Часть речи

by Joseph Brodsky, Иосиф Бродский

В серии "Азбука-классика" выходят сборники стихотворений И.Бродского, повторяющие издания, выпускавшиеся с 1977-го по 1996 год американским издательством "Ардис".

Genres: Poetry, Russia, Nobel Prize, Russian Literature, Classics, Fiction, 20th Century

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Joseph Brodsky (Russian: Иосиф Бродский] was a Russian-American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad in 1940, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972, settling in America with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters. He taught thereafter at several universities, including Yale, Columbia, and Mount Holyoke. Brodsky was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity." A journalist asked him: "You are an American citizen who is receiving the Prize for Russian-language poetry. Who are you, an American or a Russian?" Brodsky replied: "I'm Jewish; a Russian poet, an English essayist – and, of course, an American citizen." He was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1991.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry surely needs words… And every poet hunts for words in different places…

Since the stern art of poetry calls for words, I, morose,
deaf, and balding ambassador of a more or less
insignificant nation that’s stuck in this super
power, wishing to spare my old brain,
put on clothes – all by myself – and head for the main
street: for the evening paper.

And the state hunted for poets… A vivid poetic word was equal to sabotage against the state…

An autumn evening in the modest square
of a small town proud to have made the atlas
(some frenzy drove that poor mapmaker witless,
or else he had the daughter of the mayor).
Here Space appears unnerved by its own feats
and glad to drop the burden of its greatness –
to shrink to the dimensions of Main Street;
and Time, chilled to its bone, stares at the clockface
above the general store, whose crowded shelves
hold every item that this world produces,
from fancy amateur stargazers’ tel-
escopes to common pins for common uses.

But poetry turned out to be stronger than the state, and more durable.

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A loyal subject of these second-rate years,
I proudly admit that my finest ideas
are second-rate, and may the future take them
as trophies of my struggle against suffocation.
I sit in the dark. And it would be hard to figure out
which is worse: the dark inside, or the darkness out.

I sent the above to host of people the other day, a warmish winter day, wet and windy when I felt so present and engaged if only to the fleeting.

Brodsky spoke to me.

He is the nexus of numerous cross currents, a pulsing collapse of the heartfelt onto the soberly observational. Etymologically, Gospel means good news and I'm not sure I could welcome such by either label these days.

And in my throat, where a boring tale
or tea, or laughter should be the norm,
snow grows all the louder and "Farewell!"
darkens like Scott wrapped in a polar storm.

This is what I need now.

[Shakhla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Разумно, болезненно, красиво, гениально, одним словом - по-Бродски.
"Все будут одинаковы в гробу. Так будем хоть при жизни разнолики!"
"Мир, вероятно, спасти уже не удастся, но отдельного человека — всегда можно"

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brodsky’s is a voice of exile. He’s playful yet tired, aloof and probably lonely. He explores different places and ideas of space and time.

[Viktoria Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brodsky was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature and having already completed his “Watermark” I knew I had to check out his other works too, hence why I came across “A Part of Speech” and how glad I am! For as someone who loves history, I couldn’t be more excited for every small historical and mythological context Brodsky had added in his poems. In poetry it is hard to really judge a poet based on his work, for his poems can vary greatly from one another, and, also, as it depends upon one’s own tastes, but with Brodsky I just knew he had deserved a five star rating. He truly managed to become one of my favorite poets ever.

[Ksenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

После стольких лет уже безразлично, что
Или кто стоит у окна за шторой,
И в мозгу раздается не земное "до",
Но ее шуршание. Жизнь, которой,
Как дареной вещи, не смотрят в пасть,
Обнажает зубы при каждой встрече.
От одного человека вам остается часть
речи. Часть речи вообще. Часть речи.

[Romano]

La estética de la contradicción. Joseph Brodsky escribió los mejores versos de amor, odio, admiración y desprecio a México. Fue un poeta con una enorme sensibilidad espiritual y una mirada de admiración por los espacios.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A huge part of what made this book good was the translators: Derek Walcott, Anthony Hecht, and Richard Wilbur each translated a couple of poems in here. Most of the best poems I found were translated by people I didn't know.

The humor in the first half of the poem is really well done. He has these "self-situating" poems, as Michael Hofmann calls them, in which he writes about a foreign city and sort of tries to put the situation into focus, often to funny and subtly satirical effect. It reminded me a little of Andrey Voznesensky, but more grounded.

I didn't like every poem in the book (which is understandable for a 150-page collection), but I found something really striking in almost every poem and in almost every section of the many series he includes. Very good.

[Kasandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

STUNNING. I started this in October and am still reading it in December, because I have to stop and re-read some poems repeatedly. At least one is challenging me to try to memorize it. Not sure I'm capable (I have a very poor memory).... but... worth a try.

AWESOME. Yes, you might say, of course, he won the Nobel Prize for Lit., why wouldn't it be awesome? But really, this is amazing, real, insightful, funny, poignant, incredibly well-crafted in every sense (sound, meter, humor, imagery, magic, music, surprise, wit, emotion) and not at all pretentious.

[Mihai · Rating 5 out of 5]

For him, as to paraphrase the ending of his Nobel lecture, poetry was powerful than any drug or alcohol. To write poetry meant to tap intro three modes of cognition: analytical (he can muster the concentration needed to create, to understand how to show the world), intuitive (to let the verse go as a river, from his mind to the paper in front of him), but mostly a revelation (a line where something divine comes through as sent by divine inspiration). He also said that those three appear together only to a poet, hence the dependency of ones one creation.

