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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.7142
EAN: 9780939010271
ISBN: 0939010275
Label: Zephyr Press
Manufacturer: Zephyr Press
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 948
Publication Date: 2000-09-01
Publisher: Zephyr Press
Studio: Zephyr Press

Initially published in 1990, when the New York Times Book Review named it one of fourteen "Best Books of the Year," Judith Hemschemeyer's translation of The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova is the definitive edition, and has sold over 13,000 copies, making it one of the most successful poetry titles of recent years.

This reissued and revised printing features a new biographical essay as well as expanded notes to the poems, both by Roberta Reeder, project editor and author of Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet (St. Martin's Press, 1994). Encyclopedic in scope, with more than 800 poems, 100 photographs, a historical chronology, index of first lines, and bibliography. The Complete Poems will be the definitive English language collection of Akhmatova for many years to come.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: if you want to read Russian poetry
Review: you have to read it in Russian. You CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT, and i repeat, CANNOT (!) read it in translation- its like trading feces for gold. That is literally what it sounds like in comparison to the original. The specificity, brutality, the sumptuous tenderness of the Russian language are all but lost in these translations of one of this century's greatest poets. Although you might enjoy what you are reading, given you do not speak Russian- you honestly cannot even BEGIN to touch the greatness of Akhmatova or any other Russian poet by reading it in translation.

I honestly don't know who came up with the concept of translating poetry- to me its barbaric. A poem is so brief, it is so immediate and so dependent upon every word- no one should ever touch it. If you want it bad enough, learn Russian. And just so you know, reading Russian poetry in its original form is MORE than worth going through the trouble of learning the language. There is nothing in the world like it- nothing. It beats Shakespeare.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Second book critic
Review: This was one of a set of books I gave my daughter so I cannot rate the books so far as contents are concerned. To order it was easy and fast.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Russian Poets of the 1930s
Review: I am studying Russian writers of the 1930s particularly those who fled to Paris after the Bolshevik Revoltion of 1917. Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva were part of the pre-Revolution intelligencia and suffered terribly from the Reds suppression of artistic freedom. The Complete Poems of AA was helpful to me in this study. The photos, the biography and the dating of individual poems aided my work. Since I am not skilled in Russian, I cannot comment on the quality of the translation but the very moving English version of AA's expression is what I would hope is even better in her native tongue. There is no doubt that even in translation AA and MT were among the great poets of the 20th Century.

William Farragher

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Somehow a survivor
Review: Akhmatova was one of the few unrepentant Acemist poets to survive Russia's Bolshevik revolution and subsequant Stalinist takeover and purges. She was seen by authorities as a dangerous element, related to the pre-revolutionary order. Somehow, even as her fellow poets - including friend Osip Mandlestam and husband Nikolay Gumilov - were executed, exiled, sent to camps, or fled, she managed to survive - outliving Stalin himself. Her poems range from the early tales of love and unrequitation, to the tormented later works such as Requium - a harrowing dedication to the victoms of Stalinism. Her use of words is fantastic - the reader can truly feel her presence. This collection is very comprehensive, and well-translted from the original Russian. Definately worth the $21.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The definitive English edition, but sadly no Russian...
Review: For the totally nonRussian speaking English speaker, this is definitely the definitive Akhmatova (...say that ten times fast...). Not only are all her poems here (over 800), but we get a host of other useful things like introductory essays, an essay by Isaiah Berlin, chronology, notes, and tons of beautiful pictures of the beautiful poet herself.

Akhmatova is one of the premier 20th century poets, and it is a shame that her reputation is still only establishing itself among English speaking countries. This volume should help in that regard. However, it must be strongly emphasized that readers who hear Akhmatova only in English are really missing most of the beauty of her poems. Russian poetry is musically beautiful, and this is NOT carried over into the Enlglish, although it must be granted that Hemschemeyer does make some pretty valiant attempts to do just this.

So the reason for the four stars is that there is no Russian in this edition. Granted, the size of it would hardly permit it. So I would ask that people complement it with an edition of Akhmatova's poems in the original, and either learn cyrillic or get someone who can read them to read them to you! You will hardly recognize them, they are so beautiful. She is a master of alliteration, assonance and rhyme... all of these being so important to her lyricism.

I actually bought this edition, and when I found there was no Russian, I returned it and got Hemschemeyer's "Selected Poems of Anna Akhmatova" instead, which only has 100+ poems but has the Russian on the opposing pages. It was sad to have to do this, but after I sat down and read through some of the poems, I realized I had made the right decision. What I miss most are the pictures...

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