pickAs I was leaving to return this collection to the library, I was telling my wife about Sister Juana. Without really thinking I said, “You know, it‘s pretty amazing that the poetry of a Spanish nun from the 17th century could reach through time to affect someone like me.” I sorta stunned myself.
Power of Poetry.
A favorite sonnet from the collection. The epitaph got cut off though. It says:
“On the death of the most excellent Señora Marquesa de Mancera”
Ok. I had a tough time figuring how to get both these in the same shot; this ⬆️ was the best I could do. The top is Edith Grossman‘s translation in the tagged book. The bottom I posted a few weeks ago from an anthology called The Serpent & the Fire; that translation is by John Campion. Notice where they differ & where they align? Do you prefer one over the other? I think I like Campion‘s best but Grossman‘s is probably closer to the original.
Protested with my mama today.
#resist #stopthecuts
pickNYRB comes through again 😸👍 I was not familiar with Monterroso before this and was pleasantly surprised by what I discovered. A hilarious compendium of works by and about the fictional writer Eduardo Torres, the bard of San Blas, Mexico. Poet, critic, essayist, and inveterate blowhard, Torres is a fully realized comic creation, a perfect send-up of provincial literary pomposity.
pickQuizá solo semienamorado. Porque ella dice que no, que no me quiere. Y para estar total, completa, absolutamente enamorado, hay que tener plena conciencia de que uno también inspira amor.
pickA short Chilean novel about societal treatment of outsiders or people who choose to live outside the norms.
It‘s a quick read. From the point of view of 12 year old Miguel whose uncle Ramon decided to leave their neighborhood and live in a billboard alone. Ramon has always valued silence, and finds more of it in his isolation.
Definitely has a melancholy cast, but interesting philosophical ideas.
pickI was eagerly awaiting this release even before it was featured in the NYT. This is billed as speculative fiction about what might have happened while Benito Juarez lived in New Orleans while in exile from Mexico. Herrera captures the wildness of 1850s NOLA with all the dangers from violence to illness. 🦟 ⛓️💥
