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daizie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Simultaneously beautiful and heartwrenching. I can't say that I "got" everything from this that I could have, but I'm hopeful that after some time with Darwish's other publications, I will come back to some of these poems and find new insights. This was just really impactful for me to read - they were all something to savor.
daisyvb's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Read this and you will understand why Mahmoud is so highly regarded within his field. I hope one day he will be so well received beyond that realm; taught in schools worldwide. His mastery of words and the way he deploys them is beautiful. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
jazzzzzis's review
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
This collection is curated beautifully and I found myself going back to the introduction after reading the poem because the introduction provided wonderful analysis and context to each one. This collection contains two of Darwish’s longer works, Mural and Exile as well.
odalisque's review
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 . . .
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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