Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Probably the best translation of this five-star poet., July 20, 2002
As someone who is learning Norwegian (which makes Swedish, the language of Sodergran's poetry, intelligible to me), one of the strong points of this book is the that the poetry appears in its original language facing pages of English translation. This is always a great idea when reading translated poetry, and happily it's done here. Katchadourian is a very fine translator as far as I can judge, but it's still nice to see the original and "check" your own translation against hers. There is a time or two I interpret something differently!Edith Sodergran was a very talented, singular poet in her own time, and the power and beauty of her poetry hasn't faded. That is most likely because she was ahead of her time in both the form and content of her poetry, and because, like all great poets, the particular truths of her life echo and illuminate human existence, period, and she writes with a great sensitivity to language. This volume contains selections from each of her books, and although how Sodergran wrote about things changed as she experienced life and searched for peace and truth through various philosophical/religious traditions, there always remain her underlying themes: a reverence for nature, a respect for her particular experience as a woman, and a concern for the meaning of various forms of suffering--war, poverty, hunger, disillusionment, illness, loss, and loneliness make up the short list! In her own time, Sodergran's poetry was, for mainstream Finland, a shock, a scandal, or a joke. Nowadays, it isn't--or at least is less so. I hope this fine translation continues to widens her appreciation in areas outside of Scandinavia. I would recommend this book to fans of what one might call feminist poetry.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Edith Sodergran is worth reading!, January 20, 1998
The marvelous poetry of Edith Sodergran is unfortunately not well known outside of Scandinavia. Stina Katchadourian has done a nice job of translatiion, (always difficult with poetry), and the bilingual presentation lets readers get some of the flavor of the original. The translations in the Bloodaxe Press series are in some cases better than Katchadourian's, but this book is stil well worth reading. The description of Sodergran's life in the preface is a little overromanticized as well - while not generally popular during her lifetime, she was appreciated by many in the younger finlandssvenska reading public.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a scandinavian emily dickenson, but better. MUST-READ poet!, January 11, 2002
After a three-week trip to Finland in summer 2000, a great friend gave me this book as a going away present. Rarely has a single book or poet so deeply reached my heart and soul. Edith Sodergran is a wonderful writer, who should be much more well-known worldwide than she is. She was far beyond her time; give her your time now. You will not be disappointed, and I promise you that Sodergran will make a place in your heart. "We are the least expected and the darkest red,/
tigerspots, taut strings, fearless stars." --Edith Sodergran, "Violet Twilights"
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