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Title: Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems by Mahmoud Darwish, Munir Akash, Carolyn Forche, Sinan Antoon, Amira El-Zein ISBN: 0-520-23754-4 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 06 January, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Universal, religious, political and excellent
Comment: Darwish is the first contemporary poet I have read whom I can plausibly envision being read a millenia from now. While he writes from the perspective of an exiled Palestinian, he does so in a manner that speaks of universal exile (or alienation). He writes with images and language that speaks well across cultures; the few pages of glossary provide what little may not be immediately known to a western reader. His images are arresting but simple: "A silver thread is drawn out of mulberry trees / forming letters on the page of night" or "We gnawed on stones to open a space for jasmine". He makes effective use of repetition, with and without variation. He uses the common base of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as a cultural base for recognizing common humanity: "Beneath us is Noah's flood, Babylon, broken corpses, / skeletons, temples, and the breath of peoples' cries / for help upon the face of the waters."
Poem after poem requires a second, a third reading not because of failure to understand in the first reading but because of the beauty and depth of thought held in the poem.
Yes, it would be nice to be able to read the original, but lacking that capability, the translation provides immediate enjoyment.
Rating: 3
Summary: The Poetic Language
Comment: I'm so glad my mother tongue language is Arabic! I've read Darwish's books in Arabic, and they were 'uplifting', and truely goes into your heart. Poetry books are supposed to be the hardest to read, you just can't pass one page without fully getting the idea, or at least have a personal thought about it.
this book is a translation of Darwish's poems, and unfortunately, it did not catch that 'paradise' of their original language.
you can pick up the book, read it, and understand it, but you will not get the idea he is a top poet. but he is, very much he is.
still, i think alot of people should read it, if nothing more than to have a feel of the desperation of the Palestinians away from their homeland.
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Title: Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982 by Mahmud Darwish, Ibrahim Muhawi, Mahmoud Darwish ISBN: 0520087682 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: March, 1995 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Adam of Two Edens by Mahmud Darwish, Munir Akash, Daniel Moore, Mahmoud Darwish ISBN: 0815607105 Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Trade) Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Pages of Day and Night by Adunis, Samuel Hazo, Adonis, Esther Allen ISBN: 0810160811 Publisher: Marlboro Pr Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature by Salma Khadra Jayyusi ISBN: 023107509X Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 August, 1994 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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Title: Blue Hour : Poems by Carolyn Forche ISBN: 0060099127 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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