Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Nature of Things

by Francis Ponge, Lee Fahnestock (Translator)

4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 · rating details · 64 ratings · 6 reviews

Poetry. Translated from the French by Lee Fahnestock. First published in 1942 and considered the keystone of Francis Ponge's work, Le parti pris de choses appears here in its entirety. It reveals his preoccupation with nature and its metaphoric transformation through the creative ambiguity of language. "My immediate reaction to Lee Fahnenstock's translation was: this must...more

Paperback, 52 pages

Published September 1st 1995 by Red Dust (first published 1967)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 137)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 24, 2009 Ben Loory rated it 5 of 5 stars

i was about halfway through this, and really liking it, when i got to "notes for a sea shell" and was hit by the sudden realization that THIS BOOK IS FUCKING AWESOME!

it's hard to describe what ponge is doing here. he's writing very short semi-scientific prose poem essays about natural objects. descriptions, mainly. rain. pebbles. candle. snail. they're a little bit like haiku, but much longer and for the most part with no formal structure. also, they're not impressionistic at all, but pretty muc...more i was about halfway through this, and really liking it, when i got to "notes for a sea shell" and was hit by the sudden realization that THIS BOOK IS FUCKING AWESOME!

it's hard to describe what ponge is doing here. he's writing very short semi-scientific prose poem essays about natural objects. descriptions, mainly. rain. pebbles. candle. snail. they're a little bit like haiku, but much longer and for the most part with no formal structure. also, they're not impressionistic at all, but pretty much rock solid.

it is hard to explain, but i love them.

this is not representative, really, but it is my favorite:

Instead of those gigantic monuments which testify only to the grotesque disparity between his imagination and his person (or his disgraceful social and convivial habits), or again instead of those statues on his own scale or slightly larger (here I'm thinking of Michelangelo's David), which are simply representations of himself... instead of all that, for some unknown reason I wish that man carved out a sort of niche or shell to his own measure, an object very different from the mollusk form yet similarly proportioned (native African huts are quite satisfying in that respect); I wish that man applied himself through the ages to creating a shelter not much larger than his body, one involving all his imagination and reasoning; that he put his genius to work on appropriate scale rather than disproportion-- or at the very least that his genius recognized the contours of the body that sustains it.

And I do not even admire those who, like the Pharaohs, have monuments to a single man erected by a multitude. I would sooner he had put that multitude to work on something no larger, or not much larger, than his own body or-- which would have been even more commendable-- that he had shown himself superior to other men through the quality of his own work.

In that light I particularly admire certain restrained writers or composers: Bach, Rameau, Malherbe, Horace, Mallarmé-- above all the writers, because their monument is made from the true secretion common to the human mollusk, from the thing most closely proportioned and adapted to his body, yet bearing the least conceivable likeness to his form: I mean LANGUAGE. (less)

like · see review

Dec 30, 2011 Jonathan Rosenbaum rated it 5 of 5 stars

Reading Ponge's Soap many years ago turned me into a lifelong fan. Lee Fahnestock's translation of his first book seems both fluid and graceful.

like · see review

Apr 03, 2007 Conrad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: to-buy, poetry

I borrowed a copy of this book from a high school teacher I had, and sadly have not found another one, but Ponge's work is fascinating. Each of the prose poems in here is devoted to a common household object, which he tries to look at in as fresh a way as possible, describing what it is not, other objects it looks like, etc. Sounds banal, but every single poem in here will surprise you with unforeseen connections. I need to track this down.

like · see review

Aug 05, 2009 Keith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Every once in a while, amidst generally accomplished writing, something jumps out and grabs onto part of you perhaps never vociferated or thought long dead. A testament to literary diligence and, like most anthologies (thought perhaps more distilled), echoes the elations and disappointments, dynamics of sensation, better than any consistent, preconceived narrative ever could.

Long->short: read "The Pebble" if nothing else.

like · see review

Dec 04, 2007 S. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars

Pure. Gorgeous. Prose poems about ordinary things that make them deeply interesting.

like · see review

May 19, 2008 P rated it 5 of 5 stars

Moss rum!

like · see review

May 06, 2013 M. marked it as to-read

Shelves: poetry, with-me-in-ca

Apr 29, 2013 Lucy_k_p marked it as to-read

Apr 14, 2013 Franny marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Apr 10, 2013 Jason J. Blickstein rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 08, 2013 David Haworth Kershaw marked it as to-read

Apr 07, 2013 Orawan Cassidy marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Mar 29, 2013 Leporidae added it

Shelves: poetry

Mar 26, 2013 Nick marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-get

Mar 26, 2013 Dolores Treadway rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 22, 2013 Mackenzie Peck marked it as to-read

Mar 22, 2013 Chris marked it as to-read

Mar 20, 2013 Anwita Ghosh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Mar 19, 2013 Muhammad Husaini marked it as to-read

Mar 12, 2013 Drew Kunz added it

Mar 12, 2013 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 03, 2013 Vive marked it as to-read

Feb 28, 2013 Abi Nathan marked it as to-read

Shelves: canon

Feb 27, 2013 Surya rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Feb 14, 2013 Elena marked it as to-read

Feb 04, 2013 Zandre marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2013 Dan marked it as to-read

Jan 12, 2013 Z Tuck rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: french-literature, 20th-c, poetry, translation, toreview

Jan 05, 2013 Bryant Crowe marked it as to-read

Jan 03, 2013 Oiseaux Invisibles added it

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 next »

European Literature > French Literature

2 users

See top shelves...

Books by Francis Ponge

Le Parti pris des choses / Douze petits écrits / Proêmes

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Nature of Things

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Nature of Things
avg rating	preview: The Nature of Things Goodreads rating: 4.19 (64 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/418054.The_Nature_of_Things?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1174575501l/418054.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/418054.The_Nature_of_Things?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Nature of Things by Francis Ponge[/url]

The Nature of Things

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (8)

Genres

Books by Francis Ponge

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Nature of Things

The Nature of Things

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (8)

Genres

Books by Francis Ponge

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Nature of Things

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (8)