Take My Word For It: Poems [Hardcover]

Nina Cassian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 1998

A long-awaited collection—her first written in English—by Romania's leading literary figure for over fifty years, and one of the world's most important voices.

Ars Poetica: a Polemic

I am I.
I am personal.
I am subjective, intimate, private,
particular,
confessional.
All that happens,
happens to me.
The landscape I describe
is myself. . . .
If you're interested
in birds, trees, rivers,
try reference books.
Don't read my poems.
I'm no indexed bird,
tree or river,
just a registered Self.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A famous Romanian literary figure, Cassian came to the United States in 1985 and now lives on Rooselvelt Island in New York. Shakespeare's Ariel could be the speaker of this "protean," tender work, Cassian's first collection of poems written in English (or which she herself translated). "Indulging in the magical alcohol of words," Cassian turns idiomatic language on its head to depict landscapes where the banal is transformed into whimsical uncertainty. "Bazdabocul" is her translation of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" into Romanian, while "Imprecation" is written in a mischievous language, Spargan, that she invented. For Cassian, words have manifold associations that point the way to improbable truth in "a swarming, flexible, frantic world." ("Is `perfunctory' the dining room/ of an abbey?" she asks.) This complex, gifted 73-year-old with a child's heart maintains "a multiple embrace" of beautiful, difficult mysteries of human flesh. Ideal poetry for old and young alike.?Frank Allen, North Hampton Community Coll., Tannersville, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A writer at the peak of her power.” (Stanley Kunitz )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (July 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393046540
• ISBN-13: 978-0393046540
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,550,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Poetry of the Quotidian Wordsmith, October 26, 2008

By 

Amanda Burton "The Lemon Curd Lady" (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Take My Word For It: Poems (Hardcover)

In Take My Word For It Nina Cassian explores the intersection between the interior surfaces of words and the inner surfaces of human experience. That could read like a gussied up banality; it's actually my best shot at trying to tell you about these poems, which I like enormously and re-read often. If words themselves, individually as well as ganged up together on a page, are a source of thought and examination and rumination to you then this book is for you. There's wetness and messiness here, left lying about casually next to the toaster, fractions of passion butted up next to the quotidian in a breath-catching, economical offhandedness. The title tells the story, and she has a mastery that maybe only comes with the perspective of fluency in several languages. These poems are anything *but* trivial, and they get better and better with re-reading.

2.0 out of 5 stars a disappointment, June 30, 2002

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Take My Word For It: Poems (Hardcover)

I recently discovered Nina Cassian, and I love her work. I've found her to be a wonderful poet. In her own language. Rather, translated from Romanian. I very happily sat down with this collection, ready to dive into poems that are beautiful, musical, and important pieces. What I found were trivial poems that tried to be playful and musical, but came across flat. They struck me as trite, and what is really sad is that I probably give the book more credit because of my respect for her and her earlier work. I say pick up _Life Sentence_ because that is the Nina Cassian we all know and love. (Oh, this collection does contain her translation of Jabberwocky into Romanian, but since I don't know how to pronounce the Romanian alphabet, it is just something to look at and not something you can really appreciate hearing. There is also her poem "Impreciation" in something called "English Spargan" which is her Jabberwockish made up language, and instead of being fresh and interesting, it seems rather embarassing. Maybe it comes across better in the origianl "Sparga Romana".)