Book Description
This revised edition of Yevtushenko's early poetry collects together the Russian poet's best work from 1953, when he was twenty, to 1967. It contains such classics as "Babbi Yar," which forms the centrepiece of Shostakovich's 13th Symphony, "The City of 'Yes' and the City of 'No,'" and "The Heirs of Stalin." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Some of Yevtushenko's best works...
Yevtushenko's early poems were, and still are, some of his best--powerful, vivid, and brilliant, even in English translation. This is a bilingual Russian/English edition.

His poem, "Babii Yar," about the slaughter of Jews at that fateful place during World War II, was used as the centerpiece for Shostakovich's Thirteenth Symphony. Written in 1962 to combat anti-Semitism, it is just as powerful and meaningful today as when it was first read.

"Nothing in me shall ever forget!"(from "Babii Yar")

Russia's Modern Muse
One can argue that Yegevny Yevtushenko is Russia's greatest modern poet.At the peak of his career, he packed theaters in Russia.People flocked to see him, to hear Russia's muse read his scripture.This volume of poetry includes Yevtushenko's masterwork.Upon writing his poem Babii Yar,Yevtushenko became a worldwide success.This piece gave fame to a site inRussia where thousands of slaughtered Jews rest. Yevtushenko's poemshold subtle indictments of Soviet Society.Babii Yar incriminates theRussians who do not want to remember all the Russian Jews who perished.InA Career, the poet expresses his dislike for those who deny the truth inorder to win approval from their leaders. The book featuresYevtushenko's poems in both Russian and english.If one cannot readYevtushenko's native language, the english version, translated by GeorgeReavy, is sufficient.Although not percisely translated, the poems holdthat same meaning and stark beauty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Four decades of talent.
This 650-plus page volume does not cover the entire poetic work of Yevgeny Yevtushenko until 1990, but it comes close. Not all his collected poems are here, either: selections from from "Bratsk Station" and excerptsfrom long poems such as "Under the Skin of the Statue of Liberty"and "Ivan the Terrible and Ivan the Fool" reduce a bit the scopethat we are presented with, although not the quality. His most memorablepoems are here and the translation is excellent. What I like the most aboutYevtushenko is that he is capable of writing good, even great poetry, froman absolutely opposite perspective to mine. He was, for most of his life, aconvinced socialist, a man who really believed in the "humanface" of socialism and even in that catchy word"internationalism" that the old autocrats in the Kremlin liked somuch. Life seems to have made it very plain to him that the dream hadalways been a nightmare. But his poems are still here and one of thereasons why Yevtushenko hasn't been swept away like many of the so-calledpoets who sang for the Soviet regime, is that he never did that. Hebelieved in socialism, but he could write "Russian Tanks inPrague" and tell the truth about the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakiain 1968. A very long poem, included in this collection, is "A Dove inSantiago: A Novella in Verse," where he attempts to understand andexplain, from a socialist point of view, the events in Chile, 1973. Hefails, but he is not the first one to get it wrong (most non-Chileans havegotten it wrong) and he, at least, does it with a lot of talent. I don'tagree with Yevtushenko's socialism, but I can't help liking his poetry."Babii Yar," also included in this book, is an ode to the Jewsmurdered by the nazis in a ravine, and violated a second time by theSoviets who covered up the crime because the Moscow government was deeplyantisemitic. Yevtushenko writes about all this. He writes an elegy for NewYork and starts one of his poems with the verse "Moscow believed mytears..." This is a versatile poet, a man who has visited places andhas the talent to tell us his version of what he has seen in an original,beautiful manner. Yevtushenko is far more accessible than some of the moremodern Russian poets, but accessibility does not mean less quality. On thecontrary, his poetry is clear, honest, passionate, direct, and articulate.My only regret regarding this volume is the absence of my favorite poem byYevtushenko: "On the Death of a Dog." Other than that, his talentshines through this compact, affordable book, with poems such as "TheCity of Yes and the City of No," "Stolen Apples,""White Nights in Archangel," "Zima Junction," "TheHeirs of Stalin," "Requiem for Challenger," etc. As soon asthe book becomes available, buy it: you won't regret it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Powerful moral poetry
This collection of Yevtushenko includes the poem for which he is most famous, 'Babi Yar'. This powerful work of identification with Jewish suffering is a remarkable work of human feeling.
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Product Description
Russian poems ... Read more