Synopses & Reviews
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic has done more than anyone since Czeslaw Milosz to introduce English-language readers to the greatest modern Slavic poets. In Oranges and Snow, Simic continues this work with his translations of one of today's finest Serbian poets, Milan Djordjevic. An encounter between two poets and two languages, this bilingual edition--the first selection of Djordjevic's work to appear in English--features Simic's translations and the Serbian originals on facing pages. Simic, a native Serbian speaker, has selected some forty-five of Djordjevic's best poems and provides an introduction in which he discusses the poet's work, as well as the challenges of translation.
Djordjevic, who was born in Belgrade in 1954, is a poet who gives equal weight to imagination and reality. This book ranges across his entire career to date. His earliest poems can deal with something as commonplace as a bulb of garlic, a potato, or an overcoat fallen on the floor. Later poems, often dreamlike and surreal, recount his travels in Germany, France, and England. His recent poems are more autobiographical and realistic and reflect a personal tragedy. Confined to his house after being hit and nearly killed by a car while crossing a Belgrade street in 2007, the poet writes of his humble surroundings, the cats that come to his door, the birds he sees through his window, and the copies of one of his own books that he once burnt to keep warm.
Whatever their subject, Djordjevic's poems are beautiful, original, and always lyrical.
Review
"Every now and then, words, quite often in the form of poetry, have the power, the persuasion, and the all-penetrative ability to stop one in ones' tracks. . . . Such is the possibility, the sheer scale of the penetrative persuasion amid some of these poems."--David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews
Review
"Charles Simic has been translating so many stimulating poets from the former Yugoslav republics for so long that I snatch up any new version by him as soon as it appears."--John Taylor, Antioch Review
Review
Every now and then, words, quite often in the form of poetry, have the power, the persuasion, and the all-penetrative ability to stop one in ones' tracks. . . . Such is the possibility, the sheer scale of the penetrative persuasion amid some of these poems. David Marx
Review
Charles Simic has been translating so many stimulating poets from the former Yugoslav republics for so long that I snatch up any new version by him as soon as it appears. David Marx Book Reviews
Review
Winner of the 2011 Robert Frost Medal, Poetry Society of America
Runner-Up for the 2011 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation, PEN American Center
Synopsis
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic has done more than anyone since Czeslaw Milosz to introduce English-language readers to the greatest modern Slavic poets. In
Oranges and Snow, Simic continues this work with his translations of one of today's finest Serbian poets, Milan Djordjevic. An encounter between two poets and two languages, this bilingual edition--the first selection of Djordjevic's work to appear in English--features Simic's translations and the Serbian originals on facing pages. Simic, a native Serbian speaker, has selected some forty-five of Djordjevic's best poems and provides an introduction in which he discusses the poet's work, as well as the challenges of translation.
Djordjevic, who was born in Belgrade in 1954, is a poet who gives equal weight to imagination and reality. This book ranges across his entire career to date. His earliest poems can deal with something as commonplace as a bulb of garlic, a potato, or an overcoat fallen on the floor. Later poems, often dreamlike and surreal, recount his travels in Germany, France, and England. His recent poems are more autobiographical and realistic and reflect a personal tragedy. Confined to his house after being hit and nearly killed by a car while crossing a Belgrade street in 2007, the poet writes of his humble surroundings, the cats that come to his door, the birds he sees through his window, and the copies of one of his own books that he once burnt to keep warm.
Whatever their subject, Djordjevic's poems are beautiful, original, and always lyrical.
Synopsis
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic introduces and translates one of Serbia's most important contemporary poets
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic has done more than anyone since Czeslaw Milosz to introduce English-language readers to the greatest modern Slavic poets. In Oranges and Snow, Simic continues this work with his translations of one of today's finest Serbian poets, Milan Djordjevic. An encounter between two poets and two languages, this bilingual edition--the first selection of Djordjevic's work to appear in English--features Simic's translations and the Serbian originals on facing pages. Simic, a native Serbian speaker, has selected some forty-five of Djordjevic's best poems and provides an introduction in which he discusses the poet's work, as well as the challenges of translation.
Djordjevic, who was born in Belgrade in 1954, is a poet who gives equal weight to imagination and reality. This book ranges across his entire career to date. His earliest poems can deal with something as commonplace as a bulb of garlic, a potato, or an overcoat fallen on the floor. Later poems, often dreamlike and surreal, recount his travels in Germany, France, and England. His recent poems are more autobiographical and realistic and reflect a personal tragedy. Confined to his house after being hit and nearly killed by a car while crossing a Belgrade street in 2007, the poet writes of his humble surroundings, the cats that come to his door, the birds he sees through his window, and the copies of one of his own books that he once burnt to keep warm.
Whatever their subject, Djordjevic's poems are beautiful, original, and always lyrical.
Synopsis
"Charles Simic's superbly able, balanced translations of the Serbian poet Milan Djordjevic are a double-revelation. Here stands Djordjevic, a new poet--dark, antic, and mournful--for English-language readers. And here, at the same time, is Simic, a familiar but ever more esteemed presence--mournful, antic, dark--standing in a bewitchingly altered light."
