of saying "I love you" to your beloved, peruse Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets. This intimate bilingual collection overflows with the master poet's signature sensuality and inventive imagery. Written in the 1950s for his cherished wife Matilde Urrutia, Neruda's earnest adoration leaps off the page in poem after poem: "Your heart is a clay toy shaped like a dove"; "Your kisses are clusters of fruit, fresh with dew." Thanks to translator Stephen Tapscott, Neruda's dreamy images carry over vividly from the Spanish and dance in the mind for days after they're read.

Neruda pays only loose tribute to the sonnet by employing a 14-line structure for each poem. As he says, his sonnets are made of wood, rather than the "silver, or crystal, or cannonfire" of a more refined sonnet. Neruda's humility is apparent as he refers again and again to the natural landscape of Isla Negra (the Pacific island where he and his wife lived) to describe his simple dedication to Matilde: "...I am like a scorched rock / that suddenly sings when you are near, because it drinks / the water you carry from the forest, in your voice."

Journeying from the erotic celebration of the body to the spiritual depths of eternal union, 100 Love Sonnets shows why "two happy lovers make one bread" and "waking, they leave one sun empty in their bed."

Book Description

"The...expressions of erotic feeling and human affection convey a warmth and immediacy that is direct, delicate, subtle, and strong by turns...."

— ALA Booklist

Against the backdrop of Isla Negra — the sea and wind, the white sand with its scattering of delicate wild flowers, the hot sun and salty smells of the Pacific — Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda sets these joyfully sensual poems in celebration of his love. The subject of that love: Matilde Urrutia de Neruda, the poet's "beloved wife."

As popular in the Hispanic world as the poet's renowned Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, One Hundred Love Sonnets has never before been published in its entirety in English translation. The reason for this astonishing neglect may lie in the historical circumstances that surrounded Neruda's "discovery " by English-speaking readers. In the United States he came to popularity during the turmoil of the sixties, when Americans needed a politically committed poet, and much of Neruda's canon answered that need. But, in his native Chile and throughout Latin America, Neruda has always been cherished as dearly for the earthly sensuality and eroticism of his love poetry as for his statements of political belief. To know this work, then is to understand the poet's art more thoroughly.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome!.......2007-05-27

It is a masterpiece of latin-american literature. It is a new experience into the depths of the human heart. It has unique metaphors and similies that picture the most passionate and simple type of love!

When you cannot find the words to express how you are feel! .......2007-03-12

Without a doubt, truly one of the best love sonnets. Huge fan of Pablo Neruda and thrilled to have a copy of this book.

Honorable.......2006-07-11

Pablo Neruda is possible one of the truest masters of the written word. His poetry, ranging from affairs of the heart to affairs of state are always relevant and somehow touch you. Although the translation of Sonnet 17 done in this book isn't my favorite, the overall experience of the book is one that generally leaves you with the impression that Pablo Neruda was a man who felt things and felt them with a depth we can only hope to know... someday.

A poor translation.......2006-02-25

Neruda is great, no doubt about it. He even shines through in places here, despite these clunky and artless translations of his beautiful poems. If you really want to read a translation which retains Neruda's passion, try W.S. Merwin . Being a fine poet in his own right he has a light hand and a feel for words that is true to the spirit of Neruda's writings.

A poor translation.......2006-02-25

Average customer rating:

Machu Picchu
splendid photography
A Moving Spiritual Connection to the Incas

Machu Picchu
Barry Brukoff , Pablo Neruda , and Isabel Allende
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0821227041

Book Description

A truly unique and beautiful gift book on Machu Picchu, the famed Inca site in Peru high in the Andes, combining the work of the great poet Neruda and author Allende with splendid photos of this ancient, sacred site. The book is a bilingual edition: a sparkling new English translation of Nerudas poem by noted translator Stephen Kessler runs side by side with the original Spanish.

