Pablo Neruda Books

The Sea and The Bells is the best poetry collection I've ever read. Uncompleted at the time of Neruda's death, only 1/3 of the poems in this collection were titled. However, the wisdom and eloquence with which Neruda worked in the last year of his life is without peer in the canon of 20th century poetry. His "Finale" written on his deathbed to his wife, Matilde, is devastating.

Neruda's balance of humor, power, spirituality, compassion and love is so clear in a few of these poems, you may find these poems like little prayers on which you can meditate. For example:

If each day falls
inside each night,
there exists a well
where clarity is imprisoned.

We need to sit on the rim
of the well of darkness
and fish for fallen light
with patience.

Maybe it's just me, but this kind of poetry reads like the wise words of a Buddhist monk high in the mountains of Nepal, man. This collection is the deaf, dope jam.

The only criticism I have is with the translation. William O'Daly makes several unusually bland decisions in translating from the original Spanish. For example, Neruda literally writes in We Are Waiting "o para asesinarnos de inmediato" where the verb "assassinate" is pretty darn clear. The phrase literally translates "or to immediately assassinate us." Given the political tension Neruda was writing under having won the Nobel Prize and having returned to Chile, it is reasonably clear why he used the word "assassinate." O'Daly's translation reads: "or to instantly murder us" opting for the bland general word "murder" rather than the clear, stronger word "assassinate." O'Daly makes similarly odd decisions throughout the text. Fortunately, the original Spanish appears alongside O'Daly's translation so you can read what Neruda actually wrote.

Beyond the translation, this is the best poetry collection I have ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates language being used at its absolute finest. The Sea and The Bells raises the bar for all of us. Read it, and enjoy!

Stacey

Pablo Neruda is one of my favorite poets of all time, however, William O' Daly does not do Neruda justice. His translation is flat and unevocative, and unable to invoke those true emotions that Neruda is famous for. I would recommend checking out translations by W.S. Merwin if you want the full ecstatic experience that Neruda usually so eloquently conveys.

I have to disagree entirely with the reviewer below. If he is pining for the wild exuberances characteristics of earlier stages in Neruda's writings, he should not look for it here: for all their wordplay, these last books of Neruda's (the handful he worked on simultaneously during the last year of his life) are about preparing for death. I've noticed here and there some nuance which seemed not to have caught the translator's eye, but otherwise he has made a remarkably rewarding transation of the ruminative, supple-then-lurching tone of PN's Spanish. "The Sea and the Bells" is a crockpot of mystery, a book to read and learn slowly over years.

This book has a selection of Neruda's work. It is a good book because it has gives you a taste of most of Neruda's books. So if you like one, you can buy the whole book

"Epic Song," by Pablo Neruda, is a frequently strident volume of political poetry. The book has been translated into English by Richard Schaaf. In this book, Neruda considers the political upheavals and abuses that have occurred in many Latin American nations: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Panama, and others.

Many of these poems contain harsh invective directed at specific political figures. If there's a "hero" to this book, it's Fidel Castro, who is praised along with the Cuban communist revolution. The villain of the book is the United States, which is almost always mentioned in a negative light.

Neruda is a passionate writer, and his poems are thought-provoking. And interspersed throughout the harder-edged poems are some more introspective pieces in which Neruda reflects upon his own poetic vocation. Some of these reflective poems have a Whitmanesque flavor--Neruda even invokes Walt Whitman in one of them ("To a North American Friend").

I don't think that "Epic Song" represents Neruda's best work. And I think that after reading the poems praising Castro's revolution, it would be wise to read the works of an anti-Castro Cuban dissident like Reinaldo Arenas (who was persecuted under the Castro regime). Still, "Epic Song" contains passages of real emotion and beauty, and is worth reading.

Instead of Luc Tuymans, Anton Chekhov, Vratislav Effenberger, Milton Hatoum, Andrie Platonov, Victor Pelevin, Rebecca Solnit, I found in this issue of Grand Street (no 64) contributions of David Mamet, Suzan Lori Parks, José Saramago, Tony Smith, Tennesse Williams and Pablo Neruda

Contrariamente a lo que algunos criticos dijeron, este libro fue publicado por Neruda en forma anomina para no lastimar a Delia, no tuvo que ver con tintes politicos de la epoca. Delia fue compañera por 18 años. Este libro, de pasion y brusca y ardiente fue inspirado por Matilde.

