Illuminations

by Arthur Rimbaud

Paperback, 2009

Publication

POCKET (2009), Edition: PETITS PRIX

Original publication date

1886 (original French)
2011 (English: Ashbery)
2006

Description

"First published in 1886, Arthur Rimbaud's Illuminations--the work of a poet who had abandoned poetry before the age of twenty-one--changed the language of poetry. Hallucinatory and feverishly hermetic, it is an acknowledged masterpiece of world literature, still unrivaled for its haunting blend of sensuous detail and otherworldly astonishment. In Ashbery's translation of this notoriously elusive text, the acclaimed poet and translator lends his inimitable voice to a venerated classic"--Dust jacket flap.

User reviews

LibraryThing member valentipoetry
This man is my favorite author. He was a visionary. In this book the introduction finds him praising women and saying one day we would be allowed to work and write, and look out! Because we would change the world. He looked forward to it. The movie of his love affair with Poet Paul Verlain (sp?) is
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my favorite love story. It reeks of violence and juvenile angst.
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LibraryThing member williecostello
Rimbaud's classic suite of evocative prose poems is powerfully rendered by John Ashbery in this new translation, printed alongside the French original. Ashbery's diction is mellifluous and never forced, faithfully adhering to the spirit (and much of the letter) of Rimbaud's French. But most of the
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credit here is due to Rimbaud, of course, whose perceptive eye and expansive mind make Illuminations shine in whatever rendition. The whole collection is worth reading, but "Being Beauteous" and "Genie" were two of my personal highlights.
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Language

Original language

French

ISBN

2266192310 / 9782266192316

Physical description

64 p.; 4.37 inches

Pages

64

Rating

½ (79 ratings; 3.9)
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