wakefulness testimonies illustrious disquietude

books:

4 reviews
Robert Walser

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1982

Genius Worth Rediscovering
Although his novel "Jakob von Gunten" is a masterpiece, the maniacal genius of Walser is more easily discovered in his short fiction. If Kafka's vision is maddening and claustrophobic, Walser, who deals with a similar kind of surrealistic world, applies a lighter, more deftly playful touch. Sometimes, the puns and literary license Walser take can be willful and test a reader's patience, but the ...

Selected Poems

5 reviews
Hilda Doolittle

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1997

Enjoyable, Imaginative Poems - Byron Excels in Many Genre
Handsome, rich, titled, adventuresome, free-spirited, and even scandalous, Lord Byron was also the most prolific and versatile of the romantic poets. In this collection I was continually surprised as Byron excelled in one genre after another. I give a few examples: I Would I Were A Careless Child recalls an idyllic life of childhood in Scotland. I wondered whether Lord Byron was truly sincere in ...

To Each His Own (Black & White)

16 reviews
Leonardo Sciascia

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1992

"Justice is a steady and enduring will to render unto every one his right
The basic principles of right are: to live honorably, not to harm any other person, to render to each his own." Digest of the Emperor Justinian. The Latin phrase "suum cuique tribuere" or "to each his own" is one of the three fundamental maxims of the law laid down by the Emperor Justinian. The peculiar interpretation of that phrase in Sciascia's native Sicily forms the emotional core of ...

Wakefulness

3 reviews
John Ashbery

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1998

The poet at his best!
A marvelous collection. The quote on the inner cover (by Harold Bloom) says it all "The book is a profound pleasure, the gift of a master."

The Anatolikon

2 reviews
John Ash

Carcanet Press Ltd, 2002

Deep Poems From Mystic Anatolia
The elegant master of living British modern poets John Ash is living in Istanbul since 1996."The Anatolikon" is the output of his deeply satisfying individual poems concerning the place and the inhabitants of the mystic Anatolia(Asiatic part of Turkey) in Turkey.I have thoroughly enjoyed this slim volume of gripping poems like his earlier books.

Testimonies

9 reviews
Michael Hamburger

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1989

O'Brian's first novel is simply brilliant
Patrick O'Brian is more than a writer. He's a publishing phenomenon via his superb Aubrey-Maturin series. But TESTIMONIES was his first novel, originally published in 1952. It tells of an English professor of Welsh origins, Joseph Pugh, who abandons teaching at Oxford and moves to a cottage in Wales. There he explores the primal mountain back country and tries to understand the farming culture of ...

Carlino

2 reviews
Stuart Hood

Carcanet Press, Ltd., 1985

Brilliant and moving
I really enjoyed this book. Stuart is my grandfather but that is not why I am writing this review. I am writing this because after reading 'Carlino' (or 'Pebbles From My Skull' as it is otherwise known as) you have more of an understanding of what it was actually like to go through WW2 and survive, to be a partisan behind enemy lines and to endure all the hardships associated with war. This ...

Book of Disquietude

2 reviews
Fernando Pessoa, Richard Zenith

Carcanet Press Ltd., 1996

Wonderful and Amazing...should be required Modernist reading
This is a beautiful, amorphous book which is different everytime one reads it--regardless of the translation. What I mean is...where one stops while reading changes the book...it is 'literally' a different book everytime one reads. This translation is the best by far of those available, I also believe it to be the most scholarly. I have only one proviso: Please, if you can manage it, find a ...

The Illustrious House of Ramires (Aspects of Portugal)

3 reviews
Eca de Queiros

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1992

Cervantes' Heir
The books of Eca De Queiros are not easy to find. I read about him a long time ago and then slowly began picking the books up as I found them one by one. Three so far but there are others. This is the most polished of the three but the other two I have, The Relic(now available)& The City and the Mountains(availability uncertain), are really good too. I have to say my favorite is The City and the ...

