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Translating Neruda: The Way to Macchu Picchu

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This is such a lovely discussion of the thought and care that goes into a good translation of literary work in general, and the amazing poetry of Pablo Neruda in particular, and intertwined with it, the work of criticism. John Felstiner takes us through his work translating Neruda, beginning when he first read Alturas de Macchu Picchu on a trip accompanying his wife, Mary Felstiner, on a year of historical research in Chile, through his work translating the poem. "Perhaps the real 'origin' behind any translation occurs not in the written poem, but in the poet's voice speaking the verse aloud." His story of his efforts to uncover that voice is nearly as lovely as the poem itself and the ruins at Macchu Picchu about which both artists - Neruda and Felstiner - write.