Pablo Neruda

by Adam Feinstein

Overview

Adam Feinstein's book is the first English-language biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Relating Neruda's remarkable life story and delving into the literary legacy of the man Gabriel Garcia Marquez called "the greatest poet of the twentiehth-century-in any language," Feinstein uncovers the details of this icon's artistic output, political engagement, friendships with a pantheon of important 20th-century artistic and political figures, and many loves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596917811
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	12/08/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Adam Feinstein is a prize-winning translator of Spanish and Latin American poetry, as well as a journalist and broadcaster specializing in foreign affairs. He lives in London.
Adam Feinstein has published articles on Spanish and Latin American literature in many newspapers and magazines, and has translated the work of Federico García Lorca and Mario Benedetti for Modern Poetry in Translation. He has worked for the Latin American Service of the BBC and has been a London correspondent for one of Spain's leading national daily newspapers, El Mundo. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
	List of Illustrations	ix
	Introduction	1
1	Secrets, shadows, wine and rain 1904-20	3
2	A bohemian in Santiago 1921-27	25
3	Asian desolation: 1927-32	51
4	Back home, new battles--and Buenos Aires 1932-34	81
5	Spanish sorrow--the turning-point 1934-37	104
6	A life-saving mission 1937-40	130
7	Mexican magic, marriage, a tragic telegram and a mordant badger 1940-43	150
8	From the rich heights of Machu Picchu down to the poverty of the driest place on Earth 1943-48	171
9	'A year of blind rats'--Neruda in hiding 1948-49	202
10	Delia and Matilde--an Eastern European juggling act 1949-52	236
11	Return the conquering hero 1952-59	284
12	The new regime 1959-66	320
13	The other Cuban crisis 1966-68	343
14	The Nobel Prize--and a last, passionate love 1968-72	359
15	The final years--and a posthumous gift 1972-73	391
	Notes	423
	Select Bibliography	451
	Copyright Acknowledgements	467
	Index	471

Editorial Reviews

This year marks the centennial of Nobel laureate Neruda's birth. Neruda, who died in 1973, was considered among the greatest poets of the past century and a man full of passions and contradictions who, despite his efforts to sing his political views, is also remembered as a poet of love. This biography follows Neruda from his precocious poetic beginnings to his wanderings as a diplomat in Asia, Argentina, France, Spain and Mexico. Journalist and translator Feinstein recounts how Neruda saved the lives of many republicans during the Spanish Civil War and how his activism in Chile's Communist Party forced him into exile in 1948. Neruda crossed the Andes to travel yet more through Europe and America, where he befriended such famous men as Lorca and Picasso. Back in Chile in 1952, after writing many great books, Neruda ran for the presidency and his commitment to social justice strengthened. But Feinstein also examines the other constant in the poet's life, love,detailing his three marriages and innumerable love affairs, including plenty of bittersweet stories in an attempt to clarify the often fantastic versions of Neruda's own memories. Feinstein undoubtedly researched every existent source and found new ones, and the result is a detailed and accurate biography. His dry writing fails to bring the poet alive on the page, but this is a necessary book, with many beautiful photos. Agent, Victoria Hobbs. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

These three publications add to the voluminous literature on Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. Chilean photographer Poirot's work is essentially a reprint of an older edition of the same name. Poirot photographed Neruda's house on Isla Negra (the poet's last residence) and his townhouse in Valparaiso, which was sacked in 1973 when Chile fell prey to dictatorship. This new edition superimposes excerpts from Neruda's poetry on Poirot's very moving photos and features photos and testimonies of Neruda's closest friends and admiring writers. Urrutia, Neruda's third wife, provides a fresh new biography from her particular vantage. Her purpose is twofold: to present her Pablo as the exuberant, warm, and loving individual he was and to inform readers of the menace imposed by Chilean dictator Pinochet, who was responsible for the assassination of elected president Allende, Neruda's close friend. Urrutia's account is highly selective but well worth reading for another perspective on this great man. Feinstein, a writer and translator who has served as London correspondent for El Mundo, Spain's leading daily, recounts Neruda's efforts during the Spanish Civil War and resistance to two Chilean dictators, but he also attempts to clarify Neruda's controversial views of Stalinist communism. Numerous accounts of important people in the poet's life are presented staccato style, with one account often interrupting another, so that getting a sense of the chronology may be a challenge. Excerpts from Neruda's journals and poetry further add to the intensity of this biography. All three books are recommended for public libraries; Poirot's would serve academic libraries as well.-Nedra Crowe-Evers, Sonoma Cty. Lib., CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"Fueled by an infectious enthusiasm for the poems...[Feinstein's] book turns Neruda''s life into an opera-a blend of aria and recitative."

Guardian

"A scrupulous, well-balanced and timely portrait."

The Times (London)

"A magnificently researched work that guides the reader though a potentially overwhelming amount of material... Feinstein brilliantly elucidates the two main driving forces behind Neruda's life and work: his obsession with women and no less passionate commitment to left-wing politics."

The Independent

"[Feinstein's] book turns Neruda's life into an opera - a blend of aria and recitative."

— Andrew Motion

The Guardian

"In Pablo Neruda, the best biographical detail is found in the poetic line, and the nuanced understanding of each line is in turn informed by the biographical...Feinstein never lets the political eclipse the poetic."

Minneapolis Star-Tribune