Given the historical interplay between French and English poetries, this up-do-date, dual-language anthology of French poetry since Apollinaire is a long-overdue treasure. Auster's selections are generous, catholic, and knowledgeable throughout. He begins with the great, full works of Apollinaire, Jacob, Reverdy, Supervielle, Jouve, Eluard, Michaux, Ponge, Prevert, Guillevec, and Char. Then, fascinatingly, he leads up to the most recent French poetry—much of which shows the influence (not always felicitous) of American poets: there is blanched, shiny work by Alain Veinstein, Alain Delahaye, Philip Denis, Emmanuel Hocquard, Roger Giroux, and Jacques Dupin. (Auster quotes Yves Bonnefroy as describing English poetry as a "mirror," French as a "sphere"—and if French verse has had a rounding effect on modern US poetry, the reverse ssems true of the newest French poets.) The largest achievement here, however, is in the diversity and appropriateness of the chosen translations. Highlights: Paul Blackburn's Apollinaire, and Beckett's rendering of "Zone"; Maria Jolas with Fargue's "Tumult"; Ron Padgett's Reverdy; Keith Bosley's Jouve; Auster's translation of Eluard's "Le Sourd et l'aveugle"; Richard Ellmann's and Armand Schwerner's Michaux; Michael Wood's version of Rene Daumal's "Let Mot et la mouche"; Anthony Rudolf's Bonnefoy; Harry Matthews' Roche; and Keith Waldrop's Royet-Journaud. These—as well as other versions, by other poet/translators—are literally revealing. And, in all, this anthology is easily the most virtuous and important such venture since last year's Penguin omnibus of Hebrew poetry.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1982
ISBN: 0394717481
Page Count: -
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1982
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
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