Pablo Neruda: Absence and Presence FROM THE PUBLISHER
A hypnotic journey of words and photographs—Neruda's presence haunts and inspires.Pablo Neruda is one of the most widely read poets in the world. A Nobel Prize winner and a man with legions of friends, he loved and wrote about everything is nature as well as objects of all descriptions. In this book, through Neruda's words, his friends' words, and magnificent photographs, we can to know his magical world, and ultimately the man himself. Neruda's elegant and lyrical poetry, presented here bilingually with superb translations by Alastair Reid, reveals a man of great warmth and complex thought. A passionate acquirer, he collected ships in bottles, shells, postcards, ships' figureheards, sextants, clocks, stones, books, hats, and more. These objects served as extensions of his imagination, the vocabulary of his poems. Luis Poirot's evocative photographs of Neruda, his possessions, and his surroundings provide a dramatic, yet intimate narrative alongside his poetry. Neruda's house in Isla Negra, facing the Pacific Ocean (he collected houses, too, and made them into original, often whimsical, objects in themselves) is where most of Poirot's photographs were taken. We are witness to the manner in which Neruda imbued this house, and all it contained, with his own vitality, style, and large imagination. More than twenty of Neruda's friends, including Julio Cortëzar, Eduardo Galeano, Alastair Reid, Diego Muños, Roberto Matta, and his wife Matilde Urrutia, offer personal insights and humorous memories of this prolific poet. A striking portrait by Poirot accompanies each testimony. An aura of Neruda prevails throughout this hypnotic journey of words and photographs. Even when the words are not his own, even when the camera is not focused on him, Neruda's presence haunts and inspires.
Author Biography: Luis Poirot is a photographer living in Chile with his wife, Carol Cristi. He has exhibited his work in several countries, taught photography at the Arts School Catholic University in Chile, and directed several plays. Alastair Reid is a writer and poet who divides his time between New York and Latin America. He has translated several volumes of Neruda's poetry.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
These three publications add to the voluminous literature on Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. Chilean photographer Poirot's work is essentially a reprint of an older edition of the same name. Poirot photographed Neruda's house on Isla Negra (the poet's last residence) and his townhouse in Valparaiso, which was sacked in 1973 when Chile fell prey to dictatorship. This new edition superimposes excerpts from Neruda's poetry on Poirot's very moving photos and features photos and testimonies of Neruda's closest friends and admiring writers. Urrutia, Neruda's third wife, provides a fresh new biography from her particular vantage. Her purpose is twofold: to present her Pablo as the exuberant, warm, and loving individual he was and to inform readers of the menace imposed by Chilean dictator Pinochet, who was responsible for the assassination of elected president Allende, Neruda's close friend. Urrutia's account is highly selective but well worth reading for another perspective on this great man. Feinstein, a writer and translator who has served as London correspondent for El Mundo, Spain's leading daily, recounts Neruda's efforts during the Spanish Civil War and resistance to two Chilean dictators, but he also attempts to clarify Neruda's controversial views of Stalinist communism. Numerous accounts of important people in the poet's life are presented staccato style, with one account often interrupting another, so that getting a sense of the chronology may be a challenge. Excerpts from Neruda's journals and poetry further add to the intensity of this biography. All three books are recommended for public libraries; Poirot's would serve academic libraries as well.-Nedra Crowe-Evers, Sonoma Cty. Lib., CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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