In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land: New and Collected Poems from Two Languages [Hardcover]

Ariel Dorfman (Author), Edith Grossman (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2002

In the world of Chilean poet Ariel Dorfman, men and women can be forced to choose between leaving their country or dying for it. The living risk losing everything, but what they hold onto—love, faith, hope, truth—might change the world. It is this subversive possibility that speaks through these poems. A succession of voices—exiles, activists, separated lovers, the families of those victimized by political violence—gives an account of ruptured safety. They bear witness to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of personal and social damage in the aftermath of terror. The first bilingual edition of Dorfman’s work, In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land includes ten new poems and a new preface, and brings back into print the classic poems of the celebrated Last Waltz in Santiago. Always an eloquent voice against the ravages of inhumanity, Dorfman’s poems, like his acclaimed novels, continue to be a searing testimony of hope in the midst of despair.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[These poems] manage to speak with great directness of the . . . suffering and dread in his own country—and, by implication, in much of the world today—and yet to be maps of the imagination, the compassionate imagination. . . .Writing like this is a rare source of hope."—W. S. Merwin

"Ariel Dorfman’s testaments of pain and outrage are indeed poems. They will outlast the oppression, the torture, the misery of exile of which they tell. ‘Many are called’ to write of these matters, but ‘few are chosen.’ Dorfman is one of the few."—Denise Levertov

"As long as poems such as these are written and published, the Pinochets of the world cannot have the last say."—Breyten Breytenbach

Praise for Ariel Dorfman’s poetry:
"A deeply moving collection from one of Chile’s most important writers. . . .Stark and at the same time oddly radiant."—Margaret Atwood

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (August 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822329514
• ISBN-13: 978-0822329510
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,994,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Ariel Dorfman poetry, September 4, 2011

By 

Jillybean "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" (NEWTOWN, PA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land: New and Collected Poems from Two Languages (Paperback)

Extremely powerful poetry that cannot but move the audience. Written in Spanish and English. Dorfman pulls no punches, but provides descriptions of his experiences or those of people he knows.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, August 16, 2008

By 

Vivian Wiener (TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Case of Fire in a Foreign Land: New and Collected Poems from Two Languages (Paperback)

It's rare and wonderful to be able to read an author's own translation of his work into English. This was especially wonderful to read as part of a second-year Spanish class, as I began to learn enough grammar and style to understand the nuances of the original Spanish, and how Dorfman managed to capture them in English. Even for a non-bilingual reader, however, these poems are beautiful and well worth reading.