Book Description

Jaime Sabines is a national treasure in Mexico. He is considered by Octavio Paz to be instrumental to the genesis of modern Latin American poetry and "one of the best poets" of the Spanish language. Toward the end of his life, he had published for over fifty years and brought in crowds of more than 3,000 to a readings in his native country. Coined the "Sniper of Literature" by Cuban poet Roberto Fernndez Retamar, Sabines brought poetry to the streets. His vernacular, authentic poems are accessible: meant not for other poets, or the established or elite, but for himself and for the people.

In this translation of his fourth book, Tarumba, we find ourselves stepping into Sabines' streets, brothels, hospitals, and cantinas; the most bittersweet details are told in a way that reaffirms: "Life bursts from you, like scarlet fever, without warning." Eloquently co-translated by Philip Levine and the late Ernesto Trejo, this bilingual edition is a classic for Spanish- and English-speaking readers alike. Secretive, wild, and searching, these poems are rife with such intensity you'll feel "heaven is sucking you up through the roof."

Jaime Sabines was born on March 25, 1926 in Chiapas, Mexico. In 1945, he relocated to Mexico City where he studied Medicine for three years before turning his attention to Philosophy and Literature at the University of Mexico. He wrote eight books of poetry, including Horal (1950), Tarumba (1956), and Maltiempo (1972), for which he received the Xavier Villaurrutia Award. In 1959, Sabines was granted the Chiapas Prize and, in 1983, the National Literature Award. In addition to his literary career, Sabines served as a congressman for Chiapas. Jaime Sabines died in 1999; he remains one of Mexico's most respected poets.

Product Description
Pieces of Shadow gathers a selection of poetry by twentieth century Mexican writer Jaime Sabines, one of the most important figures in Spanish-American Literature. This book assembles poems from his most recognized books, such as Horal (1950), Tarumba (1956), Yuria (1967) or Other Collected Poemes (1950-1995), titles wich earned Sabines many devoted readers and enthusiastic critics.The anthology has been translated into English by American poet W.S. Merwin. In Merwin's words, what captures him of sabines poetry was "the jarring authenticity of pasion in [the] tone, a great cracked bell note o f craving and frustration, irony and anger, outrage and black humor all jangled at once, unabashed, ubsweetened, unappeased, and all of it esssential to the rest". These same features still remain in Sabines' poestry for the new readesrs who will inmerse in the literary work of a classic of modern Mexican literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A basic poet.
Nowadays, you cannot pull apart Jaime Sabines from Latin American Poetry. He did what hadn't been in years. Young readers telling his poems. And as the film "Il Postino" quotes, "Poetry belongs to which needs it, not to it's creator". You can find in this poems all you always wanted to express but you were affraid to do so. He is EXQUISITE but a "day after day poet". Read one poem every night as the dessert of your days. I am proud of such a talent. The translations in this book keep the sensivity that Jabines gave us.He is a master of life. He is now, breaking language and culture, a basic poet.

I DON'T THINK I CAN FIND A BETTER POET THAN JAIME SABINES
No one can express about life, love, death and pain as Sabines did. The simplicity of his words enclose the beauty of "everyday life". He wrote for him, and for common people, not for poets, big writers orcritics. I just can tell one of the most intense experiences of my wholelife, was a reading of his poems in the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City.More than 3,000 people cried, laughed, cheered, and loved at the same timethere. And the whole show was an old man, reading his poems in awheelchair, behind a desk. Nothing more.

Sabines, a wise-guy poet
Since Sabines has worked on a simple poetry, and since his acceptance has been quite enthusiastic, he has done a lot of easy, quite boring poetry for the people. I would only recommend the first books, "Tarumba","Adán y Eva", "Horal", and "La señal".