Customer Reviews:

Machu Picchu.......2006-02-24

Purchased this book after just getting back from our first trip to Peru and Machu Picchu. Wonderful photographs. Pablo Neruda's poem, "Heights of Machu Picchu", helped to bring even more meaning to our Machu Picchu's memories. This text is a wonderful way to enhance your experience of actually being at Machu Picchu. It also makes a great coffee table item.

splendid photography.......2002-02-18

Barry Brukoff has done a truly fine job of capturing the essence of Machu Picchu. I've told many that you cannot convey the feeling of this place in photos, but Brukoff proves that you can. His photos made me feel as though I was back there, discovering the majesty of the site and indulging in a leisurely and personal exploration of the details that delighted me during my visit, details that those on quick tourist jaunts usually miss. Visually, this book is five stars. Neruda's poetry, however, missed the mark for me. An earlier reviewer picked out the best of it and included those lines in his review (see below). I only wish it all worked that well. Personally, I would have preferred excerpts from Neruda's work and excerpts from the writings of Hiram Bingham (Bingham was the man who discovered the site in 1911).

A Moving Spiritual Connection to the Incas.......2001-11-21

Whether or not you ever visit, or think you might want to visit Machu Picchu, I highly recommend this gorgeous book to you. The combination of its poetry, photography, and design wonderfully connect us to a distant and mysterious culture which we understand little about today.

Machu Picchu, hidden high in the Andes, was never found by Pizarro and his conquistadors. The city was rediscovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. Recently, landslides have made entry much more difficult, and the whole area is at risk to being lost. Should that occur, this wonderful volume will serve as a fitting tribute.

Other than the fact that the rocks themselves were considered sacred, we know little about the purpose of Machu Picchu. Clearly, it was very important to the Incas. Otherwise, no one would have put such an enormous effort into creating a city among the clouds, carved out of solid rock. Because some walls have holes cut in them that allow light into certain interior spaces only on one day a year, it is thought that the area, in part, served an astronomical purpose.

The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, created an emotional poem called "The Heights of Machu Picchu" in which he captured our connection to the thousands who lived and toiled to make Machu Picchu . . . and are no more. In 1984, photographer Barry Brukoff hiked in over the original Inca road, to capture the scene with Neruda's poem in his backpack. The result of this trip are the remarkable, spiritual photographs in this book. You will feel like you have been there, will identify with what you see, and will make closer contact through Neruda's poem:

"True being was threshed like kernels of corn in the inexhaustible/granary of lost deeds, of memorable efforts . . . ."

"In you, like two parallel lines,/the cradle of lightning and humanity/rocking together in a thorny wind."

" . . . [Y]ou imploded as in a single autumn/into a single death."

"Today the empty air no longer weeps . . . ."

"The dead kingdom lives on."

"Stone upon stone, and man, where was he?"

"Give me back the slaves you buried!"

"Come up, brother, and be born with me."

" . . . [A]nd let my tears flow, hours, days, years,/through sightless ages, starry Autumn."

If you can read Spanish, the poem is published in both languages, side by side.

The photographs make great use of the high mountain air, changing weather conditions, and the differing light of day and night. Brukoff has also created some very stylish effects with filters and tints, in addition to breathtaking color. Many photographers are good at duotone or color, but few are masters of both. Brukoff is the rare example of this dual skill. A nice tough is the way that the book is bound in linen, and there is a rough edging to frame each image . . . to give the book an almost scrapbook-like feel. The photographic reproductions are superb and well worth the price of the book.

My favorite images included: Morning Sun and Fog; The Temple of the Moon; The Grand Rock Shrine (two views); Royal Mausoleum beneath the Torreon; Central Plaza through Three Windows Wall (first version); Sacred Plaza; Central Plaza and Fog; Agricultural Terrace; The Inti Huatana; The Condor Stone; View of the Inti Huatana Area -- Sacred Rocks Echoing the Mountains to the East; A Stone Ring; Machu Picchu at Sunset; and The Watchman's Hut at Dawn (cover image).

The book also has a helpful prologue by Ms. Isabel Allende which sets the scene for the book's contents.

The feeling of connection to the Incas, to the mountains, and to the sky are strong here. I felt a calmness fill my mind and heart as I caressed each part of the poem and each image with my eyes.

What great things we can accomplish . . . when we have a mighty purpose and connect to our sense of beauty!

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2007-05-16

I love his poetry. The translation is not as good as I expected but it's OK. The drawings are beautiful.

It began with my flatware and a buttercup..........2007-04-30

This book was recommended to me from an extended discussion of photographs I found on a beautiful blog, Throughlines. The photo's there were taken when out in a mindful way looking at life by the writer, teacher, artist. These "ordinary", simple, composed, artfelt shots he took in his wandering...and they drew me in... and remain one of my favorite places to go look at photos. I was coincidentally drawing silver tableware. One of his photo's was of forks and this related to illustrations in this book. This fleeting exchange of feeling about the work with the photographer, English teacher in Hawaii led me to order the book he suggested.His blog leads one to read. And even more coincidentally a poet I admire also recommended the volume to me. It is as good as those recommendations-better. It has been a companion.

