Customer Reviews

The Adam of Two Edens

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Unless your interest is specifically political poetry, I recommend reading "Unfortunately, It Was Paradise" before reading "The Adam of Two Edens." The former is slightly more mature poetry and slightly better translated. While the selections in "The Adam of Two Edens" are poems of political exile, Darwish is not a poet of Palestinian radicalism so much as a poet of the human race. In his poetry, he moves easily between cultures that have inhabited Palestine - Mesopotamian, Kurdish, Greek, Roman, Jewish, Islamic, Christian. This comprehesive view gives his poetry a wisdom and universalism rarely found in contemporary poetry. His poetry is concrete with subtle surprising use of language: "We have only one dream: / that friendly breezes blow / aromas of Arabian coffee / to our hills surrounded by / summer and strangers." OR "The night is the exact size of my horses."

In an odd way Darwish's understanding of exile is closely related to that of Jabes. Therefore, it seems reasonable to me that Darwish be taught in Israeli schools (see editorial reviews above). "This is my absence, a master who imposes his laws / on the descendants of Lot / and sees no scapegoat for Sodom but myself."

So I have read the original work by Darwish (in Arabic) and heard recordings of some of the poems in the book. I bought the book in English as a gift for a friend of mine, and the translation was a bit disappointing. I did not feel the easy flow of Darwish's distinctive style. It might be that Darwish does not translate well, or that this particular translation is less than perfect. I think the latter is more likely.
I still do recommend it.