The Mooring of Starting Out: The First Five Books of Poetry (Poetry Pleiade)

3 reviews
John Ashbery

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1997

Ashbery's Pompatus of Love
Reviewing John Ashbery is a somewhat daunting prospect - but, then again, at one time I found just reading his poetry an equally intimidating proposal. Since you might be facing the latter situation, let me describe why I think this book, "The Mooring of Starting Out", is a particularly worthwhile place to enjoy Mr. Ashbery's work. Along the way I'll mention a useful book of essays about his ...

Petrushka and the Dancer: The Diaries of John Cowper Powys, 1929-1939

2 reviews
John Cowper Powys

Carcanet Press, Ltd., 1995

Not just another english eccentric
This diary is compelling in its revelation of JCP's inner nature, and for the picture given to us of a life lived on the margins. (Allowing for that slight fictionalization present in almost all writers, and writers of diaries.) Not just the margins geographically (the country life of new york state in the 1930s, not the urban existence in new york city; dorset [and, later, wales], not london, ...

Aleksandr Blok: Selected Poems (Poetry Pleiade)

1 review
Aleksandr Blok

Carcanet Press Ltd., 2000

Beautiful from start to finish.
Pasternak's poetry transcends even language barriers. Even though he's more famous for his fiction, his poetry is truly perfection and should be added to any poet's shelf.

The Biplane Houses

1 review
Les Murray

Carcanet Press Ltd, 2006

"Human light is the building whose walls are inside."
Uninhibited by style or genre, Murray samples everything that life has to offer, what he sees and experiences, tossing out impressions that startle and attract, a facility of language and a love of place that is both extraordinary and compelling: "But tears underlie every country. Nowhere do they discharge the past, which is the live dark matter that flows undismissably with us, and impends ...

Collected Poems

2 reviews
Chinua Achebe

Carcanet Press Ltd, 2005

Met any great poets lately? Here's your chance...
Within the bright yet unremarkable cover of this small book is the world as seen through the eyes of Mr. Chinua Achebe. The world witnessed by this talented Nigerian-born author and poet contains death, hope, strife, hunger, joy, love, wisdom, and wonder-and Achebe ushers his audience on an emotional journey through them all. As I read "Collected Poems", I became more interested in the poet ...

Selected Poems

2 reviews
Frank O'Hara

Carcanet Press Ltd, 2003

The Perfect Lunch Date
It's not exactly pocket-sized, but this volume can be conveniently and inconspicuously carried to lunch uptown, midtown, downtown, or out of town. There is a great collection of poems here (no plays), from the short and sweet to the longer and sweeter. All set in beautiful type on nice, formal heavier paper and with the inclusion of "Personism: A Manifesto" for an introduction and the cover ...

The Hero and the Girl Next Door

2 reviews
Sophie Hannah

Carcanet Press Ltd., 1995

Just fantastic!
Clever and articulate, always following traditional rhyming schemes, but the words and language is always post-modern, witty and realistic. With subjects as diverse as animal rights and political correctness through to love and one-night stands, this is classic poetry with a modern edge. Buy it - you can't not love it!

Bargain with the Watchman (Oxford Poets)

1 review
Eva Salzman

Carcanet Press Ltd., 1999

Oxford U Press strikes gold!
Nothing quite like this has rolled off Oxford's presses in the last 800 years - and probably never will again. Shameless lust and satirical insight are seamlessly synthesized in Salzman's wise, womanly voice. She whispers, hisses, chortles, seduces. Get it, take it to bed with you, and wake up refreshed and invigorated!

Alstonefield: A Poem

1 review
Peter Riley

Carcanet Press Ltd., 2004

A true delight
Full of guile and verve, invention, speed, possibility and quietness. A night's walk with Peter Riley is well worth your while.

Axel

1 review
Bo Carpelan

Carcanet Press Ltd, 1989

One of the great secret books
This is simply one of the most provocative and moving novels I've ever read. Henry Miller said of Hamsun's *Mysteries that, reading it, he felt he was reading the story of his own life, at a level where empirical differences were irrelevant. *Axel affected me that way. It is one of those rare great novels that are about a soul, not its relational or social determinants (although these are well ...

Parthian Stations

2 reviews
John Ash

Carcanet Press Ltd., 2007

An amazing poet
John Ash is one of the view who understands Turkey without falling into the trap of exoticizing it. His poetry is a delight for the mind; both witty and refreshingly sincere.

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