An extraordinary literary event: the simultaneous publication of a brilliant and vivid new rendering of C. P. Cavafy’s Collected Poems...
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Jun 11, 2009
Erik
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"Major Literary Event," is a term marketing departments in publishing houses are overusing, but it's the term that seems to describe this book best. I have long enjoyed the dazzling wit, clarity and erudition of Daniel Mendelsohn's prose in his reviews for NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, and his magesterial introduction to this book exhibits the same qualities as he tells us about Cavafy's life, his work, his demons, his craft. As for the poems Medelsohn excruciatingly translated: they are p
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Jun 21, 2008
Tom
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Cavafy's mixture of two primary subjects -- antiquity and and his life as gay man in Alexandria -- can seem an odd one at first, and though I've tried to find a strong thematic link between the two, at best, I hear a similar tone of nostalgia and loss in his treatment of these subjects. This seemingly disparate subjects, however, make for a pleasurably evolving reading experience.
Initially, I found C's famous poems about antiquity the more appealing ones; for a man fascinated with More...
Initially, I found C's famous poems about antiquity the more appealing ones; for a man fascinated with More...
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Sep 26, 2011
Miriam
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Translation is a difficult task, and I hesitate to rate them harshly. But in this case, there are several better translations already available (contrary to what the goodreads entry says, this edition was not originally published in 1979; the entries for the differing Cavafy translations seem all mixed together) so it strikes me as both pointless and hubristic to produce another at all, much less pronounce it "an extraordinary literary event".
Mendelsohn entirely loses the se More...
Mendelsohn entirely loses the se More...
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Dec 06, 2010
David
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I happened to find a used copy recently of Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard's original translation of C.P. Cavafy's Collected Poems from 1975. I have owned their revised, in-print edition (1992) for years and was shocked to discover I much prefer their earlier translations. There are not huge changes here--it's often a subtle reordering of words or a minor change in word-choice, but still, they're noticeable changes that sometimes drsatically alter, in my opinion, the meanings of the poems as I
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Aug 02, 2009
Chris
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This is a feast of a book.
Thirty years ago I acquired the translation by Keeley & Sherrard, who were friends of the great Cavafy scholar George Seferis . . . at that time, Cavafy was one of those forbidden pleasures like the PARIS AND NEW YORK DIARIES OF NED ROREM, and OUR LADY OF FLOWERS by Jean Genet that were available in serious LA and New York bookshops of the period.
I was bored by Rorem and Gide, but there were a few great Cavafy poems, it seemed to me at the time More...
Thirty years ago I acquired the translation by Keeley & Sherrard, who were friends of the great Cavafy scholar George Seferis . . . at that time, Cavafy was one of those forbidden pleasures like the PARIS AND NEW YORK DIARIES OF NED ROREM, and OUR LADY OF FLOWERS by Jean Genet that were available in serious LA and New York bookshops of the period.
I was bored by Rorem and Gide, but there were a few great Cavafy poems, it seemed to me at the time More...
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Aug 27, 2009
Bruce
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This new and acclaimed translation of the 20th century Greek poet, C.P. Cavafy, by Daniel Mendelsohn is one I’ve long wanted to read. The only Cavafy poem I have read previously is “Ithaca,” and I’ve looked forward to reading more, so my finding this book unexpectedly at the public library was felicitous.
I like Cavafy’s classical allusions and his introspection, his invitation to examine one’s life just where one is, in this moment. His poems invite one to see beyond the surface of More...
I like Cavafy’s classical allusions and his introspection, his invitation to examine one’s life just where one is, in this moment. His poems invite one to see beyond the surface of More...
