odalisque's review against another edition
5.0
12.
i see what i want of the theater of the absurd: beasts,
court judges, the emperor's hat, the masks of the era,
the color of the ancient sky, the palace dancer, the mayhem of armies.
then i forget them all and remember only the victim behind the curtain
13.
i see what i want of poetry: in ancient times, we used to parade martyred
poets in sweet basil then return to their poetry safely. but in this age
of humming, movies, and magazines, we heap the sand on their poems
and laugh. and when we return we find them standing at our doorsteps . . .
i see what i want of the theater of the absurd: beasts,
court judges, the emperor's hat, the masks of the era,
the color of the ancient sky, the palace dancer, the mayhem of armies.
then i forget them all and remember only the victim behind the curtain
13.
i see what i want of poetry: in ancient times, we used to parade martyred
poets in sweet basil then return to their poetry safely. but in this age
of humming, movies, and magazines, we heap the sand on their poems
and laugh. and when we return we find them standing at our doorsteps . . .
margo_sha's review against another edition
this was lovely but i didn't understand anything :(
bluejayreads's review against another edition
4.0
These poems are not for me. They're lyrical and beautiful, but I don't get them. I don't feel the stirring of emotion that's supposed to accompany good poetry (and if the number of awards this book has received is any indication, this is objectively good poetry).
Some of it might be because these poems are translated from their original Arabic, and translations necessarily lose some of the nuance and emotion. Although this book has also won an award for translation, so obviously people who know these kinds of things think the translation is good. Mostly, I think I am just not the intended audience for this book.
Mahmoud Darwish is Palestinian, and the major themes of his poetry are exile, loss, and identity when your homeland has been taken from you. None of which I can relate to at all - I haven't even encountered any significant loss in my life. So I don't have the life experiences to relate to the emotions he's trying to convey in these poems.
That said, though, I did enjoy the book. The poems are poetic and lyrical, and since I'm studying Arabic it was interesting to think about translations. These poems are just not written for me, and that's okay.
Some of it might be because these poems are translated from their original Arabic, and translations necessarily lose some of the nuance and emotion. Although this book has also won an award for translation, so obviously people who know these kinds of things think the translation is good. Mostly, I think I am just not the intended audience for this book.
Mahmoud Darwish is Palestinian, and the major themes of his poetry are exile, loss, and identity when your homeland has been taken from you. None of which I can relate to at all - I haven't even encountered any significant loss in my life. So I don't have the life experiences to relate to the emotions he's trying to convey in these poems.
That said, though, I did enjoy the book. The poems are poetic and lyrical, and since I'm studying Arabic it was interesting to think about translations. These poems are just not written for me, and that's okay.
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