Four Questions of Melancholy: New and Selected Poems (Terra Incognita) |
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Tomaz Salamun
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Pages: 265 (Paperback)
ISBN: 1877727571
Pub: White Pine Press
Pub date: 1997-11-01
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 813566
Reader Reviews:
Brilliant poetry that deserves to be better known (1/1 people found this helpful)
Slovenia has always been a nation of poets (the oldest known musical instrument, a Neanderthal bear-bone flute, was discovered there). As their country was annexed, subdivided, and subjected to one conquerer after another, the Slovene language and literature held them together.
Of the many fine Slovene poets writing today, Salamun is probably the most prolific and best-known -- and deservedly so. This anthology presents a well-chosen overview of his work, put into English by a variety of translators. My only criticism: their styles are so different that a reader may be left uncertain whether the dizzying variability of the diction is Salamun's or theirs. (An out-of-print volume, "The Shepherd, The Hunter" translated by Sonja Kravanja, I felt gave a better sense of Salamun's distinctive "voice.") Still, this is a good selection, nicely presented, and well worth reading.
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Poetry, Drama & Criticism -> Poetry -> By Period -> 20th Century
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