This comes with a warning, a curse more real than anything else: the poem can outlast the poet. And the poem also outlasts the reader. In the same Nobel lecture, this reality, one which we prefer to ignore, is one of the most striking features that his own art creates. Because his poems are about that: about simple instances - couples who live a live devoid of secrets where the banality of everyday life is in itself love. Places where all things surpass creators. Simple, defective, people, who are blessed to tell the beauty of the same public banalities. Tales of words, of the old soviet lands, of dictatorships and their borders next to ones mind. Love for languages.

In the end, I must confess, I need to re-read it. I thing I, in a couple of years will see it's pages differently. And I am now sure, as he said, they will surpass me.

[Uladzislau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Подборка стихотворений Иосифа Бродского, написанных накануне и в первые годы эмиграции, составленная самим автором. Книга явным образом иллюстрируют творческую эволюцию Бродского от гениального поэта к гениальному версификатору. Почему так получилось, бог его знает, но аналогичным образом можно заметить, что подавляющее большинство шедевров Баха написано им в возрасте до 30 лет. Позднего Бродского, как и позднего Баха, можно читать (слушать), восхищаясь совершенством формы, но не хочется ни запоминать ни цитировать.
Рубежом здесь представляется 1972 год. Удивительным образом, в одноименном стихотворении Иосиф Бродский метафорически похоронил себя. Поэт умер раньше его физического носителя. В любом случае, Бродский остается последним классическим поэтом, писавшем на русском языке.

[David Barrios · Rating 3 out of 5]

[La calificación no es más alta debido a la traducción que leí, la publicada por Versal, más que al libro.]

Aún así: Librazo, muy recomendable. La poesía de Brodsky en este libro está cargada de imágenes evocadoras, en donde el exilio (y la mirada del exiliado) es una constante.

Hay unos poemas muy buenos, incluídos unos que llevó a cabo tras una visita a México. Precisamente estos ya los había leído en inglés y al comparar ambas versiones (la hecha en inglés traducida en colaboración con el propio Brodsky) la versión en español resulta más bien deficiente.

[Alexander Hertzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried myself at this collection in remembrance of an old friend. Though, I admit that most of Joseph Brodsky’s poems just went over my head. There are a few simpler poems, which I generally liked more. My favorites include: “A Song to No Music”, “Nature Morte”, “The Butterfly”, and “A Part of Speech”.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent translation. Beautiful poems! Some Nobel prize winners have been questionable choices, but not Brodsky. Brodsky was a BEAST!

[Goodness · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una estupenda sorpresa me deparó la lectura de este Parte de la oración. Muy pronto llegará la relectura y, seguramente, la buscaré otros textos de este autor.

[Dmitry Sharikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

красиво

[Anastasiia Bereza · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Все то, что я писал в те времена,
сводилось неизбежно к многоточью.
Я падал, не расстегиваясь, на
постель свою. И ежели я ночью
отыскивал звезду на потолке,
она, согласно правилам сгоранья,
сбегала на подушку по щеке
быстрей, чем я загадывал желанье".

Когда бы я еще прочла от начала до конца сборник стихов, если бы не решила в новом году прочесть 100 лучших книг по версии Дмитрия Быкова? Конечно, никогда.

Поэзия обычно это преобладание формы над смыслом, но в случае Бродского это победа краткости над многословием. В каждой строчке - биография. В отдельном стихе - целая жизнь.

[Elisacantero · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my very favorite poets, and this is his best work. The actual poem "Part of Speech" is absolutely gripping, and no matter the mood, I find myself going to it every so often. I long to learn Russian, just to read it in the original language. Side note: he taught at Mount Holyoke College, and I ended up going to a college nearby that allowed me to take course at MH. Sadly, he died the year before I got to college...but I did hear - from an ex-Poetry professor who studied under him - that he was an inspiring professor when he wasn't enraged or drunk.

[Lisajean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joseph Brodsky won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987 "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity."

Brodsky was the twentieth Nobel laureate I read, and I appreciated being able to flip between the English and Russian versions of his poems. It's interesting because Brodsky translated most of his poems himself, and I almost wish he hadn't. The English poems, especially the rhyming ones, tend to have a certain sing-song quality that robs them of a degree of "poetic intensity" that is unadulterated in the Russian originals.

[Baasanka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore Brodsky, but I really do prefer his "pre-immigration" poems - they just seem a bit simpler, raw, maybe more emotional. Of course this is a matter of personal taste, but if you are only familiar with Brodsky's earlier works, just be aware that his writing style changed quite a bit in the early 70s. I absolutely loved a couple of the poems in here, some were pretty good, but most I felt fairly indifferent towards.

[James Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome poetry a master at work ! must be in the top all time poetry reads , my fav is nature morte what a poem ...

[Luba · Rating 5 out of 5]

a one-of-a-kind Genius

[idle sign · Rating 4 out of 5]

Замечательная работа с русским языком.

[Kenneth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Life is too short for bad poetry.

[Gediminas Kontrimas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ateina genijai ir vėl išnyksta. Atėjo Brodskis visiems laikams. Nu.

[Nott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ты всем была. Но, потому что ты
теперь мертва, Бобо моя, ты стала
ничем, точнее - сгустком пустоты.
Что тоже, как подумаешь, не мало.