Review (PDF) Nostalgia For Death & Hieroglyphs Of Desire
Nostalgia for Death is the sole book of Villaurrutia, who was one of the few openly homosexual Latin American writers and one of Mexico's most important authors of the early twentieth century. "The latest of Eliot Weinberger's brilliant translations of Latin American poets brings to English the major volume of an impeccable Mexican modernist."--Booklist
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Copper Canyon Press (July 1, 1992)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1556590539
ISBN-13: 978-1556590535
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #188,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #17 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Regional & Cultural > Caribbean & Latin American #34 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > European > Spanish #34 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > Caribbean & Latin American
The poetry is dark and inky, probably best read with a candle on a black night. It starts with "Everything in the night sketches /with its shadowy hand: the please it reveals, the vices it undresses". Villaurrutia writes of "the cave of dreams", and there is a blend of night, dreaming, and death. "And I, only I know that death/ is the choked words, the strange groans/ and the obscure involuntary movements you make/ when you wrestle the angel of sleep in your sleep". And nothing escapes this view "is it God? - who dreams in this bitter world" and even birds "gouge invisible corridors of air".Octavio Pass knew Villaurrutia, and presents some personal reminiscences ("brief outburst and prolonged lethargies" --) and discussion of Interior exile. . A lot of this essay however is lost on me, as I was not familiar with the many persons mentioned or Contemporareous . Where the essay shines is discussing Villaurrutia internals (acedia) and "poetry inhabited by a double opposition: sleep and waking, consciousness and delirium". .. "our true homeland is death and that is why we feel a nostalgia for it".
An excellent collection of poems for the Modern Goth or anyone who isn't afraid of admitting that they've ever felt absolutely alone. Too bad it's so hard to find and the only published poems in translation from this poet. Dark in an age where it wasn't popular to be dark, accidentally rich in romance and rhythm, it brings literature back to a period when political statements took a back seat to the root of poetry -- writing about what you're feeling. Again, I wish there were more of Villaurrutia's work available.
I was introduced to this book by a friend in high school. He had stolen the only copy out of my schools library.. since then it is has been an impossible task to find the book. I don't know yet if this is the right one! Villaurrutia is an amazingly dark poet who writes exactly what the mind is thinking! Great translation, but nothing close to what the spanish is really saying! -Jamie
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