Perhaps it is about noticing life in the ordinary, the cup, spoon, the feel of the grit, sweat and use of the things we touch everyday. Neruda is so sensual, in Spanish sublimely so. He can turn a cup into the lips that you would love to place fingertips to caress. It's in this he has so very few equals. And given your heart's mood it can be a very deep container of all of the emotions that things provoke, lost friends, family, memories, traces. I'm trying to read these in both languages cycling the poems into my days life. I carry it in my purse and find it at times I can read in my peace..restore my inner self. And took the book on my trip to Chicago enjoying it on the plane, in my room, on the way here and there, in a rather bad diner, in the joy of being away with myself. And read it over and over in the hours and hours spent over two months in doctors offices waiting help with my chest and poor tummy. The book was very comforting I felt through it..
This is a lovely volume, a beautiful book to choose as a gift, it is illustrated with tender delicate black and white pencil illustrations of just the things that are everyday, salt shaker, spoon (my favorite), table each serving to highlight the focus of the poem. Neruda rides so close to heart rhythms, sounds, smells, the crush of silk on a thigh, the sound of the morning thrush, nothing is quite like reading this poet. At one time as a younger person i just could not read him, I felt so voyeuristic. Now a poem a day or so has been very touching. Very personal and like the objects he describes inside my places and moments.

I recall now that this was all tied conversationally to mentioning my thinking of Janet Fish originally, the super realist painter of glass and objects that have meanings just for her, where light and reflection dances us through the spaces. Indeed here Neruda dances us through these objects as connections to our meanings, his meanings, the blood of life.

This is the quintessential Naruda tome........2007-01-10

I cannot be without this book. It gives one all there could be to know about love and life. It is well worth its cost and leaves the reader that much smarter about everything that matters in love (and life)

Delicious reading.......2006-11-10

Neruda's use of language is truly sensual, in both English and Spanish. I must read for word lovers.

Ode to the Odes to Common Things Book.......2004-07-15

WOW. I've never been so moved by this book. As I began to read it, I sensed so many different things. How can such wonderful feelings be sensed by such common things. Pablo Neruda is a master in poetry. Im only 16 years old and I've never been so moved by such poetry. what an amazing man he was. it takes real gift to be able and write like that. This book really touched me, that sense and feeling in every line was enchanting. read this book, and you'll appreciate almost everything in life.

Average customer rating:

Great writing and somewhat distorted view of reality
An Extraordinary Poet - An Extraordinary Human Being - A Life Well Led!,
muy hermosa prosa
La historia contemporanea vista por los ojos de Neruda
Vista al siglo XX por un poeta chileno

Confieso Que He Vivido
Pablo Neruda
Manufacturer: Debolsillo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400087619
Release Date: 2003-05-07

Customer Reviews:

Great writing and somewhat distorted view of reality.......2007-07-31

I enjoyed reading this extremely well written memoir by a leading poet. The book has greatly improved my Spanish and my knowledge of Hispanic culture. However, I cannot, for the life of me, understand Neruda's fascination with the Soviet regime. His perception is historically simply wrong and it is quite shocking to read, especially for people who grew up under that regime. Was Neruda completely deceived, was he so clueless, or was he not honest in his reporting? He doesn't come through as a person lacking the ability to perceive things clearly. How did he manage, as a diplomat, to forget so easily the fact that WW2 began from a treaty known as Ribbentrop-Molotov?
Yet, sometimes one has the impression that he is trying to get himself excused from confronting difficult issues by telling us he is just a poet. His idealistic, child-like communism seems to be just a poet's dream and, sadly, has nothing to do with reality.

An Extraordinary Poet - An Extraordinary Human Being - A Life Well Led!, .......2005-07-28

Pablo Neruda's "Memoirs" is not a comprehensive autobiographical document. It is a personal memoir, recounted as if the author were sitting around a table, with good friends and a bottle of excellent Chilean wine, telling tales of the people, anecdotes and incidents that were so important in his life. "Confieso Que He Vivido," means I confess that I have lived. And Sr. Neruda certainly did that...with zest, zeal and so much talent. I read Neruda's book in Spanish, but feel more comfortable writing this review in English. The translation by Hardie St. Martin is a good one, but it does not do justice to Neruda's extraordinary writing skills. He romances the Spanish language, like no other, even with his prose.

