A History of Clouds: 99 Meditations Contributor(s): Enzensberger, Hans Magnus (Author), Kinsky, Esther (Translator), Chalmers, Martin (Translator) |
|||||||
ISBN: 085742579X ISBN-13: 9780857425799 Publisher: Seagull Books
WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! Click here for our low price guarantee Binding Type: Paperback Published: August 2018 Click for more in this series: German List |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Poetry | European - German |
Dewey: 831.914 |
Series: German List |
Physical Information: 0.4" H x 4.9" W x 8.3" L (0.30 lbs) 144 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Germany |
Features: Price on Product |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In these 99 meditations, poet and novelist Hans Magnus Enzensberger celebrates the tenacity of the normal and routine in everyday life, where the survival of the objects we use without thinking--a pair of scissors, perhaps--is both a small, human victory and a quiet reminder of our own ephemeral nature. He sets his quotidian reflections against a broad historical and political backdrop: the cold war and its accompanying atomic threat; the German student revolt; would-be socialism in Cuba, China, and Africa; and World War II as experienced by the youthful poet. Enzensberger's poems are conversational, skeptical, and serene; they culminate in the extended set of observations that gives the collection its title. Clouds, alien and yet symbols of human life, are for Enzensberger at once a central metaphor of the Western poetic tradition and "the most fleeting of all masterpieces." "Cloud archaeology," writes Enzensberger, is "a science for angels."
Praise for the German edition "After reading this wonderful volume of poetry one would like to call Enzensberger simply the lyric voice of transience."-- Sueddeutsche Zeitung "With this book Enzensberger reveals himself both as a spokesman of persistence and as a decelerator."--Neue Zuercher Zeitung |
Contributor Bio(s): Chalmers, Martin: - Martin Chalmers (1948-2014) was a Berlin-based translator from Glasgow. He translated some of the best-known German-language writers, including Herta Müller, Elfriede Jelinek, and Hans Magnus Enzensberger. Kinsky, Esther: - Esther Kinsky is a poet, writer, and translator working in German, Polish, Russian and English.Enzensberger, Hans Magnus: - Hans Magnus Enzensberger, often considered Germany's most important living poet, is also the editor of the book series Die Andere Bibliothek and the founder of the monthly TransAtlantik. Seagull Books has published many of his books, including, most recently, Tumult, Panopticon, and Anarchy's Brief Summer. Simon Pare is a translator from French and German living near Zurich. |
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review |
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First! |