My Life with Pablo Neruda [Hardcover]

Several years ago a friend brought me back Matilde's book from Chile, her original version in Spanish. I was eager to read it, as Matilde and Pablo were one of literature's greatest couples, and I had only, and the only biography I had read of Neruda at that time were his own Memoirs.

Unfortunately, though,it seemed she learned nothing about writing from her husband. The prose was dry and the tale took terrible turns in chronology, tone, and even voice--switching from first to third. Though she does offer some very special intimate glimpses into the poet and their fabled relationship, the writing distracted from any good biographical information that she provided.

But I recently came across a review on the web of this new translation, talking about how Ms. Giardino had transformed the original faults and created a new version which engages, without changing what Matilde wanted to say. I am normally a stickler for translations being faithful to the original, while knowing that they do have to balance the artistic translation as well. Ben Bellet's translations of Neruda for instance take way too much literary license as he creates new poems, not translations, new poems which are not just anywhere close to being faithful to Neruda's original words, but are just awful poems themselves.

But what Ms. Giardino has done is, literaly, exceptional. Matilde needed her work to be edited, and Giardino has done a masterful job of that, besides creating a translation into beautiful English prose. And--importantly--the book does not hide the fact that it has made these changes--it is honest in what it tried to achieve, and she is very successful. The result is a delightful read and a special view into a special relationship of one of the most special poets of all times. This of course is not a complete biography of Neruda, but rather it is a lovely tale of a muse and her poet-lover.

I think a new version of the Spanish should be published with Giardino's edits (again, noted clearly that it has been edited.) For Matilde's own original is simply inaccessible, the writing is a turn-off from the great history she wants to tell.

One of the most fascinating parts of the book deals with Matilde's account of Augusto Pinnochet's September 11, 1973 military coup which killed Pablo's amigo President Allende and led to the assassination and torture of many of his friends. He died two weeks later, as Matilde says, "of a broken heart" (as well as cancer.) Matilde's accounts of how the military destroyed their home and how his friends braved the dictatorship to march with the coffin of their poet through the streets of Santiago to the cemetery is truly moving.

Highly recommended.

Matilde Urrutia, Neruda's third wife, was the subject of some of the greatest love poetry ever written. In this beautiful account of their life together, one gains gorgeous insight not only to their love, but to the character of the great poet Neruda, a view unavailable in other biographies. You also learn the tragic history of Chile and Neruda's involvment in it.

Having read the original in Spanish, I can say that Alexandra Giardino's adaptation is a masterpiece in literary translation. The book reads so much better, actually, with her work.

Highly recommended.

This translation of Matilde Urruita's memoir adds so much to the the canon of English language material about Pablo Neruda. Opening with the assassination of President Allende and Neruda's death, Urrutia in a series of flashbacks reveals her life with Neruda and his poetry. Indeed, there is a sense that the poetry had a life of its own; it certainly becomes a third "character" in this memoir.

There are moments when Uruttia threatens to overwhelm with overwrought sentimentality, but Uruttia (with no small assist from the translator, I'm certain) stops short. But all in all, it is a delightful book that chronicles a magic love affair.

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