Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Vols 1-2 - Hardcover

Akhmatova, Anna Andreevna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0939010135 ISBN 13: 9780939010134

Publisher: Zephyr Press, 1991

Synopsis

From the artistic passion of the St Petersburg poets and bohemians, to the collective suffering of a nation through this turbulent century, Akhmatova spoke to, and for, the soul of her people. Born in 1889, Anna survived upheavals, refusing to abandon either Russia or her craft despite vicious attacks on her name and censorship of her work. When committing poems to paper threatened to cause her arrest, a few close friends faithfully memorized her lines. By the time she died in 1966, Anna was recognized as one of the world's great poets. This book contains 800 of her poems, an extensive photo-essay, a preface by the translator, an introduction Anatoly Naiman (Akhmatova's literary agent during the 1960s), and a reprint of Isaiah Berlin's memoir of Anna from his book "Personal Impressions".

About this title

Review:

"We needn't worry again about how to read Akhmatova in translation... the translations are remarkable. Reading this enormous, impeccable book, we watch her work achieve the supreme goal of lyric poetry: to transfigure loss without belittling it, commemorate love without cooling it, and embody the truth of disparate lives in a single self." (Andrew Motion The Observer)

"Hemschemeyer's versions are the best I have ever seen. This great lilac brick of a book is a stupendous bargain." (Michael Hoffman The Times)

"This edition is an enormous achievement . . . usefully annotated and well illustrated. The text is the definitive English-language edition of Akhmatova . . . a ground-breaking work." (Elizabeth Burns The Scotsman)

"A fitting tribute to one of the greatest poets of the century... this is a volume to be treasured." (The Good Book Guide)

"This is one of the most important publications of the year, if not the decade." (Adam Thorpe Literary Review)

Book Description:

The greatest, most comprehensive, and best translated edition of one of the twentieth century's greatest and most relevant poets.

About this edition

• Publisher: Zephyr Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0939010135
• ISBN 13: 9780939010134
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 1500