Caribbean Books

My husband used to read me this book when I was pregnant with my only child. The sound of the poems made her kick. Maybe the poems, but probably it was just the way he read them--in spanish--louder than he ever said anything. My husband never yelled, even when he was angry he just stayed by himself a bit, but he really used to get into these poems. From his childhood, I guess. He tried to translate them himself, but he wasn't very good at it. He would probably say these aren't very good either, no translation is your own after all, but I don't speak spanish, and to me these are close to the way he used to make me feel when he read them. Very lovely, and a little alarming.

I tried reading them to my daughter--she's having a baby in the summer--but it didn't really make anyone feel alarmed. I guess I need to learn to develop my own versions.

This is the book that everyone who loves FGL must have. I even started to learn it in spanish.

This is a great anthology of Camoes lyric work. I'm a fan of bilingual poetry editions. These translations are very fine, even though not literal.
As a literary translator once told me "You write English literature." The notes are good and background information is helpful. Anyone interested in 16th century literature, I think, will treasure this volume.

Luis de Camoes is generally considered the greatest writer in the Portuguese language - on a par with Shakespeare in English, or Goethe in German. His most famous work is a long epic poem entitled "Os Lusiadas" or "The Portuguese" which describes in verse Portuguese exploration of the world (see my review). Camoes also wrote several hundred sonnets, unpublished in his lifetime. Most scholars think somewhere from 200 - 300 of the current sonnets variously ascribed to Camoes are his, with a few collections having over 400. I personally like his sonnets better than his epic poem, which can be stylized and obscure.

This book is a collection of 70 sonnets with the Portuguese and English translation on facing pages. The translator, William Baer, not only translates well, but he manages to also write his translation in rhyme. This is a tremendous accomplishment because Portuguese, like all Romance languages, has few word endings and is easy to rhyme while English, a polyglot Germanic language, is not.

That is not to say that the translations are perfect. They are not. But they're pretty good and anything approximating Camoes is great. Camoes is rather a playful cynic and most of these sonnets bring out those qualities. There is a sense of wistfulness ("saudade" in Portuguese) in most of them regarding lost love and homesickness. Camoes was a world travelling ne'er-do-well who was banished from his homeland, lost an eye battling the Moors, was imprisoned, and shipwrecked near the Mekong Delta, saving only his manuscript poems. He returned to his homeland only to watch a young adventurous King lead an army of nearly all the young men of the country to a massacre by a vastly greater Moorish force. Since this King had no relatives, the country was taken over by Spain for nearly a century and lost its status as a world power.

Camoes, an ardent patriot, was devastated and you can feel that devastation in all his writings. This sense of loss in his works makes his writing almost modern. If you're new to Camoes, this book is the best single place to start. And if you've ever loved and lost, or left your home for long years, or even felt nostalgic for past places and people, these poems will go right to your heart. Highly recommended, and I don't give out many 5 star recommendations.

This book contains poems with a difference!
It's not like poems who'd read that are hard to understand and don't rhyme etc.
They make great sense, apply to everyone, and rhyme also!

I liked it a lot!

Self Expression was a great read. The depth of the writing is thrilling and amazing. It made me think about stuff I hadn't thought of in quite a while. Andrew seems to be able to touch people, different people, on a deep level. I look forward to reading more of his work.

Excellent story, I began to read it on friday and by sunday I had already finished. Characters were geniously managed. There's comedy, drama, tragedy and much more. Being a Puerto Rican living in the U.S I can really see how life on the island can be. Great Work, Im buying more of the author books. Love it.

Me encantó esta novela. No sé mucho de estilos literarios, pero encontré el texto casi hipnotizante. Me han dicho que está escrito de una manera que se puede cantar al ritmo de un bolero. Es casi como haber visto una película - puedo imaginar los personajes y las escenas del libro como si los hubiera visto, en vez de visualizado al leer.

Mayra Santos Febrés es un talento inmenso. Personalmente me encantan las novelas por poetas - espero que nos de muchas más.

The intense sincerity of this gripping story has clarity so profound that as a reader I found myself living every detail. Remarkable! Pick up Sofi's Load, and sit at the edge of your seat, because it will vigorously suck you in. It's real--dauntingly real.

Daniel Sabin
CEO / Founder of Pure Leaders Incorporated
International Motivational / Inspirational Speaker
Student - Metaphysicist - Philosopher
Musician - Poet - Author

Sofi's Load is a moving and powerful text. It is the author's first novel, and the second book which I have read from her so far, the first being Poetry In Haiti, a must read for anyone interested in Haitian culture crafted in the hands of a literary genius.

Once again I find myself enraptured by Ms. Simon's mastery of language and her superb craftmanship. She imbues her text with such emotion and artistic sensability, that as a reader you cannot help but be moved by the power of her words.

The novel itself is an inspirational text, filled with endurance and courage against much cruelty and hardship. Sofi's story is not only a personal memoir, but a symbolic metaphor of Haiti and its women-admidst all adversity and persecution the courage and the tenacity to persevere still remains strong.

Sofi's Load is a beautifully written novel, one that I'm sure will become a literary classic. I anxiously await for Ms. Simon's forthcoming work.

First of all, Rubén Darío's poetry is so immensely important and contemporary in its relevancy that I cannot believe this is the first quality translation of it!

