Poetry Bookclub 3

[mortalterror]

Yes... Pasternak is the author of Doctor Zhivago... but he is far more known is Russia as their greatest poet of the Modern era. His book, My Sister-Life, has been described as holding a status such as that held by Harmonium and The Wasteland. Personally, I have found that the closest comparison I can find to Pasternak's poetry (obviously based upon translations) is with the poetry of Rilke. Perhaps this should not be surprising considering that Rilke was an influential figure upon Pasternak. Certainly a worthy poet.

I picked up a copy of My Sister Life at the library with some more Rilke yesterday. He doesn't remind me of The Wasteland at all. He's good but he's certainly no Rilke.

[Virgil]

Hmm, should be an interesting read. I hope I can find a good copy.

[stlukesguild]

Mortal... I did not intend a stylistic comparison with Eliot. Rather I meant to point out that the Russian critics rank Pasternak's book as being as central or seminal to modern Russian poetry as is Eliot's Wasteland or Steven's Harmonium. Personally, I prefer Rilke myself... but then I have a lot more Rilke to compare with... and I have Rilke in some very good translations... and if I am truly motivated I can even fudge my way through the original with a good dictionary. But there is something of the same stark or even crystalline language that I so admire in Rilke to be found in Pasternak.

[Kafka's Crow]

I can see my candidate is leading the race. Give it another push Boris!

Boris Pasternak
Seamus Heaney
Adonis

[mayneverhave]

Yes... Pasternak is the author of Doctor Zhivago... but he is far more known is Russia as their greatest poet of the Modern era. His book, My Sister-Life, has been described as holding a status such as that held by Harmonium and The Wasteland. Personally, I have found that the closest comparison I can find to Pasternak's poetry (obviously based upon translations) is with the poetry of Rilke. Perhaps this should not be surprising considering that Rilke was an influential figure upon Pasternak. Certainly a worthy poet.

Amazon.com product description:

In Russian poetry, Boris Pasternak's "My Sister-Life" is the equivalent of "The Waste Land", "Spring", and "Harmonium". Written in 1917, the cycle of poems in "My Sister-Life" concentrates on personal journeys and loves, but is permeated by the tension and promise of the impending October revolution. Pasternak is an uncompromisingly complex poetic stylist, and his meticulous attention to structure, etymology, and phonetic qualities of words makes his poetry a formidable challenge for the translator.

[TheFifthElement]

Oh, now I'm torn. I'd like to read Larkin but I just realised that Pasternak was the first poet to really get me into poetry with this little gem:

Don't touch: Fresh paint. The soul ignored
or thought itself too wise.
Now memory's streaked with hands and cheeks,
thighs and lips and eyes.

More than all good fortune and bad
I loved you for the light
that washed the sallow and yellow world
whiter than white.

And even in my glooms, I swear, my dear,
will gleam more whitely now
than delirium or lampshade
or bandage on the brow.

So, I vote:

1. Larkin
2. Pasternak
3. Ginsberg

[quasimodo1]

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1958
Announcement
Announcement by Anders Österling, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen:

This year's Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded by the Swedish Academy to the Soviet-Russian writer Boris

Pasternak for his notable achievement in both contemporary poetry and the field of the great Russian narrative

tradition.

As is well known, Pasternak has sent word that he does not wish to accept the distinction. This refusal, of course,

in no way alters the validity of the award. There remains only for the Academy, however, to announce with regret that

the presentation of the Prize cannot take place.

From Les Prix Nobel en 1958, Editor Göran Liljestrand, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1959


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On October 25, 1958, two days after the official communication from the Swedish Academy that Boris Pasternak had been

selected as the Nobel Prize winner in literature, the Russian writer sent the following telegram to the Swedish

Academy: "Immensely thankful, touched, proud, astonished, abashed." This telegram was followed, on October 29, by

another one with this content: "Considering the meaning this award has been given in the society to which I belong, I

must reject this undeserved prize which has been presented to me. Please do not receive my voluntary rejection with

displeasure."
--- --- http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/l...958/press.html

[quasimodo1]

“Man is born to live and not to prepare to live.” --- “Surprise is the greatest gift which life can

grant us.” --- "Art has two constant, two unending concerns: It always meditates on death and thus always creates

life. All great, genuine art resembles and continues the Revelation of St John.” ...Boris Pasternak

[JBI]

We ready to select a volume/translation?

[Virgil]

Ok, I got the following tally for the final vote:


Pasternak 20
Bishop 9
Heaney 9
Larkin 7
Adunis 5
Ginsberg 4
Herbert 3
McGukian 2
Birney 2

I guess the clear winner is Pasternak. Should be interesting. It was recommended that Andrei Navrozov translation of Second Nature be used. I have no expertise in this area. If anyone has a better recommendation, please bring it forth. You can find the Narozov edition at Amazon and Barnes & Noble:
http://www.amazon.com/Second-Nature-...999193&sr=1-30

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sec...0611922/?itm=1.

It will take me a week or so to get the book. We'll start discussion next week. I guess first to get the book can post the first poem.

[JBI]

The volume you suggested seems to be a bit on the pricey side for its length - with shipping it would cost me an arm and a leg - and sadly, I would have to pass on the discussion - given that my trip has essentially bankrupted me.

[Virgil]

The volume you suggested seems to be a bit on the pricey side for its length - with shipping it would cost me an arm and a leg - and sadly, I would have to pass on the discussion - given that my trip has essentially bankrupted me.

Well, suggest a different volume JBI. That was recommended. I didn't even look at the price. Is there a better deal out there? Let's do some research.

[Virgil]

Here's a different volume that's more affordable: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sel...3336566/?itm=7

I'm not sure why we all have to get the same edition. That might be difficult in some cases.

[JBI]

That seems like the most promising edition, and seems to be also available from Penguin:
http://www.amazon.com/Pasternak-Sele...1022505&sr=1-7

[Virgil]

That seems like the most promising edition, and seems to be also available from Penguin:
http://www.amazon.com/Pasternak-Sele...1022505&sr=1-7

Good deal. I think that's what I'll get.