Illuminations (New Directions Paperbook, No. 56) (Paperback)

by Arthur Rimbaud (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
poetry, tr Daniel Sloate, bilingual --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes
Text: French, English --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation; Revised edition (June 1957)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811201848
• ISBN-13: 978-0811201841
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #385,420 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is a clock which never strikes..., April 7, 2000

By	fishanthrope "Philip Welsh" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

Though her translations are flawed and somewhat dated, Louise Varese still has not been topped as a the bringer-into-English of lil' Arther R.'s thorny prose-poems. Her versions remain closer in spirit to the originals than any of the later translations, most of which (if you'll pardon my French) suck, from the bland lazy word-for-word of the Penguin Classics edition, to the innumerable "interpreters" (Paul Schmidt and his shameless ilk) who make of his poems what they will (sometimes to further lengths than JR Ullman did with "The Day On Fire") and then call their work "translations." Anyway, if you know Rimbaud I'm probably preaching to the converted, and if you don't, and don't read French, the two New Directions/Varese translations are probably the best place to start, along with Pierre Petitfils' user-friendly biography.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peerless, December 8, 1999

By	"lexo-2" (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

For me, modern poetry is Rimbaud. Sometimes I think modern writing in general is Rimbaud, but usually only after a few drinks. In any case, this is one of two books that are essential for anyone interested; Louise Varese (wife of composer Edgard) was one of the first and is still the best English translator that Rimbaud has ever had; her versions are as faithful as possible, but have a swing and an energy (even in these prose poems) that nobody else has reached. A mighty book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Forefather to Modern Poetry and Thought, September 27, 2000

By	Mr. Egregious - See all my reviews

The works of Rimbaud have become as famous for the character of the writer as for the writings themselves. However, with any work of art, the true test will be the content of the work rather than the person behind the pen. That said, the prose poetry of this child-man artist was an attempt to break away from all types of oppression in all forms (as viewed by Rimbaud): tradition, social expectation, as well as literary convention. First and foremost, Rimbaud was a thinker and then a writer but, unlike many philosophical writers (verses aesthetic writers, i.e.--Proust), he rarely lapses into didacticism. As for the content of his writing, one must consider that Rimbaud prefaced many literary movements, including psychoanalysis in his attempt to let one's "true self" write by "deranging the senses"; his focus on synesthesia predated the Dada movement and allowed him to become a godfather to the Surrealists; his themes of impotence and suffering foreshadowed the existentialists; and his use of multiple narrators foresaw the upcoming modernists in 20th century America.