Selected Poems

by Lars Gustafsson, John Irons (Translator)

Swedish-English bilingual ebook edition. Poet, novelist, and philosopher Lars Gustafsson is one of Europe’s leading literary figures. Much of his writing is concerned with the search for moral consciousness and the relationship between personal experience and self-awareness, imbued with a philosophically founded scepticism toward language. His poetry is renowned for relating the metaphysical to the mundane with a particular clarity and precision, illuminating the potency of ordinary objects and everyday events as he addresses critical issues that have concerned great thinkers over the centuries. His first book of poetry to be published in Britain has an introduction by Per Wåstberg. Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation.

Genres: Poetry

362 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2015

About the author

Lars Gustafsson was a Swedish poet, novelist and scholar. He completed his secondary education at the Västerås gymnasium and continued to Uppsala University; he received his Licentiate degree in 1960 and was awarded his Ph.D. in Theoretical Philosophy in 1978. He lived in Austin, Texas until 2003, and has recently returned to Sweden. From 1983 he served as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught Philosophy and Creative Writing, until May 2006, when he retired. In 1981 Gustafsson converted to Judaism.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the shoe-gazing of twentieth century poetry. (Literally! One poem, “Conversation Between Doubters,” is a meditation on a man gazing at his boots.) It is languid, introspective, and with darkly beautiful strings of words….but ultimately leaves one feeling empty (at best) and bored (at worst). The only redeeming feature of this book is the extraordinary photographs by Arthur Tress, which had me scrambling to add some of his photographic collections to my list of books to read. As for Gustafsson’s poetry? I have little desire to read more.

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sky of summer rain — like an X-ray plate
where lights and vague shadows appear dimly.
The forest silent and not a single bird.
Your own eye like a spilled drop under the clouds,
with the world's reflection: lights and vague shadows.
And suddenly you see who you are:
perplaxed stranger between mind and clouds,
merely by the thin membrane of an image
are the depths of the world and the eye's darkness held apart.

[Mills College Library]

839.7174 G9827s 1972

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the January 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...