The Bedbug and Selected Poetry [Paperback]

Vladimir Mayakovsky (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0253201896 | ISBN-13: 978-0253201898 | Publication Date: October 22, 1975

This selection of Mayakovsky's work covers his entire career—from the earliest pre-revolutionary lyrics to a poem found in a notebook after his suicide. Splendid translations of the poems, with the Russian on a facing page, and a fresh, colloquial version of Mayakovsky's dramatic masterpiece, The Bedbug.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 22, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253201896
• ISBN-13: 978-0253201898
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Russian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great epics, December 20, 2001

By 

"jahluv" (Hamilton Bermuda) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bedbug and Selected Poetry (Paperback)

Mayakovsky was one of the foremost futurist poets of the early 20th centuary. He wrote anguished (and mildly egocentric) pieces about being alone and unrequited in love. He also wrote political poems that were supposed to moblize the workers and shock the borgeosie establishment. This book is worth buying for the two epics "A cloud in trousers" and "The backbone flute" alone. The other poems are the icing on the cake, sounding off his thundering poetic voice. His final poem, "Past one o'clock.." starkly contrasts the others with it's muted depression. He would include part of it in his suicide note, changing the line "now you and I are quits" to "now life and I are quits." The Bedbug is a savage satire of Soviet society, and (had he not shot himself) would probably have gotten him arrested during the imminent Stalinist purges. After his death, Mayakovsky was lauded by Stalin. His pro-Bolshevik political verses were glorified and proudly shown off by the state, whilst his other poems and satirical plays were quietly supressed. Get this book if you want to see every side of Mayakovsky, and not just the one that has been publicized for years as propaganda.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars great poetry but a bad format, November 26, 2009

By 

R. Turner "C. Turner" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bedbug and Selected Poetry (Paperback)

I do appreciate the publishers attempting to make Mayakovsky available in English and Russian. This book features only 13 poems in and a short play, albeit in both original Russian and translated English, but none the less it's just too few. It's a shame how few of Vladimir Mayakovsky's poems and pieces are currently available in English, but then again it has a large amount to do with the intrinsic nature of the poem's beauty belonging solely in its original Russian format. This book, in my opinion, is simply too big and costs too much for the content, unless you get it used. The poems need footnotes to really be understood in both English and Russian because much of it has no meaning without historical and biographical context, much like a T.S. Eliot can't be understood without the guidance of a professor or a very, very specifically educated mind. The editors try to solve this contextual problem with a biographical and era introduction that unfortunately centers more on the too broad scope of the Russian Revolution and the too narrow times of adulations that Mayakovsky received as he impressed more people throughout his time of his fame. I believe there could be more context if we'd learned about the different life stages of the poet and and his struggles specific to each poem, not just how much attention he garnered. The only other book in English publication about Mayakovsky which is very common, When Night Wraps the Sky, tries to tell too much about Mayakovsky's personal life, almost like a boring timeline of facts with intermittent flashes of his poetry in-between that are accompanied by overpowering and as result, blanching commentary by other writers. To conclude, if you want to read Mayakovsky, learn Russian, but if you only know English then this book is your best choice.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good if you dig Russian lit., June 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bedbug and Selected Poetry (Paperback)

Well, I love pre-Revolution Russian literature, so I guess I'm a little biased towards this book, but it really is good. Even the introduction is fascinating and inspiring if you ask me.