Selected Poems and Letters
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Product Description
A phenomenonally precicious schoolboy, Rimbaud was still a teenager when he became notorious as Europe's most shocking and exhilarating poet. During his brief 5-year reign as the enfant terrible of French literature he produced an extraordinary body of poems that range from the exquisite to the obsene, while simultaneously living a life of dissolute excess with his lover and fellow poet, Verlaine. At the age of 21, he abandonned poetry and travelled across Europe before settling in Africa as an arms trader. This edition sets the two sides of Rimbaud side by side with a sparkling translation of his most exhilarating poetry and a generous selection of the letters from the harsh and colourful period of his life as a colonial trader.
About the Author
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91) is one of France's most controversial and influential poets. His works include A Season in Hell and Illuminations.
Jeremy Harding is Senior Editor at the London Review of Books, a translator, and journalist. He is currently working on a book about being adopted.
John Sturrock is Consulting Editor for the London Review of Books, a literary critic, travel writer, and translator. His translations for Penguin include novels by Stendhal and Hugo, and one volume of the new Proust translation: Sodom and Gomorrah.
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First Sentence
La chambre est pleine d'ombre; on entend vaguement De deux enfants le triste et doux chuchotement. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
La chambre est pleine d'ombre; on entend vaguement De deux enfants le triste et doux chuchotement. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Spanning over 400 pages this superlative collection is an essential component of any serious book lovers shelf. This wonderful book brings you Rimbauds excellent, startling verse, including his Magnum Opus A Season In Hell. What makes his poetry all the more startling is that all of it was written by the time he was 21, to have such a long reaching influence on art in such a small space of time and at such a young age is remarkable. Reading his poetry its easy to see his tremendous influence on people like Dylan Thomas, William Burroughs and Bob Dylan. And there are French and English translations of all poems to boot.
The remainder of the book is compiled of letters to and from him after he stopped writing and took up trading in Africa, though somewhat less amazing than the poetry these beautifully personal letters are fascinating, especially the correspondance he exchanged with his lover Verlaine and his family. It includes the final letter Rimabaud wrote on the day prior to his death at age 39, and also some lovely letters from his sister Isabel to his mother around the time of his illness. Rimbauds life of absinthe, cannabis, forbidden love and an early death make him seem like the original rock star. The front cover shows us just how young Rimbaud was, which makes his brilliance all the more astonishing. What prevails, in his poetry especially, is a youthful exuberance, Rimbaud never grew to old age so, like Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Holly, he will live on in our minds the way he should do, forever young.
The remainder of the book is compiled of letters to and from him after he stopped writing and took up trading in Africa, though somewhat less amazing than the poetry these beautifully personal letters are fascinating, especially the correspondance he exchanged with his lover Verlaine and his family. It includes the final letter Rimabaud wrote on the day prior to his death at age 39, and also some lovely letters from his sister Isabel to his mother around the time of his illness. Rimbauds life of absinthe, cannabis, forbidden love and an early death make him seem like the original rock star. The front cover shows us just how young Rimbaud was, which makes his brilliance all the more astonishing. What prevails, in his poetry especially, is a youthful exuberance, Rimbaud never grew to old age so, like Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Holly, he will live on in our minds the way he should do, forever young.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Not the best
6 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
There are two types of poetry translators -- those who translate precisely what the poet has written, and those who make small embellishments to improve the sound of the poem in English. I prefer the former. Even though the poem no longer rhymes and might not sound like something someone would write today, it is closer to the original meaning.
Unfortunately, this book falls into the second category. I prefer Wallace Fowlie's "Rimbaud" published in 1967 (still available on Amazon). It contains the complete works of Rimbaud, plus some letters he wrote. Fowlie also has a newer translation written with Seth Whidden and published in 2005, which I have not read. If you know any French at all, you will see what I'm talking about when you read these books (or search inside them here on Amazon). The original poems are presented first in French, then in English, so it's easy to see if the translator has added his own flourishes, or has remained true to the original text.
Unfortunately, this book falls into the second category. I prefer Wallace Fowlie's "Rimbaud" published in 1967 (still available on Amazon). It contains the complete works of Rimbaud, plus some letters he wrote. Fowlie also has a newer translation written with Seth Whidden and published in 2005, which I have not read. If you know any French at all, you will see what I'm talking about when you read these books (or search inside them here on Amazon). The original poems are presented first in French, then in English, so it's easy to see if the translator has added his own flourishes, or has remained true to the original text.
translation fine- decent but not great formatting
18 Feb 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
this is a review for the kindle product.
i can handle an average translation, since i know a little bit of french and have access to translate.google.com and my own imagination.
what i *can't* handle is stupid formatting. luckily, this book (for the kindle) has decent formatting. it's not too difficult to figure out what is going on most of the time. no where near what i would consider ideal (or really what a person should be getting considering what he is paying)- but not impossible.
having received so many impossibly formatted kindle books (especially in the bilingual poetry section) in the past, i am relieved at least to see a half-assed job done at this point.
really amazon- think about it a little. would you sell a paper book that had bizarre formatting? no, probably not. so why sell an ebook like that?
fix the formatting and this book will get AT LEAST a 4 star review.
i can handle an average translation, since i know a little bit of french and have access to translate.google.com and my own imagination.
what i *can't* handle is stupid formatting. luckily, this book (for the kindle) has decent formatting. it's not too difficult to figure out what is going on most of the time. no where near what i would consider ideal (or really what a person should be getting considering what he is paying)- but not impossible.
having received so many impossibly formatted kindle books (especially in the bilingual poetry section) in the past, i am relieved at least to see a half-assed job done at this point.
really amazon- think about it a little. would you sell a paper book that had bizarre formatting? no, probably not. so why sell an ebook like that?
fix the formatting and this book will get AT LEAST a 4 star review.
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