Neruda's Garden: An Anthology of Odes (Discoveries (Latin American Literary Review Pr)) [Paperback]

Pablo Neruda (Author), Giuseppe Pontiggia (Author), Yvette E. Miller (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Discoveries (Latin American Literary Review Pr) | Publication Date: February 1, 1995

Chile, selected & tr Maria Jacketti

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

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

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Latin Amer Literary Review Pr; First Edition edition (February 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935480684
• ISBN-13: 978-0935480689
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pablo Neruda is regarded as the greatest Latin American poet of the 20th century. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, his breadth of vision and wide range of themes are extraordinary, and his work continues to inspire new generations of writers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A joy of odes, April 20, 2002

By 

Mois Benarroch - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neruda's Garden: An Anthology of Odes (Discoveries (Latin American Literary Review Pr)) (Paperback)

Translating poetry is the most altruistic work on earth. And it is mostly done by poets, whose egos are not very small. It demands a complete devotion from the translator/poet to the text of the poet translated. If the translator succeeds then no one will pay much attention to his work, if it fails then all the criticism will go to the translator and not to the poet.
And this book is not an easy task, Neruda is venerated by many as the best poet of the twentieth century. In Spanish speaking countries he is considered a hero, and is better known than even Whitman in the U.S.
Maria Jacketti has a very special approach to these odes, she makes the English language dance to the poems, rather than try and translate literally word by word the verses of Neruda. While, theoretically, I think that this is a problematic approach (I say this as a translator myself who mostly strives to translate the exact word) she succeeds in creating vivid English versions of the poems, rather than academic translations of them.
The odes are written to the simple things in life, and celebrate the tomato as well as the soup; the table and the moon stand as equally important parts of our existence. Besides the love poems, the odes are the best part of Neruda gigantic poetic work.
This book is a good start for anyone wishing to read Neruda for the first time, but I think that those who will get the most of it are those who speak Spanish too (at least at the basic level). Anyone dealing with the translation of poetry will also learn a lot from Jacketti's approach, even if they have read the text in Spanish or have read other translations.

BTW, a out of print book of translations made by Maria Jacketti sells these days for 100$ and more at auctions, so it may be a good investment too, if you are looking for alternatives to the Nasdaq J

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of Typos!, October 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Neruda's Garden: An Anthology of Odes (Discoveries (Latin American Literary Review Pr)) (Paperback)

This collection of poetry by Pablo Neruda is excellent. However, due to the many typos in both English and Spanish, I will give this 4 stars. Typos usually annoy me greatly, but this is such a good collection that I just mark corrections in my book and keep going. It would have been much better if the content had been proofread more carefully, however. Perhaps it wasn't proofread at all...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anthology of Odes, May 1, 2002

By 

Justin (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neruda's Garden: An Anthology of Odes (Discoveries (Latin American Literary Review Pr)) (Paperback)

Translating poetry is one of the hardest things I've ever seen done but my Fiction teacher Dr. Jacketti does a fantastic job at translating whatever she comes across. When we read the odes together in class Dr. Jacketti's translations helped me through the odes so much more and it was so much easier to understand. When i read alone in my room it was harder to understand but the translations helped a lot. It's great to have Dr. Jacketti as a professor in my college fiction class.