Canto general ANNOTATION
Thought by many to be Neruda's masterpiece, Canto General is the stunning epic of an entire continent and its people. Although some parts of the poem have been translated, this is the first time it has appeared in its entirety in English. "A consistent, readable version . . . a major achievement."--Don Bogen, The Nation.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Before the wig and the dress coat there were rivers, arterial rivers: there were cordilleras, jagged waves where the condor and the snow seemed immutable: there was dampness and dense growth, the thunder as yet unnamed, the planetary pampas.
Man was dust, earthen vase, an eyelid of tremulous loam, the shape of clay - he was Carib jug, Chibcha stone, imperial cup or Araucanian silica. Tender and bloody was he, but on the grip of his weapon of moist flint, the initials of the earth were written. - from A Lamp on Earth
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Comprising 15 sections and over 300 separate poems, this epic traces the history of Spanish America from the pre-Colombian innocence to present corruption. Despite the heavy-handed, overt, and somewhat dated Communist propaganda, the permanent value of this masterpiece lies in the personal prophetic vision, grandiose scheme, and heterogeneity of verse forms. Neruda coalesces contrasting styles, from the sublime, almost mystical lyricism of self-exploration in ``The Heights of Macchu Picchu'' to the prosaic, oratorical bombast of ``The Sand Betrayed.'' Although excerpts have been previously translated and regularly anthologized, this landmark edition, accurate and literal, marks the first time this monumental work appears in English in its entirety. Recommended.-- Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
Booknews
The masterpiece of the greatest poet of the 20th century, and thus one of the central productions of modern poetry, the 15-part Canto, containing some 300 poems, is a visionary epic of Latin America and its people, akin to nothing more than Whitman's Leaves of grass. Although some parts of the Canto, including The Heights of Macchu Picchu, have been translated, this is the first English- language appearance of the Canto on its entirety, and the translation, by Jack Schmitt, is a remarkable accomplishment in its own right. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
AUTHOR DESCRIPTION
Pablo Neruda, nacido y muerto en Chile (Parral, 1904-Santiago, 1973), ha sido sin duda una de las voces más altas de la poesía mundial de nuestro tiempo. Desde el combate directo o desde la persecución y el exilio valerosamente arrostrados, la trayectoria del poeta, que en 1971 obtuvo el premio Nobel, configura, a la vez que la evolución de un intelectual militante, una de las principales aventuras expresivas de la lírica en lengua castellana, sustentada en un poderío verbal inigualable, que de la indiscriminada inmersión en el mundo de las fuerzas telúricas originarias se expandió a la fusión con el ámbito natal americano y supo cantar el instante amoroso que contiene el cosmos, el tiempo oscuro de la opresión y el tiempo encendido de la lucha. Una mirada que abarca a la vez la vastedad de los seres y el abismo interior del lenguaje: poeta total, Neruda pertenece ya a la tradición más viva de nuestra mayor poesía.
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