--Nicholas Jenkins, Stanford University"Charles Simic has translated the work of the major Serbian poet Milan Djordjevic into wonderful poems in English. From the opening poem we know we are in the hands of a master: Djordjevic keeps the stakes high as the poems fan out from the daily to the political and metaphysical. Image, tone, and metaphor combine to create an imaginatively striking voice. This is a distinguished translation by a distinguished poet."--Ira Sadoff, author of Barter: Poems
"I've read a lot of contemporary poetry in translation, but I have never read a poet quite like Milan Djordjevic. The poems Charles Simic translates here display a strange, engaging, and darkly playful imagination."--Jonathan Aaron, author of Journey to the Lost City: Poems
Synopsis
"Charles Simic's superbly able, balanced translations of the Serbian poet Milan Djordjevic are a double-revelation. Here stands Djordjevic, a new poet--dark, antic, and mournful--for English-language readers. And here, at the same time, is Simic, a familiar but ever more esteemed presence--mournful, antic, dark--standing in a bewitchingly altered light."--Nicholas Jenkins, Stanford University
"Charles Simic has translated the work of the major Serbian poet Milan Djordjevic into wonderful poems in English. From the opening poem we know we are in the hands of a master: Djordjevic keeps the stakes high as the poems fan out from the daily to the political and metaphysical. Image, tone, and metaphor combine to create an imaginatively striking voice. This is a distinguished translation by a distinguished poet."--Ira Sadoff, author of Barter: Poems
"I've read a lot of contemporary poetry in translation, but I have never read a poet quite like Milan Djordjevic. The poems Charles Simic translates here display a strange, engaging, and darkly playful imagination."--Jonathan Aaron, author of Journey to the Lost City: Poems
Synopsis
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic has done more than anyone since Czeslaw Milosz to introduce English-language readers to the greatest modern Slavic poets. In
Oranges and Snow, Simic continues this work with his translations of one of today's finest Serbian poets, Milan Djordjevic. An encounter between two poets and two languages, this bilingual edition--the first selection of Djordjevic's work to appear in English--features Simic's translations and the Serbian originals on facing pages. Simic, a native Serbian speaker, has selected some forty-five of Djordjevic's best poems and provides an introduction in which he discusses the poet's work, as well as the challenges of translation.
Djordjevic, who was born in Belgrade in 1954, is a poet who gives equal weight to imagination and reality. This book ranges across his entire career to date. His earliest poems can deal with something as commonplace as a bulb of garlic, a potato, or an overcoat fallen on the floor. Later poems, often dreamlike and surreal, recount his travels in Germany, France, and England. His recent poems are more autobiographical and realistic and reflect a personal tragedy. Confined to his house after being hit and nearly killed by a car while crossing a Belgrade street in 2007, the poet writes of his humble surroundings, the cats that come to his door, the birds he sees through his window, and the copies of one of his own books that he once burnt to keep warm.
Whatever their subject, Djordjevic's poems are beautiful, original, and always lyrical.
Synopsis
"Charles Simic's superbly able, balanced translations of the Serbian poet Milan Djordjevic are a double-revelation. Here stands Djordjevic, a new poet--dark, antic, and mournful--for English-language readers. And here, at the same time, is Simic, a familiar but ever more esteemed presence--mournful, antic, dark--standing in a bewitchingly altered light."--Nicholas Jenkins, Stanford University
"Charles Simic has translated the work of the major Serbian poet Milan Djordjevic into wonderful poems in English. From the opening poem we know we are in the hands of a master: Djordjevic keeps the stakes high as the poems fan out from the daily to the political and metaphysical. Image, tone, and metaphor combine to create an imaginatively striking voice. This is a distinguished translation by a distinguished poet."--Ira Sadoff, author of Barter: Poems
"I've read a lot of contemporary poetry in translation, but I have never read a poet quite like Milan Djordjevic. The poems Charles Simic translates here display a strange, engaging, and darkly playful imagination."--Jonathan Aaron, author of Journey to the Lost City: Poems
About the Author
Charles Simic is a poet, essayist, and translator who has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Wallace Stevens Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. From 2007 to 2008 he was U.S. Poet Laureate. A native Serbian speaker, he has published English translations of many poets from the former Yugoslavia.
Table of Contents
Introduction ix
Part I
2 Kaput
Overcoat 3
4 Kisa bi da se ubije
The Rain Wants to Kill Itself 5
6 Prah, sve je prah
Dust, All Is Dust 7
8 Krompir
Spud 9
10 Beli luk
Garlic 11
12 Galilejeva tema
Galileo's Theme 13
14 San
The Dream 15
16 Veliko i malo
Great and Small 17
18 Plovidba
Sea Voyage 19
20 Staza
A Path 21
22 Hleb
Bread 23
24 Tisina i sneg
Silence and Snow 25
26 Mala radost
Little Joy 27
28 Akvarijum
Aquarium 29
30 Varvari
Barbarians 31
Part II
34 Pohvala Dzeni Dzejmson
In Praise of Jenna Jameson 35
38 Ahen
Aachen 39
42 Budjenje
Waking 43
44 Oblaci
Clouds 45
48 Odgovori
Answers 49
50 Suton
Dusk 51
52 Igra
The Game 53
54 Ugljenisana mandarina
Charred Tangerine 55
56 Stvarnost
Reality 57
58 Pauci
Spiders 59
60 Mravi
Ants 61
62 Usvojeni
The Adopted 63
64 Golubovi
Two Pigeons 65
66 Anzelm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer 67
70 Vrana
Crow 71
Part III
74 Melanholija i tajna ulice
Melancholy and Secret of the Street 75
76 Samo?a
Solitude 77
78 O Sudbini
Regarding Fate 79
80 Spaljivanje knjiga
Book Burning 81
82 Gospodin Slu?aj
Mr. Accident 83
86 Dani
Days 87
88 Pomorandza
Orange 89
90 Pored okeana
Next to the Ocean 91
92 Beli?asti oblaci
White Clouds 93
94 Gundelji
Flying Beetles 95
96 Dzpni sat
Pocket Watch 97
98 Trave sa Tibeta i sa Himalaja
Herbs from Tibet and the Himalayas 99
100 Ljubavna pesma
Love Poem 101
104 Pobunjeni ?ovek
A Man in a State of Rebellion 105
108 Usahli grad
Wilted City 109