Originally published in Spain in 1905, "Cantos de vida y esperanza" is one of the most important collections of Darío's poetry. He is widely considered the father of the modernistic movement.

For me to review his poetry would be folly- I believe everyone takes what they bring to the poem with them. I can tell you that his poetry has such an honesty in it that I cannot but help be moved by his plight... his plight as a human being :) something we all share, which is why his poems are great and immortal.
One of his most famous poems is "Canción de otoño en primavera"/Song of autumn in springtime. While I do not feel at liberty to reproduce the translation included in the book, I will give you a small sample of the poetry itself in case you are new to his writings or curious.

Juventud, divino tesoro
ya te vas para no volver
Cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer...

Youth, divine treasure
you have gone, never to return
When I want to cry, I cannot...
and sometimes I cry without wanting to...

Much of his poetry is very personal and moving. I love the pictures he can create with words, like in his poem "Canto de esperanza" Song of hope:
"Un gran vuelo de cuervos macha el azul celeste." A great flight of ravens stains the blue celestial sky. "Verdugos de ideales afligieron la tierra,/en un pozo de sombra la humanidad se encierra" Executioners of ideals afflict the earth/in a well of shadow humanity is encircled.
That is a very small sample of the wonderful poetry in this book.
(reminder, these are my lame translations-- not the ones from the book- the ones in the book are much better.)

This brings me to the book itself. This is *such* a quality edition. Not only does it have the poems in English and Spanish, their original language, but the editors have taken care to make sure they are the correct versions as well. The translators thankfully went for meaning, not rhyming. I detest translations where they try to keep the rhyming scheme. This RARELY works, and usually destroys not only the original author's meaning, but also makes the poem laughable in the target language.
The preface in this edition is wonderful as well- it includes many facts about Darío & his work, life and writings. Included also is a kind of glossary for the reader. Darío often uses references to classical literature and mythology that can leave the average reader scratching their head. Luckily this glossary answers all questions along those lines.

I was introduced to this book by my Spanish Literature professor, Dr. Albert Acereda who translated this collection of poetry along with Will Derusha. That said, mine is not a biased review- if I don't like something, I will not take the time to write a review on it. (unless it's so bad it actually pisses me off!)

You couldn't want for a better edition of this book- the poetry is timeless and the translations are flawless.

in a carefully wrought and politically situated language of poesis that will not go away any day soon. This is a beautiful book carefully edited and annotated, well designed by Duke UP in English/Spanish interface-- a book that shows "nuestra America" is not in the hands of the rough riders and empire makers then or now, must reading for a poetics of poscoloniality situated in Nicaragua, Paris, Rome, and NYC...meaning the worlding world of poesis and vision coming out of the future in the 'afterlife' of real poetry. Abrazos and thanks...

Songs of Silence is a remarkable vehicle through which one can visit any community and every community - anywhere in the world. These stories are iconoclastic in their characterization and at the same time universal in their appeal. I am sure that every reader can find a point of reference in a least one character or situation which either rekindles a memory or provokes a new perspective.

Set in the beautiful island of Jamaica, this book is a welcome addition to the Caribbean biography genre. Forbes has the ability to use a variety of tones and voices that capture the spirit of the community. The story is the journey of growing up in a rural environment in a large family among amusing, familiar neighbours who have strange incidents in their lives revealed.

Marlene's narrative is an echo of our own childhood experiences, and also a window through which people from other parts of the world can view events that shape part of our Caribbean world. There is mystery surrounding the neighbour hit by loneliness and hard times, the house crumbling about her in a yard overgrown with weeds. We too used the "big bed" as a trampoline with siblings, ignoring the empty threats of a loving father, or waited at the gate, long into the evening for a parent to return from work, or felt the burden of a school friend's poverty.

At the end of the book, we have traveled home once more, and can still hear the quiet words of wisdom from Ma.

The title of my review says it all--this is an essential collection for anyone serious about sound art/theory/poetry or avant-garde music. The CD is a very nice bonus, full of unbelievable rarities as well.

By focusing on "earplay" in texts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and other modern writers, this collection's twelve essays investigates the relationship between acoustical technologies and 20th-century experimental poetics. The accompanying CD offers soundtracks of early radio sounds, poetry readings, Dada cabaret performances, jazzoetry, audio-poems and contemporary Caribbean DJ dub poetry.

I bought this cookbook when it first came out, and have been using it for years. It's my favorite cookbook -makes reliably delicious dishes. The key lime pie and stewed chicken are two recipes which are fabulous!

If you can get your hands on this cookbook buy it I was lucky enough to find it in the used section. I had seen it when we were in the Caribbean & found some great recipes in it.Very well done.

I have read and reread the first story so many times...the life of a desolate little boy's life...so finely detailed so heart rending, so spatial. As a Jamaican woman and an architect, I used this story in my thesis for the representation of a Jamaican life in a Jamaican landscape. If you want to know about my people, this is a beautiful glimpse into the way we talk about ourselves to each other.

I studied this book for literature when I was in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. Each story focuses on the lives of children from different economical and social backgrounds in Jamaica, each one experiencing a different form of conflict as they face a critical stage of their development. Most of the stories are written in Jamaican dialect which is rich and colorful allowing the reader a great insight into rural Jamaica and the way of life that is unique to the scenes of the stories.