Neruda was born, the son of a railroad worker, in the then frontier wilderness of Southern Chile in 1904. He led a bohemian lifestyle, dressing in black "like the true poets of the last century," during his university years in Santiago. His shyness, the "kink in the soul,"...especially of women, took him a while to overcome. He describes the people and places of that period with great 'carino' (love). His political ideology began to form at that time also, and politics became an integral part of his writing. The Student Federation, student demonstrations and the subsequent repression, had a great impact on the young intellectual.

Neruda led a rich and fascinating life. World traveled, he served as Chilean consul in Burma, Ceylon, and Java. He was the consul in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and during this time "Nine Love Poems" from "Veinte Poemas de Amor y Una Cancion Desesperada" was published. It was at this time also, that his friend Federico Garcia Lorca was killed. Neruda was present in Paris to organize a worldwide anti-Facist congress of writers that would be held in Madrid. His writing about Spain during the war is heartbreaking. Returning to Chile in 1938, he found a burgeoning Fascist movement in his own beloved land.

I particularly enjoyed his account of the time he spent in Mexico, as consul. He tells of his encounters with the great Mexican painters there.

After returning home, Neruda ran for political office and was elected to Chile's Senate in 1945. He was later removed from his Senate seat after joining the Communist Party.

His friends included: Garcia Lorca, Ehrenburg, Picasso, Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, Octavio Paz, Miguel Angel Asturias, Gandhi, Nehru, Mao, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and most sadly, Salvador Allende.

Pablo Neruda's death, just weeks after the brutal murder of Chile's President Allende, is something I will never forget. I was living in Colombia at that time, and remember where I was and what I was doing when I learned of Allende's death, and later heard of Neruda's passing. It called to mind, then and now, my recollections, as a young girl, when President Kennedy's assassination was announced. I always thought Neruda died of a broken heart.

This is an exceptionally good memoir, told with great charm, in a series of vignettes. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone who has read and enjoyed Pablo Neruda's poetry - to my mind some of the most beautiful in the world. It also gives us a glimpse of the politics of the left from the point of view of a Latin American - not the usual perspective, and well worth while.
JANA

muy hermosa prosa.......2000-11-07

Este es un libro de gran intensidad narrativa, lleno de fragmentos de una vida muy fructífera y muy poética. La vida que Neruda nos cuenta es fragmentaria y fragmentada, llena de elementos realistas de alto contenido poético. Como el mismo expresa, esa vida es muchas vidas, es la vida de todos los poetas. Este libro nos cuenta como vivió en su estadía por varios países en los cuales se sintió atacado de una aguda soledad que permeo su poesía y su vida, de como lo atrapo una guerra y de como llego a ser un comunista, buscando algo a que aferrarse, algo a que creer. Es un libro escrito en una prosa tremendamente hermosa, aunque a veces todas las descripciones que nos da nos cansan un poco y nos quedamos embobados en los detalles de una bella oración y no prestando atención al tema de que trata. Neruda es contagioso, me pasa igual que con su poesía, uno se deja llevar de esa dulce y empalagosa prosa y termina escribiendo como él. Creo que muchos que han leído a neruda han terminado escribiendo un poco como él. Es un libro intenso y hermoso y de ningún modo una biografía objetiva, que poeta lo es.?

Luis Mendez

La historia contemporanea vista por los ojos de Neruda.......2000-06-12

Aunque la primera vez que lei este libro fue porque me lo prestaron, quiero afirmar con un poco de verguenza que no quise devolverlo. Neruda y su estilo unico de narrativa nos presentan su diario de una forma poetica y a la vez tragicomica. Me identifique mucho con sus vivencias, muchas de estas a veces pasan por nuestra vida sin que les demos importancia pero Neruda nos enseña que aun las anecdotas por mas insignificantes que parecieran ser nos dejan una enseñanza perenne. Sin duda, una de los libros que mas me han ayudado en mi desarrollo humano, se los recomiendo con mis ojos cerrados y mi alma abierta. Abran ese libro y profundicenlo., y por supuesto, no se lo roben, yo no lo hice, preferi devolverlo. Hubiese sido un crimen dejar a mi amiga Luisa sin tan preciado tesoro.

