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Only Mystery: Federico Garcia Lorca's Poetry in Word and Image
Weaving together twenty-one full-color drawings and new translations of prose pieces and poems, Only Mystery presents a textured life of Spain's greatest modern poet and playwright.
In 1936 a death squad executed thirty-eight-year-old Federico Garcia Lorca, dumping the body into an unmarked common grave near his native city of Granada. This volume of his visual art - largely unknown - and his writing chronicles Lorca's short existence, beginning with poems of his childhood and ending with his prophesies of assassination. The work illuminates his vision of nature, the gypsies of southern Spain, his experiences in New York, and, above all, his sense of the mystery of love and death.
The guiding principles for selecting poems, prose, and paintings were dramatic effect and narrative cohesion. Originally designed for performance in Readers Theatre, Only Mystery may be appreciated as both a dramatic text for performance and an illustrated narrative of the poet's lyrical world.
In 1936 a death squad executed thirty-eight-year-old Federico Garcia Lorca, dumping the body into an unmarked common grave near his native city of Granada. This volume of his visual art - largely unknown - and his writing chronicles Lorca's short existence, beginning with poems of his childhood and ending with his prophesies of assassination. The work illuminates his vision of nature, the gypsies of southern Spain, his experiences in New York, and, above all, his sense of the mystery of love and death.
The guiding principles for selecting poems, prose, and paintings were dramatic effect and narrative cohesion. Originally designed for performance in Readers Theatre, Only Mystery may be appreciated as both a dramatic text for performance and an illustrated narrative of the poet's lyrical world.
141 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2023
This book was such a stunning surprise! I requested it thinking it was a straightforward poetry collection, but it ended up being a script from a choral reading production featuring Lorca's poetry, journal entries, and drawings. Knowing that my mom lovingly taught his work for decades, Lorca is a special writer to me but I haven't read a ton of his work first hand.
I was so enamored with the poetry selections + the thoughtful translations, and the overall effect of reading this moved me deeply. While I knew the general biographical outline on Lorca, the background information in the introductions helped me gain more understanding of the significance of Lorca's Andalusian roots, the spirituality inherent in the land, people, and nature, and how that was such a guiding force in his writing -- it sounds like he felt a duty to depict, document, and honor his surroundings.
The section about his trip to New York in the 1920s stood in stark contrast + honestly really cracked me up. He HATED New York and everything it stood for in terms of capitalist industrialism, waste, and the soullessness of America. I remember one line about looking out at New York at sunrise and just seeing "towers of slime" lmaoooo.
Maybe my favorite section was the group of poems about his friend and famous torero Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. So much love, grief, and existential wonder. It really broke my heart.
Reading this was truly such a magical experience for me + I can't wait to read more of his work!!
I was so enamored with the poetry selections + the thoughtful translations, and the overall effect of reading this moved me deeply. While I knew the general biographical outline on Lorca, the background information in the introductions helped me gain more understanding of the significance of Lorca's Andalusian roots, the spirituality inherent in the land, people, and nature, and how that was such a guiding force in his writing -- it sounds like he felt a duty to depict, document, and honor his surroundings.
The section about his trip to New York in the 1920s stood in stark contrast + honestly really cracked me up. He HATED New York and everything it stood for in terms of capitalist industrialism, waste, and the soullessness of America. I remember one line about looking out at New York at sunrise and just seeing "towers of slime" lmaoooo.
Maybe my favorite section was the group of poems about his friend and famous torero Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. So much love, grief, and existential wonder. It really broke my heart.
Reading this was truly such a magical experience for me + I can't wait to read more of his work!!
October 31, 2011
It begins with background information on Lorca. The authors compiled and translated Lorca's work and put it in a reader's theatre. Most of this book is the script. Lorca's art is featured, too.
September 25, 2013
I really enjoyed Lorca's poetry though I did not understand it all.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews