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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9780878300723
ISBN: 0878300724
Label: Theatre Arts Book
Manufacturer: Theatre Arts Book
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 627
Publication Date: 1997-10-07
Publisher: Theatre Arts Book
Studio: Theatre Arts Book

"...this impressive selection of Bertolt Brecht's poetry...roughly 500 poems...shows convincingly that his ouevre is one of the major poetic achievements of the present century. The editing, with excellent notes, excerpts from Brecht's own views about poetry and Mr. Willett's concise introduction is exemplary. Most important, the translations by 35 poets, among them H.R. Hayes, Peter Levi, Christopher Middleton, and Naomi Replansky, maintain a high standard of accuracy and often convey a very clear idea of the texture and feeling of the German." --Stephen Spender, The New York Times Book Review

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Brilliant poems
Review: These poems are brilliant and inspiring because they were written by a socialist. They were written to make you think about the system.

Questions by a Worker Who Reads is one of my favourite poems. The freeways, offices, electricity system and everything else in our civilization were not built by politicians or company executives - they were built by workers.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Brecht's poetry may be greater than his plays.
Review: Bertolt Brecht has acquired the same status as those other artists whose work is known, but not appreciated. Like Faulkner, Joyce and Proust, he has become transmuted into an adjective; even worse, he has followers who describe themselves as "Brechtian" and who are happy to discuss his theories of drama instead of the dramas themselves. But things get even worse when you get closer to the man himself, for there is a wealth of evidence that "der arme B.B." was, in fact, a conscienceless thief who stole credit from everyone with whom he worked and, in particular, from the women he charmed into professional and emotional liaisons. Add to this his craven attitude towards Stalin, and his theories of epic theater seem to be, at the very least, a gross exercise in self-deception. All very off-putting. But his poetry is a different matter. Brecht approaches the reader without the arrogance of a theorist interested in instructing the audience how to think. He is more candid, both personally and politically, willing to condemn his own weaknesses and, in his later years, those of the movement that he had defended at any cost. And, most importantly, his poetry is fresh, direct, cutting and beautiful, even in translation. This is a volume that those who are interested in writing poetry should have.

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