Es un excelente libro como casi toda la bibliografia de Neruda

one of my favorite of the five translations. Descriptive and imaginative you can truly enjoy the peoms through the translations.

This speech opens with the account of a journey made by Neruda from his native Chile into Argentina. It is a journey of escape and refuge and also of encounter with a vast overwhelming nature, and with the simple people who generously help him and his companions on his way. It in a way hints at the special meaning Neruda will give to ordinary working people in his conception of their struggle for freedom and liberation.
Neruda is considered a giant of world- poetry.
I do however know his work well, and whatever I have read has I sensed not really come across in translation.
The faith in poetry and the people , ordinary people which are championed in this lecture is a major theme of his work.

Windows That Open Inward is a beutiful book that provides great poetry as well as great photography. The pictures are beautifully chosen and can tell stories by themselves. The poetry adds details to these humble portraits and provides the reader with an understanding of the realism that the photographer and the writer have experienced and would like to convey to their audience.

Qué más puedo decir? Me encantó la película "Il Postino," así que cuando encontré el libro en un Barnes & Noble estaba muy emocionada y lo compré de inmediato. Empecé a leerlo y casi inmediatamente me di cuenta de una de las cosas que no me gustan: es muy difícil de leer. Dirás ¿y qué? También lo son los libros de muchos autores buenos y reconocidos. Pero la diferencia es que este libro también es ABURRIDO. Skármeta escribe enredado y sin color; además usa palabras poco comunes que generalmente no se usaría (ni en las escenas de sexo; hablo de eso más tarde), así que no es buena herramienta para personas que están tratando de practicar su español. Finalmente... como ya dije, el libro por lo general es muy tedioso y aburrido, pero de repente cambia a ser DEMASIADO erótico y gráfico... no romántico en nada ... apasionado? Quizás. Pero lo que se destaca es lo gráfico que es, tanto para no ser atractivo. No recomiendo este libro.

I watched the movie, Il Postino, a few days ago. Curious about the movie's inspiration, I read Burning Patience and found myself intrigued by the several departures from the movie. Of course, the book is fuller and more complete, as the politics of the Allende years and the beliefs of Pablo Neruda take an equal footing with Neruda's wonderful poetry. The dignity of the simple person in the face of uncontrollable events is an inspiration.

I highly recommend the book!

Desde hace años sabía sobre la novela El Cartero de Neruda y de la película basada en ésta. Sin embargo, no fue hasta terminar de leer El Baile de la Victoria, la más reciente novela de Antonio Skármeta, que me interesé en leer otras obras del autor. Que la novela incluyera entre sus personajes a Pablo Neruda, el vate latinoamericano y del mundo, en una recreación poética ficcional, fue el poderoso gancho, para devorármela de una sentada.

Mario Jiménez es un joven cartero en Isla Negra, Chile, que logra establecer una relación amistosa con el único de los habitantes del lugar que recibe correspondencia: el poeta Pablo Neruda. Paulatinamente, Mario logra que Neruda le enseñe algo de poesía y lenguaje. Después de conocer a Beatriz, una joven mesera, Mario le pide a Neruda que le enseñe a conquistarla, pues ha caído tan rendido a sus encantos que no le salen las palabras.

Con el nombramiento de Neruda como embajador de Chile en Francia, Mario se convierte en su conexión con Isla Negra, su mar y su gente. Mientras tanto, la situación política de Chile se va deteriorando en escasez de alimentos, paros sindicales y violencia.

Con la muerte del Presidente Salvador Allende, Neruda, quien durante la narrativa gana el Premio Nobel de Literatura, regresa enfermo a su Isla Negra. La muerte de Neruda, no pone fin a su relación con Mario, quien luego es detenido para ser interrogado por la nueva autoridad militar.

Skármeta impregna la novela con chispazos líricos dignos del bardo chileno, y sumerge a Mario y a Beatriz en pasiones seductoras, que logran balancearse delicadamente con las convulsiones políticas por las que estaba pasando Chile.

Not one of my favorite translations. Sounds a lot better trying to read it in Spanish. It is not so much translation, but i feel there could have been a better topic or another author that could be translated.

Maria Jacketti, one of the finest practicing poets in America today, brings a keen eye and an even more probing heart to these translations. If you have an interest in Neruda, this book is a must. I find myself reaching for this volume of poems every few months and re-reading -- or better -- re-living them all again. It's as though this book has become a best friend who lives in another country: periodically I remember, smile, and must have a talk.