It should be no surprise that I love Pablo Neruda. I first fell in love with his posthumous work The Sea and Bells (El mar y las campanas). One of my favorite musical groups, Rachel's, did an album based off this work. I fell in love this book of poems as I read them on the sands of the Pacific Northwest. Neruda was writing five books of poetry to be released on his seventieth birthday. He died before any of them were completed. William O'Daly has translated the unfinished works and they are published by Copper Creek along with a few of his late works.
Although, there has been some dispute over the quality of O'Daly's translations all the books are bi-lingual. So if one was interested, one can always do some research and find the meaning oneself. I do not mind the translations, but I am by no means fluent in Spanish. I understand that part of translation is interpretation. Daniel Ladinsky explores this concept quite well with his translations of Hafiz.
Whether you speak Spanish or not I highly recommend reading some Neruda. He was one of the world's greatest poets, and he achieved a voice most poets only dream about having. And while you are at it listen to some of Rachel's' music. The Systems/Layers album never left my stereo for about a year. It still carries a heavy rotation in my musical library.
this is such a good album. we actually used this album as a reference for my new album. i wanted it mastered so that it didn't get any louder than the loud screeching part about 3/4's through. I've owned this album on and off for 10 years. I've got it on vinyl now and it survived my "i can't afford the rent so I'm going to sell my records" day last spring. It's one of my 5 or 6 records I just couldn't get rid of. I just got an envelope today so I can send you a package. Peace, Billy T.
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