The Nature of Things
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)
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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
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 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.
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.
Long->short: read "The Pebble" if nothing else.
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