The Book of Questions (Bilingual Edition) (Spanish Edition) - Softcover

Neruda, Pablo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556590415 ISBN 13: 9781556590412

Publisher: Copper Canyon Press, 1991

Synopsis

Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda explored many schools of thought, poetic styles, and voices, but his passion lay in finding and improvising upon basic rhythms of perception to reveal unspoken and unspeakable truths. Copper Canyon Press has published seven volumes of Neruda's poetry. Six volumes were translated by William O'Daly and one volume of poems was translated by James Nolan.

These brief poems, composed entirely of unanswerable questions, reveal the Nobel Laureate's lifelong dedication to an inner structure of feeling and paradox that underlies experience.

"Exploiting the lag between perception and understanding, Neruda's poems evoke pictures that make sense on a visual level before the reader can grasp them on a literal one. The effect is mildly dazzlingO'Daly's translations achieve a tone that is both meditative and spontaneous."-Publishers Weekly

"The English versions of the poems are excellent and can easily be compared to the Spanish original."-Choice

Other titles by Pablo Neruda available from Consortium:
Ceremonial Songs (Latin American Literary Review Press), 0-935480-80-3 PB
Neruda at Isla Negra (White Pine Press), 1-877727-83-0 PB
Neruda's Garden (Latin American Literary Review Press), 0-935480-68-4 PB
The Sea and the Bells (Copper Canyon Press), 1-55659-019-9 PB
The Separate Rose (Copper Canyon Press), 0-914742-88-4 PB
Still Another Day (Copper Canyon Press), 0-914742-77-9 PB
Stones of the Sky (Copper Canyon Press), 1-55659-007-5 PB 1-55659-006-7 HC
Windows That Open Inward (White Pine Press), 1-877727-89-X PB
Winter Garden, (Copper Canyon Press), 0-914742-93-0 PB 0-914742-99-X HC
Yellow Heart, (Copper Canyon Press), 1-55659-029-6 PB

About this title

About the Author

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)held diplomatic posts in Asian and European countries. After joining the Communist Party, Neruda was elected to the Chilean Senate but was forced to live in exile in Mexico for several years. Eventually he established a permanent home on Isla Negra. In 1970 he was appointed as Chile's ambassador to France; in 1971 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Reviews

The 74 poems in this collection consist entirely of questions. These questions appeal to the reader to supply images not answers. Exploiting the lag between perception and understanding, the Nobel laureate's poems evoke pictures that make sense on a visual level before the reader can grasp them on a literal one. The effect is mildly dazzling: "Where did the full moon leave / its sack of flour tonight?" Composed during the final months of a fatal illness, these poems are also pervaded by an autumnal atmosphere: "Why do leaves commit suicide / when they feel yellow?" Yet Neruda's characteristic depiction of life and death as cyclical allows him to be inquisitive and even playful toward his own mortality instead of despairing: "Will your worms become part / of dogs or of butterflies?" O'Daly's translations achieve a tone that is both meditative and spontaneous. His introduction, however, fares less well, in yielding to the misconception of Neruda ( Still Another Day ) as a kind of South American shaman rather than representing him as the shrewd and ironic poet he demonstrated himself to be even in minor works such as this.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN 10: 1556590415
• ISBN 13: 9781556590412
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96