Into the Snow - Selected Poems of Gennady Aygi

by Gennady Aygi

Gennady Aygi's poems are as pleasurable for the uniqueness and clarity of their crafting as they are for the spirit they express.and — the fields — rise — into the skyfrom each star — there is — a courseto every other — starGennady Aygi (1934�2006) is regarded as the Chuvash national poet. Relatively unpublished until the 1980s in the Soviet Union, he has been celebrated abroad, nominated for the Nobel Prize on multiple occasions, and translated into more than twenty languages.Sarah Valentine is a poet and scholar who teaches at the University of California Riverside. This is her first book of translations.

Genres: Poetry

Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Gennady Nikolaevich Aygi (Russian: Геннадий Николаевич Айги, Chuvash: Геннадий Николаевич Айхи; 21 August 1934 - 21 February 2006, Moscow) was a Chuvash poet and a translator. His poetry is written both in Chuvash and in Russian. Aygi is widely considered to be one of the great avant-garde poets from the former Soviet Union. He was born in Chuvashia, then a Soviet Republic, and moved to Moscow in 1953 to study at the Literary Institute. Though Aygi's poetry was not published in the Soviet Union until the 1980s, his work was widely translated and he received numerous honors, including multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize.

Reviews

[PLOP! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translator Sarah Valentine puts a fresh spin on the experimental master’s Russian and Chuvashian poems, capturing Aygi’s brilliantly diverse styles ... As sprawling as it is specific, Into the Snow serves as a powerful introduction into the work of the cold, desolate writer ... At times Aygi’s work feels almost natural and Romantic ... He plays with form, derives and influences, and his work is consistently exciting.

[Sharon L. Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about about this poet prior to receiving a copy of his book through Goodreads. Aygi's verse is powerful and a must-read. References to folk songs and art may be unfamiliar but might convince the reader to look up these works. DO plan on reading this collection aloud, as is suggested for specific pieces (in one case, with another individual).

[Cooper Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the most delightful things here are based on folk poems/songs, and in most of the completely original poems, the focus is on image and clever bits of language--sense, in any ordinary sense, is not the point. I've found myself pretty cold to most Russian poetry, but Aygi is enigmatic, sly, sometimes beautiful.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very glad I read this collection of poems. The author engages the world and engages God in the course of his poems. This Chuvash poet uses marvelous metaphors and imaginative leaps to invite us to see the world as he sees it. I will find myself turning to these poems again and again I’m sure.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valentine's translations allow the English language reader to experience Aygi like no translations of his before. The sparse and eloquent world of Aygi is revealed here in a deft and ethereal manner. Into the Snow is a necessary and enriching addition to English language poetry in translation.