Shuntaro Tanikawa: Selected Poems [Paperback]

Shuntaro Tanikawa (Author), William I. Elliott (Translator), Kazuo Kawamura (Translator), William I. Elliot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2001

Winner of every significant award for literature in Japan, Shuntaro Tanikawa is that country's foremost living poet. Selected Poems draws from eleven books written over forty years and is masterfully translated in close collaboration with the poet. It is the only major collection of Tanikawa's work available in English.

Tanikawa writes a free verse filled with passion and curiosity. American readers will be struck by his fascination with their world and culture -- Charlie Brown, John Coltrane, and Oscar Hammerstein are among those with significant cameos. He also displays a strong poetic connection to his American contemporaries, the Beat and Black Mountain poets, especially Robert Creeley and Allen Ginsberg. In Selected Poems, readers are treated to an urbane feast of discovery, philosophy, and play.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Author of more than 60 books of poetry, Tanikawa is perhaps Japan's most well-known and accomplished living poet, and garnered a 1989 American Book Award for the Floating the River in Melancholy, a fully translated single volume now out of print. This first U.S. selected edition, translated by American ex-pat William Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura (who together edit a Yokohama literary journal), draws from 11 volumes spanning five decades of quotidian-based, wryly self-conscious work. While the surface of Tanikawa's poetry in these translations is practically hyper-literal ("I eat loquats,/ to do which/ I have to peel them;/ to peel them,/ I need hands"), the mind behind them is distinctly concerned with the shapes and inadequacies of meaning, and how it can be produced for an audience larger than one. At times, Tanikawa's awareness of his own practice is startlingly frank: "It is not clear what materials and techniques will go into the writing of this composition called `Starvation', and furthermore I doubt that it will stand as a valid composition." Tanikawa is clearly interested in a poetry that is colloquial at its core (he is the Japanese translator of the late Charles Schulz's Peanuts strip), free of traditional Japanese forms and interested in Western culture, though certainly not derivative of Western poetries. His sense of humor ultimately cuts through the questions of translation and cultural and linguistic differences to display the brooding charm that has won Tanikawa such acclaim: "I feel that I'd like being trapped forever/ but the snare rejects me humourlessly,/ pushing me back to the native milieu of people/ where humour is the only refuge." North American readers will find this a welcome refuge indeed.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Tanikawa offers something for everyone...Highly recommended. -- Virginia Quarterly Review

Tanikawa's poetry...constitutes very great art. -- World Literature Today

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Persea Books (May 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089255259X
• ISBN-13: 978-0892552597
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #588,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great translation, May 12, 2001

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P. Nagy "revreader" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shuntaro Tanikawa: Selected Poems (Paperback)

The versatility of his poetic output is well displayed in this adroit rendition of his work. Highly recommended for its display of the poetic ranges and many voices of this popular poet Highly recommended for the translation as well as introduction to this poet.

3.0 out of 5 stars scholarly work, January 31, 2011

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Autumn "Autumn" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Shuntaro Tanikawa: Selected Poems (Paperback)

Although this poet is a well known Japanese author, I found this collection to be a bit tedious. The notes and back history included are well researched and written. The choice of poems themselves was in need of a wider range. The one poem "the child" for which the poet is well known, was not included. The overall emotion was dark and moody, leaving me with less than an enjoyable experience. There are many small books on Japanese poetry that are far more beautifully written with evocative imagery. I would suggest you buy "Tangled Hair" and stay away from this one.