Selected Poems (Hardcover)

by Derek Walcott (Author), Edward Baugh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This career-spannning retrospective, culled from nearly 50 years of work, will go a long way toward reminding readers of the breadth and depth of Nobel laureate Walcott's achievement. Though he is perhaps best known for his modern epic, Omeros, which tells a Homeric tale set in St. Lucia, Walcott is a fine lyric poet as well, writing in traditional forms and meters as well as in powerful free verse. Alongside the epic tone that he brought into modern verse—"I sing of Achille, Afolabe's son,/ who never ascended in an elevator"—is lustful writing about a woman humming Bob Marley on a bus, a casual description of being mugged in Greenwich Village or a painter's-eye view of a fish. The political Walcott is also here; observing a crowd listening to a politician, he writes, "Who will name this silence/ respect? Those forced, hoarse hosannas/ awe?" The lyric Walcott is well represented, but the long poems—which are necessarily excerpted—prove more problematic. At best, the editor can hope that readers, hooked by one of these narrative poems, will be compelled to seek out the complete version. Nonetheless, this book represents a milestone in the career of a major writer. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"No poet rivals Mr. Walcott in humor, emotional depth, lavish inventiveness in language or in the ability to express the thoughts of his characters and compel the reader to follow the swift mutations of ideas and images in their minds . . . [His poetry] makes us realize that history, all of it, belongs to us." --The New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374260664
• ISBN-13: 978-0374260668
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #277,725 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Walcott, Derek
  #14 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Caribbean
  #48 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Carribean & Latin American

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, January 3, 2009

By	R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This really is a wonderful anthology. Baugh is to be congratulated for his selection of Walcott poems. What is most impressive about this book is the remarkable consistency of superb and characteristic poetry from the beginnings of Walcott's career to more recent work. The themes of exile, Walcott's ambivalent relationship with the European canon, and the nature of colonialism run throughout the work. Much of this work is autobiographical, presenting Walcott's remarkable ability to translate personal experience into beautiful language and universal themes.

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT!, February 19, 2007

By	E. M. Cummings "college student" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love Derek Walcott, and this is the best collection of his poetry I've ever seen. Amazing editing.