Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon: Selected Poems of Pablo Neruda
Chilean poet Neruda (1904-73), winner of the Nobel prize among other honors and whose love poems served as the inspiration for the movie Il Postino, was prolific, and his work took many forms, including the highly political. Stephen Mitchell, translator and reader, has wisely selected from among the various odes and love poems for this extremely well-produced audio offering. "Forgive me, Seagull, I am a poet of reality," he says, after first praising the bird, then going on to describe its barking, its stealing garbage from the mouths of other gulls. Luckily for listeners, Neruda's "reality" permits forays into imagination, such as the baby's foot that thinks it can fly or the suit that might soon wear thin or might outlive its owner and be used for burial. No subject in Neruda's hands is unworthy of praise, including the onion, the artichoke, salt, socks, or the watch on a lover's wrist. While translations of the poet's work abound in print, and there are tapes of him reading his own poems, this is only the second tape of translations available. A true delight; recommended for all libraries. Rochelle Ratner, formerly with "Soho Weekly News," New York
Pure spirit, pure soul.
Having been interested in Neruda since seeing the movie "Il Postino," I've glanced at several collections for over 3 years, but never took a book home for my own. Looking for a collection that contained "Ode to Laziness" (one of my favorite subjects), I found and purchased Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon. I sat down in a big chair on a Sunday afternoon and opened it to the first page and the love affair started there. Usually, I read a book of poems randomly, just flipping here and there, looking for whatever surprizes me. For some unknown reason, I started this book from the beginning with Mitchell's introduction, then read the first poem. I couldn't help myself as I read one poem and then another till I had carefully read almost every one. Pure spirit, pure soul. Each poem is a love poem to the most simple, everyday, ordinary things of this world--his suit, his socks, his watch--engaging us to see a sheer web of grace that runs through out our lives. Put another way, Neruda sees and shows us a world that shimmers and loves us as fully as we love it. --Reviewer: kpeffley from Tempe, AZ USA