Vista al siglo XX por un poeta chileno.......2000-04-07

Aunque estoy aún leyendo el libro, o sea, ya no he terminado leerlo, quisiera explicar porque el libro me gusta. Pablo Neruda cuenta la historia de las tres primeras partes del siglo XX vista con los ojos de un hombre nacido en un continente diferente - la Ámerica del sur, opuesto a la Europa de mi hogar. Así me permite ver a muchos hechos historicos, los que conozco muy bien, de una manera enteramente nueva. En esto se permiten unir intereses en la historia y en la literatura.

On the Blue Shore of Silence: Poems of the Sea

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Poetry, Beautiful Art!
Pablo Neruda
An Amazing Compilation
A beautiful compilation and excellent gift.

On the Blue Shore of Silence: Poems of the Sea
Pablo Neruda
Manufacturer: Rayo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060591846
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Book Description

On the Blue Shore of Silence celebrates the centenary of the birth of Pablo Neruda, one of the most widely read and best-loved poets of the twentieth century.

Although anthologies of Neruda's works abound, On the Blue Shore of Silence is the first to collect some of his poems on the sea. At times passionate and at other times peaceful, the poems chosen for this collection -- presented in bilingual format -- are meant to offer readers the experience of what it would have been like to sit with Neruda at Isla Negra, the view of the sea endless, the pulse of the waves, eternal.

With English translations by his favored translator, Alastair Reid, and stunning paintings from the artist Mary Heebner, On the Blue Shore of Silence is a new cornerstone in Neruda's body of work, expertly weaving together poet, artist, and reader.

A la Orilla Azul del Silencio celebra el centenario del nacimiento de Pablo Neruda, probablemente uno de los poetasmás leídos del siglo veinte, y sin lugar a dudas, uno de los más queridos.

Aunque existe un sinnúmero de antologías de la poesía de Neruda, A la Orilla Azul del Silencio es la primera en reunir algunos de sus más bellos poemas sobre el mar. Algunas veces apasionados, otras veces serenos, los poemas de este libro -- presentado en formato bilingüe -- ofrecen al lector la posibilidad de imaginarse lo que habría sido sentarse con Neruda en Isla Negra frente al mar infinito, oyendo el eterno ir y venir de las olas.

Con traducciones al inglés hechas por Alastair Reid,su traductor predilecto, y las extraordinarias pinturas de laartista Mary Heebner, A la Orilla Azul del Silencio es un nuevo pilar de la obra de Neruda, que combina con habilidad las sensibilidades del poeta, la artista y el lector.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Poetry, Beautiful Art!.......2007-09-19

I love Pablo's poetry. I didn't think it was possible for the art to be as beautiful as the poetry. But it is.

Pablo Neruda.......2007-01-22

The poetry in this book is exquisite. The presentation is excellant. I own a copy of it, myself, and bought three more to give as gifts.

An Amazing Compilation.......2004-09-06

Of all the Neruda anthologies that I have read, this is by far the most eloquent tribute to his love of the sea and his home on Isla Negra in Chile.

The English translations are done by Alastair Reid, Mr. Neruda's favored translator and it flows as naturally as does the Spanish original. I speak both languages and it is always such a pleasure to see a translation so elegantly done.

The artwork by Mary Heebner is as sumptuous as Pablo Neruda's poetry and truly reflects the feel of the ocean. Her paintings capture the mood of each poem perfectly and add to the emotion of his words.

It is I believe the only anthology that has focused solely on his poems of the sea.

The book is bilingual with the text in Spanish on one page and English on the other. It contains my favorite of Neruda's poems, The Soliloquy of the Waves.

Even the typeset and Neruda's name on the dust jacket painted in a blurry sea blue reflect the ocean that the poems are about.

Pablo Neruda has been a favorite poet of mine for many, many years and this stunning book is a wonderful addition to my collection of his anthologies. It is a beautiful piece to celebrate his centenary.

A beautiful compilation and excellent gift........2004-05-01

The choices are fine works by Neruda. While many collections of Neruda's work exist, most lack beauty in their presentation. This release is both a feast for the eye (thanks to the lovely yet appropriate art)as well as a treat for the soul (particularly if you are in love).

Pablo Neruda : Nobel Prize-Winning Poet (Hispanic Biographies)

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Pablo Neruda : Nobel Prize-Winning Poet (Hispanic Biographies)
David Goodnough
Manufacturer: Enslow Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0766010422

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