An Age Ago: A Selection of Nineteenth-Century Russian Poetry [Paperback]

Joseph Brodsky (Compiler), Alan Myers (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1988

Representative selections from the great Russian poets of the nineteenth century, chosen by the uniquely qualified Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This newly translated anthology of 11 19th-century Russian poets will both delight and educate readers interested in Russian literature and history. The poems are accessible today primarily because they focus on such universal metaphysical and private issues as love, time, aging, jealousy, war, nature and death. Lyrical, strictly structured with traditional rhyme schemes and meters, the verse is an unusual combination of Romantic language and subject matter and rational theory stemming from the Age of Enlightenment. The anthology balances political, philosophical and personal poems nicely, and the selections complement each other, displaying the individual styles of the authors as well as their common concerns. The poets represented range from the well-known Aleksandr Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov to the less familiar (to Americans) Prince Vyazemsky and Nikolai Yazykov. The translation is skillful, retaining both the formal aspects of the original verse and its colloquialisms. Brief biographies of the authors are included. This fine anthology is marred only by its slimness: enticed readers will wish for a more comprehensive selection.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

$9.95. poetry The 19th century was Russian literature's Golden Age, and many of its prose writersTolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Gogol among themhave achieved justifiable fame in the West. Unfortunately, such equally great poets as Pushkin, Lermontov, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, and Fet have not had their due. These are among the poets represented in this new anthology, selected by Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky. Intense and lyrical, the poems reflect the precarious lives of their authors, many of whom had promising careers cut short by "epidemics, the chains of a dungeon, a bullet received on the battlefield or in the course of a duel. . . ." Brodsky's commendable selections offer many of the best-loved and oft-memorized poems of the Russian people. Alphonse Vinh, Yale Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 171 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1St Edition edition (September 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374520844
• ISBN-13: 978-0374520847
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,516,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars Russian Poetry, April 10, 2011

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Tony Marquise Jr. - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Age Ago: A Selection of Nineteenth Century Russian Poetry (Hardcover)

Excellant translations of Russian poetry, mostly from poets long dead and, unless you are an expert on Russian literature, have never Heard of.