Antipoems [Paperback]

This is it, this is where poetry had to go after its many incarnations and its eventual and fateful death. Parra takes (knowingly or unwittingly) Derrida's concept of differrance and uses it to sledge hammer away his words into his `antipoems'. You'll find no Byron in his pages, or even any Cummings, not to mention any particular style per se. There's so much experimenting -and simplifying- with the word here one doesn't know what one is reading anymore... poems? random (though coherent within themselves) thoughts on paper? cooking recipes? jokes? straightforward reflections on banal life? political commentary?.. yes, all of this.

If there is anything `anti' here is anti-boredom, each `piece' jumps out of the page with offhand easiness, and pomposity is reduced to the reader's own dull lack of imagination. Parra does so much away with droll academic stodginess and allows the invigorating flow of his... expressive, often hilarious and profound, communications; for it is this in the end that comes through -to which anyone at any reading level can enjoy. There are even some `poems' done in a cool artwork-doodle style. What a stimulating and inspired work of art.

This is a very nice book, another amazing collection of (anti)poems and visual artefactos by Parra.

Remarkable translation of Liz Werner.

This is an english edition, but since some of these poems have not appeared previously, this book will also be a must-have for Parra followers in the spanish community. But even for old poems, is a very interesting experience to read the antipoems in a different language and to see them find their way in the intricacies of each language. It is necessary to say, however, that in the introduction Werner clearly states that Parra thinks that these are not really translations, because antipoems cannot be translated, so these are rewrittings. But probably the best possible ones.

Parra style, for those that have not heard about him, is better understood by reading it than by using descriptions:

TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT

To make a long story short
I leave all my possessions
to the Municipal Slaughterhouse
to the Special Forces Unit of the Police Department
to Lucky Dog Lotto

So now if you want you can shoot

There seems to be some confusion in this group of reviews. I am reviewing "Antipoems" translated by Liz Werner and Liz Werner only.

I picked up this collection because Roberto Bolano said that he gave up on Neruda and followed Parra. I love Bolano so I followed him to Parra. Parra is different from Bolano so if you follow Bolano don't be surprised when you discover Parra. They are different; their poetry is different.

Parra is an antipoet. What does that mean? According to the translator's introduction, "antipoetry mirrors poetry, not as its adversary but as its perfect complement."

The book contains both the original Spanish version, which is good (all translation works should contain the original), and the English translation. Ms Werner captures the spirit, the humor, and the sense of Parra's poetry.

One of my favorite poetic ideas is from Holderlin, who calls for us to live poetically. I suppose Parra would say Holderlin is a poet. Parra, the antipoet, responds in his short poem "Poetry Poetry" to Holderlin's sentiment:"Poetry Poetry it's all poetry/we make poetry/ even when we're going to the bathroom." I think you can see from this fragment the antipoet at work.

Parra reminds me of the surrealists but he is not one. There is something quite material about his poetry. Within the poems you feel the steel of a political mind.

One of my favorite poems of the collection is "Stop Racking Your Brain."
The whole poem consists of three lines but it is quite true and sad for people interested in poetry: "Stop Racking your brains/nobody reads poetry nowadays/it doesn't matter if it's good or bad."