Customer Reviews

The Half-Finished Heaven: The Best Poems of Tomas Tranströmer

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I knew little of Transtromer's work and nothing about him. Bly's translations are the best way to enter Mr. T's world, I think. I now have other translations. In some cases, 2 others of a poem for comparison. I do not know Swedish at all, although I would like to look at it sometime--but none of the books I have is bilingual. I don't miss it here. I can tell that Bly translates as he has elsewhere: he reads and receives the original poem and then writes a poem-to-poem translation, rather than word-for-word. I've found other parts that I prefer or find a bit more interesting in other translations, but for overall poem-ness and poetic satisfaction, I don't think Bly's can be beat. You know you're reading poetry, not simply translation. For those who'd like to compare and don't mind some overlap, I'd recommend Robin Fulton's collected poems The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems and Robert Hass's selected poems Tomas Transtromer: Selected Poems, 1954-1986. In some cases, you'll get 3 translations for triangulation. For me, I'm seeking out more of Bly's translations, many of which are out of print.

Like most aging ex-English majors/literati caught up in just trying to stay afloat in this crazy economy, its hard enough to find the time to read much less stay abreast with the world of great literature. I heard about this Swedish poet who recently won the Nobel on NPR's "All Things Considered." Curious, I did an online search. The first poem (happened to be the one this collection is named for) and I was hooked. I have two volumes now, this one being my favorite. In these frantic, digitized, vampiric times, Transtromer's poems are an oasis of green pastures and still waters. And even though they are, in the words of English translator Robert Bly's excellent introduction to this volume, "mysterious because the images have traveled a long way to get here" they remain, at least I found them, curiously accessible. If you aren't into poetry (we should all make ourselves dabble at least as a intellectual and spiritual discipline) this book is worth giving a try. Put it by your bedside and, after prayers or even along with them, read one every night before turning off the light. (BTW, I am a Christian who takes Jesus, the Bible, the Church and my faith very seriously. I am not precisely sure where Transtromer is coming from in relation to spiritual matters, but his is at least, to paraphrase O'Connor, a very Christ and Holy Spirit-haunted world.

I bought this collection of poems recently after Transtromer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Beautiful poems! The characters in his poems are so realistic and at the same time it feels like you are entering a dream.
As Transtromer says himself:"So much that can neither be written nor kept inside!"

Tomas Transtromer is an amazing poet - I'm so glad I bought this collection of poetry! I'd read about him in a few articles and couldn't find a good edition/translation for the longest time until I stumbled across this one. I'm so glad I picked it up!