Review (PDF) Lorca & Jimenez: Selected Poems
A unique gathering of poems by two great twentieth-century poets, with the original Spanish versions and powerful English translations on facing pages. In a new preface, editor and translator Robert Bly explores what the poems reveal today about politics, the spirit, and the purpose of art.
File Size: 870 KB
Print Length: 210 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0807062138
Publisher: Beacon Press (August 9, 2016)
Publication Date: August 9, 2016
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01ILZGTDW
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Not Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #743,354 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #51 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Spanish #210 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > European > Spanish & Portuguese #247 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Anthologies & Literature Collections > Poetry
I was in college, was poor, had heard of Lorca from a movie and this book had the same poem in it. I hadn't particular cared for many of Bly's men's movement stuff, but his translations of Jimenez and Lorca are phenomenal. To me Jimenez gives you a glimpse of life in it's beauty, while Lorca opens the shadow like a door. One of Jimenez's poems called'"I was sitting", mentions him reading "the bitter and melancholy book of the poet who knows my dreams", this book of poems has become that same book to me. After 7 years, I still read it on a regular basis. I have the 1973 edition, but the pages are falling out and coffee stained. I was elated to know it has been republished, and will purchase the 1997 edition to replace my older one. I'll say again that I haven't cared for Bly's other work, but his translation of these and other poets is breathtaking.
Not having read other translations of Jimenez, by far the lesser known of the two poets, I can't comment on Bly's translation other than to say it keeps fairly close to the Spanish. Bly, the American surrealist poet famous for his theories of "leaping poetry," does a fine job overall. I've read better Lorca translations, but many many great poets have tried their hand at Lorca.Bly goes pretty even-steven: half Lorca, half Jimenez. Both were Spanish poets who lived in the United States. Many of the poems they wrote about the U.S. are included. The selection is very good overall, if somewhat biased toward poems that represent Bly's theories of "leaps" in perception and logic.What you're getting here is a document of not only two great Spanish 'surrealists' (if we must put them in a category) but also of a leading American surrealist's take on them. Readers interested in surrealism as a movement or in Bly and his "leaping verse" would do well to read this. I'd also recommend the book for those interested in exploring Lorca and Jimenez. If you are only interested in Lorca (and can't read him in the original Spanish) you might want to try reading complete translations of his GYPSY SONGS and POET IN NEW YORK, rather than the fragments of those two seminal works presented here. For those like me who are already familiar with Lorca, Bly's take will prove interesting, and you will greatly enjoy Jimenez. A dynamic duo. In total, there is a great deal here to recommend itself and that is why I give it 4/5 stars.
Bought this for my bilingual boyfriend whose last name is Jimenez. He loves it and says the translations are great. It has both the spanish and the English version of each poem, which he also appreciates.
I love when Robert Bly combines poets in his translations (I'm also a fan of the Neruda and Vallejo book). These poems are gorgeous and Jimenez was an inspiration to Lorca. It's a small gem but a book I read and re-read, and certainly a great stepping-off point to learn more about each poet.
While I have always found Garcia Lorca both depressing and pretentious (despite his considerable reputation), I was dazzled by the poetry of Juan Ramon Jimenez which I saw here for the first time. It is really unfortunate that he is so unknown in North America. His poetry will open your heart.
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