Customer Reviews

Love Poems (New Directions Paperbook)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

James Laughlin must be turning in his grave. New Directions, one of the greatest presses in 20th Century literary history, has sunk to the wrong directions now in the 21st: they are letting marketing triumph over literary ethics and literature itself: This "Love Poems" is just a slick deceptive cover of Neruda's single book, "The Captain's Verses," which in itself is a great book, an important book in Neruda's oeuvre, with a good translation by Donald Walsh-- but to be so deceptive and re-title it as a marketing gimmick?

I returned this book to Amazon after I found out what was underneath the false cover.

They say "in later editions, these verses became the most celebrated of the Noble Prize winner's oeuvre" In later editions? This is one edition, and it's not true that it "collects Neruda's most passionate verses." It collects some of them, but with The Captain's Verses there's a bunch of mediocre poems. Neruda had a high batting average, but not every poem he wrote was outstanding. Frankly, I'm peeved at ND for this gimmickry. The great press under Laughlin that took risks and brought us William Carlos Williams, Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, Lawrence Ferlinghetti-- you want a vanguard press that would never succumb to commercialism over the inherent principles of literature-- Ferlinghetti's City Lights-- If you want Neruda's love poetry, check out his The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems-- it truly is the essence of Pablo, with some of his best love poems. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics)is of course one of poetry's great classics, but it only represents the voice of Neruda in his twenties, without the broad scope and some of his best love lyrcis throughout one of the most prolific careers in the history of modern poetry. 100 Love Sonnets: Cien sonetos de amor (Texas Pan American Series) has some great Neruda love poems, but the majority, trully, aren't so great. And personally, along with others I know, feel that much of the inherent power of Neruda's poems in this book are lost in Tapscott's flat translations. If you do want The Captain's Verses, show New Directions that you can't judge--or change, for marketing reasons--a book by its cover, and get the original, The Captain's Verses

The other reviews aren't really about the poems in the book, which are great, and I like the design of the cover.

I love that this book includes the original Spanish as well as the English translation on pages opposite each other. The book itself is very attractive, and a nice small size which is just right to keep in a purse or take on a trip. Could make a nice gift for a Spanish student, or for anyone overly romantic. The poems are quite passionate and evocative.

It's a good little book that you can carry it everywhere. My girlfriend always has it in her purse and she love the side to side English and Spanish translations. She thinks the poems are romantic and we read a couple every now and then.

This book is full of wonderful love poems, descriptive, full of passion and in one word - beautiful!

Having each poem in English and Spanish in one book is a really good idea and having seen what Newspapers have written about Pablo, I totally agree that he is one of the greatest poets of the 20th Century in any language.

Pablo wrote most of this book on the Island Paradise of Capri and he has obviously been inspired by the surroundings such as in the poems "Wind on the Island" and "Night on the Island" as well as his lover Matilde.

I quote from "Wind on the Island"
"Hide me in your arms
just for this night,
while the rain breaks
against sea and earth
its innumerable mouth"

Anyone who has ever fallen in love will identify with it.

Another book that I love which is also love poetry is "The Poetry of Passion (for People with a Pulse) a variety of poems ranging from sensual to humorous.

The Poetry of Passion (for People with a Pulse)

Pablo's "20 love poems and a song of despair" is another of my favourites.

Twenty Love Poems

This is a pocket sized book full of passion and romance written in English and Spanish (very handy if you're learning Spanish!) The poems are set out so that the Spanish poem is on the left hand page and the English translation is on the right hand page.

With beautiful lines such as "with your brow on my brow and your mouth on my mouth, our bodies tied by the love that consumes us" from the poem "Wind on the Island" and "the fire saw our naked kiss grow until it touched hidden stars, and it saw grief be born and die like a broken sword against invincible love" from the poem "Epithalamium" this book is wonderful!

I love poetry and Pablo Neruda is the best poet to read if you want love poems, I have 7 of his books and still want more! He has inspired me to make some of my poetry more sensual!

Review by Juliette Westbrook-Finch, author of The Poetry of Passion (for People with a Pulse)

It seriously took 3 weeks to get my books. It said that I would get my book in 5-6 days, not 3 freaking weeks! It sucked. Anyways, Pablo Neruda rules!