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decafjess's review against another edition
5.0
What's there to say? Pablo Neruda is a masterful writer, and the translator does an admirable job in capturing the often abstract lines in Neruda's work.
rian501's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. Making this the first Neruda I ever read was not my brightest decision, but this book grew on me, too, as I read it. I found the commentary later, which sort of illuminated the poetry (although mostly it described where the poems were found, which is nice to know, especially if you are a fan). I picked up another book of Neruda's odes because I just like the notion that he wrote odes to things ranging from "Time" and "Sadness" to "a Large Tuna in the Market."
This particular book, however, was not the best introduction. It does contain some poems I liked especially, and they are numbers 7, 18, and 20, 7 being the poem from which the book's title is drawn.
This particular book, however, was not the best introduction. It does contain some poems I liked especially, and they are numbers 7, 18, and 20, 7 being the poem from which the book's title is drawn.
delirium23's review
2.0
Read for a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love category for the Read Harder Challenge 2017
This just wasn't my cup of tea.
This just wasn't my cup of tea.
heypretty52's review
5.0
Neruda never fails to astound with his ability to describe love, life, and Chile. Then Come Back is a short collection of previously unpublished poems in beautiful translation, and reading them made me feel like I was reading Neruda again for the first time.
vallebre's review
5.0
Get ready to gag: my wife and I read this to each other in bed over the course of two nights. I even did a few of them in Spanish as mi español is as rusty as a crank chain. Truly, Neruda's one of the romantic greats for incredibly obvious reasons, but I found the heart of this collection to be more his love for his culture and country than his usual romantic fare. It was perfect. (My Spanish is still muy malo but I'm working on it.)
camila_caminioca's review
4.0
Neruda is a wonderful Chilean poet. I found this book in my brother's library and read it in a few days. It's wonderful poetry that was found later on - some poems are even unfinished. This copy was in both English and Spanish which is great for seeing the original and practising Spanish if you want to.
carolinemeow's review
3.0
3.5
Not disappointed—I still enjoyed reading it—but compared to Neruda's other work, it's underwhelming. Stylistically, I could have found the same overused, cliche language just by browsing the Tumblr poetry tag. I liked it enough, but it was just okay.
Not disappointed—I still enjoyed reading it—but compared to Neruda's other work, it's underwhelming. Stylistically, I could have found the same overused, cliche language just by browsing the Tumblr poetry tag. I liked it enough, but it was just okay.
raeleenlemay's review
2.0
Read for Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge: #23 Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love
I'm no expert on poetry, and I really only read this because of the reading challenge I'm doing this year, but even so I found this to be quite dull. It just wasn't the sort of poetry I like at all, but the poetry I like is pretty limited so that's not all that surprising. I loved poem #18, but none of the others were really my cup of tea.
18
Comes back from his blaze, the fireman,
from his star the astronomer,
from his disastrous passion the obsessive,
from one million whatever the ambitious,
from the naval night the sailor,
the poet returns from his slabber,
the soldier from fear,
the fisherman from his wet heart,
the mother from Juanito's fever,
the thief from his nighttime high,
the engineer from his frosted rose,
the native from his hunger,
the judge from fatigue and unsureness,
the jealous from his torment,
the dancer from her exhausted feet,
the architect from the three thousandth floor,
the pharaoh from his tenth life,
the hooker form her Lycra and falsies,
the hero comes back from oblivion,
the poor from another day gone,
the surgeon from staring down death,
the fighter from his pathetic contract,
someone returns from geometry,
stepping back from his infinity, the explorer,
the cook from her dirty dishes,
the novelist from a web of lies,
the hunter stamps out the fire and returns,
the adulterer from rapture and despair,
the professor from a glass of wine,
the schemer from his backstabbing,
the gardener has shuttered his rose,
the bartender stoppers his liquor,
the convict takes up his plea again,
the butcher washed his hands,
the nun quit her prayers,
the miner his slick tunnel,
and like the rest I take off my clothes,
inside the night of all men, I make
a smaller night for myself,
my woman joins me, silence bears down
and the dream spins the world again.
I'm no expert on poetry, and I really only read this because of the reading challenge I'm doing this year, but even so I found this to be quite dull. It just wasn't the sort of poetry I like at all, but the poetry I like is pretty limited so that's not all that surprising. I loved poem #18, but none of the others were really my cup of tea.
18
Comes back from his blaze, the fireman,
from his star the astronomer,
from his disastrous passion the obsessive,
from one million whatever the ambitious,
from the naval night the sailor,
the poet returns from his slabber,
the soldier from fear,
the fisherman from his wet heart,
the mother from Juanito's fever,
the thief from his nighttime high,
the engineer from his frosted rose,
the native from his hunger,
the judge from fatigue and unsureness,
the jealous from his torment,
the dancer from her exhausted feet,
the architect from the three thousandth floor,
the pharaoh from his tenth life,
the hooker form her Lycra and falsies,
the hero comes back from oblivion,
the poor from another day gone,
the surgeon from staring down death,
the fighter from his pathetic contract,
someone returns from geometry,
stepping back from his infinity, the explorer,
the cook from her dirty dishes,
the novelist from a web of lies,
the hunter stamps out the fire and returns,
the adulterer from rapture and despair,
the professor from a glass of wine,
the schemer from his backstabbing,
the gardener has shuttered his rose,
the bartender stoppers his liquor,
the convict takes up his plea again,
the butcher washed his hands,
the nun quit her prayers,
the miner his slick tunnel,
and like the rest I take off my clothes,
inside the night of all men, I make
a smaller night for myself,
my woman joins me, silence bears down
and the dream spins the world again.
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