The Romantic Dogs 1980-1998.
LJ 10/1/08 -- Críticas, 10/15/2008
Bolaño, Roberto.
New Directions, dist. by Norton. Nov. 2008. c.128p. tr. from Spanish by Laura Healy. ISBN 978-0-8112-1801-6. pap. $14.95. POETRY
Jumping on the bandwagon of Bolaño’s posthumous fame, New Directions’s sixth installment in its ongoing publication of translations of the Chilean’s works harks back to Bolaño’s first calling in poetry. About half of these verses, written over 18 years from 1980 to 1998, saw print in Spanish-language small presses but were not published in their entirety until 2000. Many of the English translations have also been previously published in the mainstream press, but this edition marks their first complete publication in English as well. Though varying in length, most of the 44 bilingual selections are about a page, with a clear, direct message, rendered accurately by a faithful and readable translation. Of noteworthy merit are the love poems (“Soni,” “Lupe,” and “La Francesa”) to women with less-than-perfect virtue, the political ones that show reference to such leftist figures as Ernesto Cardenal (“Ernesto Cardenal and I”), and the paean to his Chilean compatriot and influence Nicanor Parra (“Parra’s Footsteps”). Those already familiar with Bolaño’s work will recognize the reappearance of some of his favorite themes: the search for poetry; the obsessive presence of detectives, frozen and lost; and the coexistence of life and death, united here in communion with the elements (rain, snow, and ice). For Bolaño fans who loved 2666 and The Savage Detectives, these earlier poetic works are a newly discovered treasure.
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