Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970: Amazon.ca: Pablo Neruda: Books

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First Sentence
Innecesario, viendome en los espejos, con un gusto a semanas, a biografos, a papeles, arranco de mi corazon al capitan del infierno, establezco clausulas indefinidamente tristes. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

Average Customer Review

2.1 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Neruda? Maybe not. Still great..., Mar 10 2004

By

Michael R. Moore "Michael Robertson Moore" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970 (Paperback)

My knowledge of Spanish can be generously described as rudimentary. Still, I could tell when I compared Belitt's translations to the originals that he was taking considerable liberties. Well, good for him. These "Neruda/Belitt" poems are extraordinary. Maybe best read in conjunction with the originals or another translation, but still quite wonderful.

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2.0 out of 5 stars ¡Qué verguenza!, Oct 22 2003

By

Eric J. Lyman (Roma, Lazio Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970 (Paperback)

I just sat down for a quiet night of reading some wonderful Pablo Neruda poems while sipping from a soothing cup of warm tea, and I was rudely shocked at the ham-handed translations I found on the pages of this book!

I am not particularly a fan of poetry, but Mr. Neruda's transcendent and passionate work has always held a special place in my heart. I discovered Mr. Neruda's poems in the original Spanish some time ago, but I bought this edition more recently because I feared that the last few years in Italy had eroded by Spanish skills to the point that I'd benefit from having my native English to refer to for help. Instead, the translations left me appalled.

Anyone reading Mr. Neruda's poems for the first time with this book could only assume that this great poet was a mediocre talent trying to impress beyond his abilities. The rhythm is gone, the intelligence is altered, and the word choice sometimes sounds as if it was produced by one of those annoying Internet translation programs. At points, I was seriously left wondering if Mr. Belitt is even a native English speaker.

It's a terrible shame, too, because it's so nice to have both languages in the same edition. And while I am strongly critical of Mr. Belitt's translations, I cannot at all fault his selection of poems: all of the Neruda poems I like best are here, whether they are well known or obscure.

As I am about to file this review, I see that all but a couple of my fellow reviewers came to the same conclusion I did. Take our advice, please! Seek out another, better translation of Mr. Neruda's work. I'm not sure which to suggest, but rest assured that you could hardly find an inferior one.

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2.0 out of 5 stars A Godawful Translation, Feb 6 2002

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"carlmarks" (Annapolis, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970 (Paperback)

The one thing I will say in favor of the English translation here is that it forced me to read the Spanish. Belitt absolutely mangles the Spanish. Until I read the Spanish, I thought Neruda wasn't that good a poet - now I know better. As with far too many Neruda translations, you're better off buying a Spanish-English dictionary and doing it yourself.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Poetry Poor Translation
As someone who speaks several languages I understand the difficulty of translation. However, the degree to which the tone and voice of the poetry changes in this translation is... Read more

Published on Sep 21 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor translation
As someone trying to read Neruda for the second time, I was surprised that I could recognize that the translation was poor. Read more

Published on Aug 6 2001 by Michael D'Alto