Admired by Heidegger for the profundity of his poetic philosophy, Char (1907–1988) was also a hero of the French Resistance and in the 1960s a militant anti-nuclear protester. For a time associated with the Surrealist movement, his poetry later changed to work that confronted major moral, political, and artistic concerns of the 20th century. The exquisite translations by Susanne Dubroff maintain the simplicity of vision and expression that link Char to the poet-philosophers of ancient Greece. Presented side by side in French and in English, the book offers a comprehensive selection of work that spans the life of this great poet and will be a valuable additon to the libraries of both readers and students of either language.
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René Char (1907-88) is one of the most important modern French poets. Admired by Heidegger for the profundity of his poetic philosophy, he was also a hero of the French Resistance and in the 1960s a militant anti-nuclear protester. Associated with the Surrealist movement for several years and a close friend of many painters - notably Braque, Giacometti and Picasso - he wrote poetry which miraculously, often challengingly, confronts the major 20th century moral, political and artistic concerns with a simplicity of vision and expression that owes much to the poet-philosophers of ancient Greece. Susanne Dubroff is a poet, translator, and professor. She makes her home in Hanover, New Hampshire. Susanne Dubroff is a poet, translator, and professor. She makes her home in Hanover, New Hampshire.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
If you're looking for René Char you won't find him here,
By Mike Gabrieli (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Smoke That Carried Us: Selected Poems of Rene Char (Paperback)
I hesitate to write what follows. I would like to be able to believe that the boon of ANY book of Char's work being available to English-language readers is sufficient in itself. After all, as Cid Corman states it in his jacket blurb: "That more of [Char's] work is laid bare to us in English is a gift and a grace." But would such an attitude, an acquiescence, really be a service to those readers? I can't believe it is. Susanne Dubroff's translations are not simply plodding and prosaic, they're at times patently wrong. I was stunned when in the very first piece offered, "Artine," a masterpiece from Char's brief Surrealist period, I found as simple an expression as 'remettre à neuf' translated "put up by nine p.m." The phrase actually means "to make good-as-new" and no sense of artistic license can justify Ms. Dubroff's choice. And what is one to make of a translator who, in the poem which gives this volume its title, replaces a potent image of forced silence like "avec un verrou aux mâchoires" ('with a bolt through our jaws') with as pale an approximation as Dubroff's "with stiff jaws"? It would be easy to compile a litany of her ugly, colorless and presumptuous turns, but to what end? Poetry has few enough readers; when Char's name enters the spirit of one of these few and they go looking for a volume of Char's work to experience how his genius might touch their own, I can only hope that this is not the volume that falls into their hands. It represents a disservice to Char, to poetry. Look elsewhere.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Allow me to referee,
By HHL (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Smoke That Carried Us: Selected Poems of Rene Char (Paperback)
As a fan of the work of René Char, I was initially excited to learn that a new translation of his work was available in English. Upon a closer look at Ms. Dubroff's translations, however, I was dissappointed and I was nearly moved to express my views here. I then saw that another person shared my views (Mike Gabrieli) and had submitted a review so I didn't feel a need to beat the proverbial dead horse by submitting my own. After reading the comments in response to those of Mr. Gabrieli, posted by E Maloney, I am now compelled to jump into the fray. Oddly, E Maloney refers to "those of us who cannot read French," and then proceeds to try to correct Mr. Gabrieli's comments regarding the translations. Here are my two cents, which I hope will clear things up for those, such as E Maloney, who cannot read French. In Char's poem "Artine" he refers to a "voiture," a feminine noun meaning a car or conveyance, which he describes as "lavée et remise à neuf." Because "voiture" is feminine, had Char intended the verb "remiser," as claimed below, the phrase would have to read "remisée à neuf." "Remise" is the femine form of "remis," past participle of the verb "remettre." The phrase then is indeed "remettre à neuf," just as Mr. Gabrieli contends, and Dubroff's translation is simply wrong. As E Maloney admits, Char is "one of the twentieth century's greatest poets" and I agree with Mr. Gabrieli that all due care must be shown in presenting his poems to readers unable to experience his work in the original. Dubroff's skills are inadequate to the task. This begs the question: whose are? Some of what is currently available, even translations by prominent poets and academics, manage, despite their author's best intentions, to butcher the genius of Char. Let's at the very least not applaud paltry, inadequate efforts, lest this mean that the few prospective publishers who would even consider publishing René Char in English feel that there would be no need to do so anymore. I, for one, still await the translation into English of the work of René Char worthy of the adjective, "definitive."
4 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful addition to Char in English,
This review is from: The Smoke That Carried Us: Selected Poems of Rene Char (Paperback)
Many years ago, renowned poet and critic Louise Bogan wrote that Char is "untranslatable." Thankfully for those of us who cannot read French, there have been people willing to take on the formidable task of translating Char's work into English. What a loss it would be if we were unable to read these fine translations of the poems. Consequently, the review by Mr. Gabrieli must be briefly addressed: the French word "remise" comes from the word "remiser," which means to put up or put away and is therefore a correct translation in the opening poem, "Artine." Mr. Gabrieli substituted the verb "remettre" for the textual word
"remise." This book contains a vast selection of work spanning Char's earlier Surrealist work, where violence and destruction are used metaporically to destroy the florid langage of Romanticism, to the work done after his experiences in World War II, which changed his views and brought forth a poetry filled with moral intensity and commitment to freedom. Susanne Dubroff's fine translations maintain the integrity of the originals, and have brought one of the twentieth century's greatest poets the renewed attention he deserves.
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