The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca (New Directions Paperbook) (English and Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Federico García Lorca (Author), Donald M. Allen (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Absolutely required reading, or re-reading, for any student of GLBT literature. -- Echo, Ken Furtado

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation (February 1988)
• Language: English, Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0811200914
• ISBN-13: 978-0811200912
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #387,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a collection of Lorca I like, October 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca (New Directions Paperbook) (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Translations usually don't do justice to Lorca's poetry, who seemed distant and maudlin in some of the earlier translations that I had read. A friend assured me that Lorca was worth pursuing, and indeed he was. In this collection, which features crisp and sharp translations, including those by Stephen Spender, Lorca's poetry emerges with all the strength and pathos it must have in Spanish. He strikes at the core of human longing, the eternal desire for love and death, with a simple and sometimes abstract imagery. Highly recommended for all readers of poetry.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mágico puro / Pure magic, May 10, 2002

By 

JLind555 - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca (New Directions Paperbook) (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

There are no words to adequately describe García Lorca who was one of the greatest artists of the last century. The poems in "Selected Poems" represent some of the best of his collections, "Romancero Gitano", "Libro de Poemas", and the dark, brooding "Poema del Cante Jondo". Stephen Spender's excellent translation manages to preserve García Lorca's exquisite imagery without making it sound maudlin or overstated. García Lorca really has to be read in the original Spanish to be able to get a complete realization of his incredible talent as a poet, but those monolingual English speakers to whom the book is directed will be able to appreciate through this translation what a genius was lost to the world when at the age of 38 he was assassinated in the Spanish Civil War. García Lorca astonishes and amazes us with his brilliant artistry, his deceptively simple yet complex imagery, and the voice of haunting pathos that is surely the voice of Spain. Even readers who don't particularly like poetry will be held spellbound by the poems presented here.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, forbidding, and intense, December 5, 2003

By 

Lanja Samsdottir (Utrecht, Holland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Selected Poems of Federico García Lorca (New Directions Paperbook) (English and Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

This volume is bilingual and in this case the English translations can hold their own against the Spanish (and Galician) originals. It culls poems from every period in the poet's life, thereby giving the reader a huge range of Garcia Lorca's work - from the talking lizards to the masterpiece "Poet in New York" to traditional gacelas.

While some of the poems seem superficial, others are loaded with meaning. Some critics have said that Lorca's preoccupation with death seemed to foreshadow his own, which came in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. Indeed, many of these poems have dark overtones. Lorca never loses the passion and intensity, however. His love poems are majestic in their images and emotion, which are surprisingly undimmed in translation.

In particular, Lorca's language - especially his metaphors and similes - are unusual and striking. His imagery conjures up fantastical scenes; maybe one could say he writes the way that Salvador Dali painted. If you're looking for an introduction to Lorca (or if you're approaching him with some trepidation), then I'd suggest this book. It will give you a good feel for his development as a poet as well as his overal style.