muriloandrade's review
"My native tongue, which often sung
To me, as of this day, can't temp me.
I am indiferent in which tongue
The passerby misundertands me."
To me, as of this day, can't temp me.
I am indiferent in which tongue
The passerby misundertands me."
punkgodofthestraightrazor's review
4.0
Good overview
This is an excellent overview of four of Russia's most important poets. As always, I am most drawn to Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva's.
This is an excellent overview of four of Russia's most important poets. As always, I am most drawn to Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva's.
lokster71's review
3.0
"The sea and Homer – all are moved by love."
This is a slim collection, but an ideal introduction to four of the 20th centuries best know (and greatest) Russian poets.
I've read Pasternak and Akhmatova before in other translations. I found Pasternak, in Second Nature: Poems by Boris Pasternak (translated by Andrei Navrozov) much more opaque than in this version by Kneller, but perhaps that is as much a question of selection as translation. I might revisit Second Nature and see if I can translate it into understanding.
Kneller has done a good job of making you want to read more of all four of these poets. I already love Anna Akhmatova - a picture of her from the National Portrait Gallery in London hangs above the mantelpiece in my room - and I was aware of both Mandelstam and Tsvetaeva but haven't read much of either of them. That I intend to change. I found both of them fascinating to read. So, in that sense Kneller does a fine job.
I can't judge the translations. I don't speak Russian. I wish I did. But then I wish I spoke French, Italian, German, Japanese, Welsh and Spanish too. Because when it comes to poetry I think translation is doubly difficult. It's like distilling the already distilled or catching a reflection in a moving mirror.
Anyway, this is a good first port of call if you want to test the waters of these four writers.
This is a slim collection, but an ideal introduction to four of the 20th centuries best know (and greatest) Russian poets.
I've read Pasternak and Akhmatova before in other translations. I found Pasternak, in Second Nature: Poems by Boris Pasternak (translated by Andrei Navrozov) much more opaque than in this version by Kneller, but perhaps that is as much a question of selection as translation. I might revisit Second Nature and see if I can translate it into understanding.
Kneller has done a good job of making you want to read more of all four of these poets. I already love Anna Akhmatova - a picture of her from the National Portrait Gallery in London hangs above the mantelpiece in my room - and I was aware of both Mandelstam and Tsvetaeva but haven't read much of either of them. That I intend to change. I found both of them fascinating to read. So, in that sense Kneller does a fine job.
I can't judge the translations. I don't speak Russian. I wish I did. But then I wish I spoke French, Italian, German, Japanese, Welsh and Spanish too. Because when it comes to poetry I think translation is doubly difficult. It's like distilling the already distilled or catching a reflection in a moving mirror.
Anyway, this is a good first port of call if you want to test the waters of these four writers.
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