Jun 19, 2009
Undecided. There is a snazzy new translation available (which I did not read) that might change my mind considerably...the collection I read gives his poems in chronological order, and they tend to get better as he gets older - perhaps because his lust/yearning/whatever for very pretty young men (they tend to be "twenty-three" or "twenty-four") becomes more painful, more serious, more interesting...a knowledge of Alexandria/the Classical world is helpful, too. I think some
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Oct 18, 2010
Elizabeth
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God, if I could write like this, I would -- well, I wouldn't be me, but I would have an awesome amount of knowledge about Classical, Late Antiquity, and Modern Greece and Egypt. And be a far more generous person. This is the book that reminds me that Alexandria was a Hellenistic city for a damn long time, a book that overflows with compassion and empathy, a book which moves seamlessly between paganism and early Christianity. I wish there were more notes, but I can understand why Keeley, Sherr
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Feb 06, 2012
Michael
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This comprehensive collection of the poetry of C. P. Cavafy, translated by Daniel Mendelsohn and published in 2009 was an unexpected bridge from the present (my present) to the past (Cavafy's and beyond to the time of ancient civilization). Mendelsohn masterfully translates, edits and curates this collection. The thorough introduction merits a second glance after finishing the collection. Poems are presented in blocks of published, unpublished and "repudiated." Chronological care i
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Jan 29, 2012
Loederkoningin
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I was introduced to Greek poet C.P. Cavafy's work by Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon. The particular poem published in this book, In the Evening,...I wasn't quite prepared for it to captivate me and drench me into a state of bitter sweet melancholy and nostalgia. A fitting poem for a fascinating book. Determined to find out more about this poet, I then found the canon on the Internet. Such a treasure to discover.
I am confused however by the numerous translations. The versions differ More...
I am confused however by the numerous translations. The versions differ More...
May 02, 2010
Armen
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Here is why I think Cavafy is one fo the 20th century's great poets, here is his poem about Antony after he looses the battle of Actium and is forced to flee back to Alexandria, waiting for Augustus to come and kill him - and cavafy imagines the great City abandoning Antony to his fate:
The god forsakes Antony
When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
an invisible procession going by
with exquisite music, voices,
don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
work More...
The god forsakes Antony
When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
an invisible procession going by
with exquisite music, voices,
don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
work More...
Dec 08, 2009
Patrick
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I have been reading Daniel Mendelsohn's translations of Cavafy: Collected Poems and Unfinished Poems. I have read Rae Dalven's translation of his collected poems, and while I enjoyed them, I continued to migrate my favorite modern Greek poet: Seferis. Mendelsohn's translations are revelatory. I have had several friends tell me that Cavafy's poems read in the original Greek are delicious and beautiful, but, alas, I don't understand Greek. Mendelsohn performs some magic here though.
Fir More...
Fir More...
Nov 16, 2009
James
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I own 2 other translations of Cavafy, those of Aliki Barnstone and Edmund Keeley along with Philip Sherrard. My original intent was to reread those simultaneously with this of Daniel Mendelsohn but in the end didn't feel that ambitious. I'd thought this translation and its accompanying notes would combine into a vaultingly good read and a comprehensive understanding of Cavafy's work, but by the time I completed the book I didn't feel that way. The brief comparisons I've made haven't led me to
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May 05, 2009
Jim
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I first encountered Cavafy in the Rae Dalven edition back in the early 80s and immediately fell in love with him. No one has ever fused the poetic ache of eros, memory, sordid physicality and exalted historical consciousness as profoundly as Cavafy – a bookish, unattractive Greek Jew homosexual living in Alexandria at the start of the 20th century. His simplest poems still leave me, sometimes, with a pain and wonder so deep I barely breathe – exactly as you feel when you remember someone you've
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Jul 30, 2011
Cooper
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I've read Cavafy before, in the Keeley-Sherrard and/or Dalven versions, but was curious about this new edition, both for the editorial apparatus and the novelty of having Greek which I can't read alongside the English. I also wanted to see if my opinions about Cavafy would change much in reading again, in new versions. I find once again that, like most lyric poets, Cavafy wrote more unexceptional than exceptional poems, and that "content" took precedence over form too much of the time
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Sep 26, 2010
DoctorM
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I discovered Cavafy via Lawrence Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet"... And found this translation at the old Atticus Books in New Haven. I've been entranced by Cavafy's poetry since I was eighteen... I've read his "In 200 BC" and "The God Abandons Antony" to classes, and read his love poems (a few pronouns suitably altered) to girls in my Past.
