Customer Reviews (5)

Beckett's translation of Eluard
The name of the book the other reviewer mentions, that contains translations of Eluard by Beckett is "Collected Poems in English and French" by Samuel Beckett (Paperback) and it's available at Amazon.

Poet: Wonderful. Translation: Not.
Perhaps this is a bit unfair of me, but let's just take a look at two translations of one of Eluard's best known poems, "L'amoureuse."

Translation 1: She is standing on my lids /And her hair is in my hair/She has the color of my eye /She has the body of my hand, /In myshade she is engulfed /As a stone against the sky. /

She will neverclose her eyes /And she does not let me sleep. /And her dreams in thebright day /Make the suns evaporate /And me laugh cry and laugh, / Speak when I have nothing to say.

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Translation #2: She is standingon my eyelids, /Her hair mingles with mine, /She takes on the shape ofmy hands, /She is the color of my eyes, /She is absorbed by my shadow / Like a stone against the sky. /

Her eyes are forever open /Shedoesn't let me sleep. /Her dreams in the light of day /Make the sunsevaporate, /Make me laugh, cry, and laugh again, /And babble on withnothing to say.

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I posted the two versions so you can judge foryourself, but it seems to me the first is far superior to the second. Notsurprisingly, the first is by Samuel Beckett, and his faithfulness toEluard is not only one of meaning but of rhythm. Alas, it is the second,wooden version that you will find in "Shadows and Sun," and thetwo translators' tin ears do ill service to Eluard throughout the book. Thebest thing you can say about this volume is that it contains the Frenchoriginal, and the literal translations should help people with arudimentary knowledge of French to enjoy Eluard in his own language. But ifyou can't sound out the French to hear the sonorousness of Eluard's lines,then these translations will give you a very poor impression of the poems'lyrical beauty.

As for where you might find the Beckett translation...well, I don't know. I wrote his translation down in a notebook years andyears ago but neglected to write where I found it. I believe it was in acollection of Beckett's writing and not of Eluard's.

Prose from radio address & speeches help understand his moti
I am intrigued by the speeches given during the resistance of WWII, after the first war, at the first surrealist exposition in London, and the 2nd surrealist manifesto of 1924 by angry young men who had seen too muchsuffering in the war and were looking for a "new language", a newconsciousness to overcome the errors of romanticism and super rationalismthat resulted in supernationalism and megalomania.

Eluard was a modesthuman being, in love with life, and love, and Gala, and primitive art. Read Premierement /First of All, admonishing Gala for keeping her"brain in its attic" and forgetting her commitment to her firstlove, or "She is standing on my eyelids";or on justice,"Bonne Justice/Good Justice" and"Minuit", on a poorresistance fighter condemned to be shot; or on learning to see with Picassoin two essays and poems from the book "Donner a Voir."

TheHistorical introduction, Chronological Contents, definitions of surrealism,and bibliography make good reading in themselves. The translations are"seamless", straight forward, do not betray the poet, so providea fine way to approach the originals on opposite pages.

Pablo Nerudawas his good friend, and must have read Eluard long before he wrote"Walking Around."

lyric and committed poems by a prime mover of Surrealists' s
Paul Eluard was the best beloved European poet of the first half of our century, which William Golding has called the most violent in human history. While illusions were destroyed, this writer wrote love poems, forwhich he is best known; as medic and infantryman in both world wars, wroteabout (while Picasso painted) the devastating bombing of Guernica on marketday in broad daylight, during the Spanish Civil War, and the Germanoccupation of France, while he searched for a release from sentimentalromanticism and "superpatriotism" held responsible by theSurrealists for the wars, as they recognized the importance of thesubconscious and "desire", to find a new language that would helpto achieve justice with mercy and release men from the constraints of falsevalues. A historical introduction records this collaboration betweenwriters and painters, who illustrated Eluard's books, with 6 here byPicasso, Chagall, Andre Lhote and Magritte. 6 intriguing prose piecesconcern the idea of committed poetry (engagee), Picasso's role in teachingothers to see, and the Surrealist Declaration of 1925.Neruda and manyothers followed the search of this seminal poet. A fine compilation of thepoet's life work, with French and accurate, seamless English translationson opposite pages.

committed poetry, lyrical, engagee, best beloved European po
Seamless accurate translations span Eluard's poems of 1913-1953 including Liberte, dropped by RAF in WWII. 6 tantalizing prose pieces: Surrealist declaration of 1925, 2 essays on friend Picasso, on the idea of committedpoetry. Publishers Weekly wrote "excellent compilation of the lifework of a poet of love and beauty in a search for a language to counter thedevastation of wars and super patriotism."Leon-Gabriel Groswrote: It was a question of transforming life.... a direct method....penetrating the deep reality...poetic morality.... a sort ofvirus...delivering the 'low-living' from their torpor.Finding the firestill burning under the ashes of the stillness in our hearts and brainsfrom the "indifference" of the 1990's, Eluard's poems are a callto life and love of the best kind: they impell us to gently open up ouf"child's heart" and bring our "dreams into reality," tofind in togetherness the ultimate reason of our being. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Paul Eluard," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Paul Eluard in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Paul Eluard when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Paul Eluard, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more