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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 841.912
EAN: 9780976844969
ISBN: 0976844966
Label: Black Widow Press
Manufacturer: Black Widow Press
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 290
Publication Date: 2006-11-20
Publisher: Black Widow Press
Studio: Black Widow Press

Capital of Pain, first published in 1926, has had a lasting impression on more readers than one might expect. Young Frenchmen between the wars carried it in their backpacks; other poets were dazzled, young and old, all discussed and often argued about this remarkable book. Indeed, it has never gone out of print in France. Today this collection is thought by many to be the key to grasping what Surrealist texts are like. It clearly shows the freshness of early Surrealism, as well as the despair of postwar trauma. Paul Eluard (1895-1952) was a founder, along with Andre Breton and Louis Aragon, of the Surrealist group and was, through the years, the most celebrated poet among that extraordinary grouping of poets. This volume, the first new translation of this work in over thirty years, presents the text of Capital of Pain in its entirety in a bilingual format. Translator Mary Ann Caws also provides an insightful and in depth survey of Eluard's poems and writings.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: So you like poetry?
Review: It is important that anyone do a little research or have an understanding of this kind of poetry before they do something like buy a book. That is because you may be wasting your money if you do not know what you are getting yourself into.

This book is a collection of fantastic poems from Paul Eluard. He was part of the Surrealist movement in France and his writings have changed many lives including mine. But if you do not like abstract thoughts, have difficulty reading complex literature, or just don't like "weird" stuff, I would suggest skipping this book. On the other hand if you revel in the abstract, enjoy thinking in terms you were not told to think in, by all means spend the $12 to get this book. I'll give you a sample since for some godforsaken reason nobody else has reviewed this book.

The big uninhabitable house-

In the middle of an astonishing island
That her limbs travel
She is nourished by a dazzled world.

The flesh one shows off to the curious
Waits there like harvests
To fall on the riverbanks.

Knowing she'll see further
Her eyes wider in the wind of her hands
She imagines the horizon has unbuckled its belt for her.

**If you want to see a good surrealist film I would also suggest Alphaville, which is how I learned about this phenomenal book.

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