The most simple and feel poetry!
Jaime Sabines is the mexican author that write about his earth like this was the heart! His poetry is very popular! and his words are very, very simples...! it is his sensitive!!! ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Taller de Letras, published by Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Instituto de Letras on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 8889 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Morfología de lo imaginario para Jaime Sabines.(poeta)(Ensayo crítico)
Author: Beatriz Barrera Parrilla
Publication: Taller de Letras (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2004
Publisher: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Instituto de Letras
Volume: 35Page: 59(20)

Article Type: Ensayo crítico

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on April 1, 1999. The length of the article is 2765 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jaime Sabines: "Quisiera bailar la poesía, no escribirla".(poeta)(TT: Jaime Sabines: "I would like to dance poetry, and not write it".)(TA: poet)(Entrevista)
Author: Ignacio Solares
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 1999
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 45Issue: 2389Page: 64

Article Type: Entrevista

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on October 9, 1997. The length of the article is 5726 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Darío y Sabines: el oído modernista. (Rubén Darío y Jaime Sabines, poetas; incluye artículo sobre la poeta Marianne Toussaint)(TT: Darío and Sabines: the modern ear) (TA: Rubén Darío and Jaime Sabines, poets; includes article about poet Marianne Toussaint)
Author: Hernán Lavín Cerda
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: October 9, 1997
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: v44Issue: n2312Page: p56(4)

Article Type: Biography

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on March 1, 1998. The length of the article is 720 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: El turno de Jaime Sabines. (poeta mexicano)(TT: Jaime Sabines' turn) (TA: Mexican poet)
Author: Héctor Aguilar Camín
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 1998
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Issue: n1113Page: p45(1)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on April 1, 1999. The length of the article is 825 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jaime Sabines: Amor y muerte: cantos del poeta.(obituario)(TT: Jaime Sabines: love and death, songs of a poet.)(TA: obituary)(Obituario)
Author: Ricardo Muñoz Munguia
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 1999
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 45Issue: 2389Page: 66

Article Type: Obituario, Biography

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on January 29, 1998. The length of the article is 972 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Venatanas. (crítica del libro 'Los poemas del peatón' de Jaime Sabines; incluye críticas de otros libros; enero de 1998)(TT: Windows) (TA: critique of the book 'The Pedestrian's Poems' by Jaime Sabines; includes critiques of other books; Jan 1998)
Author: Alejandro Pescador
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: January 29, 1998
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: v44Issue: n2328Page: p66(1)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on March 12, 1998. The length of the article is 1260 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Carta abierta a Jaime Sabines. (crítica al poeta mexicano)(TT: Open letter to Jaime Sabines) (TA: criticism of the Mexican poet)
Author: Javier Sicilia
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: March 12, 1998
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: v44Issue: n2334Page: p60(2)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on April 1, 1999. The length of the article is 770 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jaime Sabines: escándalo editorial.(poeta; obra literaria)(TT: Jaime Sabines: publishing scandal.)(TA: poet; literary work)(Columna)
Author: Myrna Ortega
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 1999
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 45Issue: 2389Page: 66

Article Type: Columna, Biography

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on April 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1679 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Poesía y crónica en Jaime Sabines.(poeta; análisis de obra poética)(TT: Poetry and chronicity in Jaime Sabines.)(TA: poet; analysis of poetry)(Columna)
Author: Antonio Deltoro
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 1999
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 45Issue: 2389Page: 63

Article Type: Columna

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on March 21, 1999. The length of the article is 2400 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jaime Sabines se salvó del empalago para insuflarle a su poesía algo de magia: Mario Benedetti.(México)(TT: Jaime Sabines put some magic in his poetry: Mario Benedetti.)(TA: Mexico)
Author: Ana Cecilia Terrazas
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 21, 1999
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Page: 46

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This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on April 2, 2000. The length of the article is 1652 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A un año de su muerte: Jaime Sabines en las nubes.(poeta)(TT: At one year from his death: Jaime Sabines in the clouds.)(TA: poet)
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 2, 2000
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Page: 60

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on June 22, 2000. The length of the article is 1569 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Jaime Sabines: Cantos a la tierra de la poesía.(poeta Mexicano)(TT: Jaime Sabines: songs to the land of poetry.)(TA: Mexican writer)
Author: Elva Macias
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2000
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 46Issue: 2453Page: 72

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on April 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1587 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ¡Sabines vive!(Jaime Sabines, poeta mexicano)(TT: Sabines lives!)(TA: Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet)
Author: Roberto Albores Guillén
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 1999
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 45Issue: 2389Page: 24

Article Type: Biography

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