And how can one not read his "Exiles" and not sigh?
Cavafy was a Greek living in Alexandria at More...
And how can one not read his "Exiles" and not sigh?
Cavafy was a Greek living in Alexandria at More...
Jul 11, 2007
Jim
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Sometimes I think that the best part of what I cherish in the worlds of art and literature was created by poor Jews and homely homosexuals. Cavafy was both. He was born into a Greek family living in Alexandria in 1863, a city which he came to love as his own life. For me, he is the poet of memory, both personal and cultural. There are several excellent translated collections of his poems; I have at least four. In all of them you'll find poems musing about ancient Greeks and Romans right next to
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Jan 02, 2010
Mohamed
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What can I say about him nothing but it's Cavafy the great Alexandrian Poet I would say to anyone who wants to learn how to write great and simple poetry at the same time go and read Cavafy and learn what poetry really is. Cavafy did not write surrealistic or complicated symbolistic poetry however he is the greatest symbolist poet who ever lived upon the earth he is greater even than Baudelaire because he is much simple. He is very human he can catch the tiniest human emotion and he knows the hu
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May 24, 2011
David
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This collected of poems by the great Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt is a remarkable selection of his work. The translation by Keeley and Sherard is first rate, as of their other works. Cavafy's style evokes a time long gone and yet deals with contemporary subject matter which still makes the work relevant today. Since reading this book 25 years ago, I still pull it out to remind me of the beauty of Alexandria and the Mediterranean.
Nov 05, 2007
Jenna
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These are poems that slow down time, poems that hold a lighted match up to microscopic instants in history until, startled, they unfurl their beautiful wings. The writing style is deceptively simple, the subject matter universal and timeless, the voice authoritative and likable as Sappho's. These are poems that crackle with illicit sexuality and yet, simultaneously, steamroll you with their moral strength and stoicism. Amazing how a single individual, Cavafy, could encompass in a slim book of
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May 31, 2011
Night
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The translation is deeply considered - fastidious but uncollared at the same time. Mendelssohn's also an ideal reader of Cavafy, which makes reading the notes such a pleasure, too. I'm not going to even comment on Cavafy's poetry itself, which is sublime, and Mendelssohn's translation gives it fine life.
Oct 19, 2010
Janna
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Carry this with you onto every single cramped airplane, crowded bus, smelly cab, chained elephant, hurried water taxi, run-down motorcycle, noisy safari jeep, and hot air balloon basket you happen upon. In my experience, you’ll need it most when you’re busy making tracks, ripples, and waves.
Aug 13, 2009
Just started this. Heard the author at the Philadelphia Library. It promises to be a thoughtful, literary translation and the intro is superb. I'll be reading this, along with other things, for some time. I love Cavafy's work.
Dec 18, 2010
Omri
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His poetry pills off skin layers. His words are perfect and suitable, with elegance and delicacy unmatched. Every time I read his works, even the Greek Mythology related, which I rarely understand, I am awestruck and dumbfounded.
Nov 02, 2009
Carl
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I'm not a big reader of poetry, but Cavafy's work has an appealing plain but direct style. This is a library book, so I only dipped and dabbled. Will probably buy a copy at some point, when I can spend more time delving into the classical/post-classical Greek/Roman/Byzantine history that dominates his work.
May 20, 2011
Leigh
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Sherrard and Keeley, incidentally, are the only ones who consistently translate Cavafy to my satisfaction.
Jun 13, 2011
Therese
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I read "The Afternoon sun" and burst into tears. Cavafy is a great, great poet.
