STOLEN AIR Paperback – Deckle Edge, March 9, 2012

I love the fact that Wiman acknowledges that these poems are not pure "translations" as much as his own poetic permutations. To the purists who would disparage this impulse, let me say, if only we could all be so lucky--to have a reader centuries after our death reinvigorate our work in a new language, while retaining the heart and ear of the original pieces. This book is a revelation--absolutely one of my favorite books of all time. Every time I read it, "I [am] alive in the blizzard of the blossoming pear" and the self-shattering power of this book as well.

I have been reading the poems of Osip Mandelstam in translation since I first encountered him through Nadezhda Mandelstam's magnificent memoir, Hope Against Hope, in 1970. Many very fine poets have produced fine versions in English of the poems and prose of the most amazing Russian poet of modern times--one is tempted to say, certainly one of the most amazing poets, period. W.S. Merwin and Clarence Brown, James Green, Sidney Monas, Bernard Meares, and others have helped make him available to those of us with limited or no Russian.Now we have Christian Wiman and Ilya Kaminsky's magnificent Stolen Air: Selected Poems of Osip Mandelstam. I do not mean in any way to denigrate the achievements of the other poets and translators, but only to say that Wiman and Kaminsky have created a truly great book, a work of power and poetry that brings Mandelstam to us (that in itself is a great achievement), offering him to us in the form of English poems that stand with the best of modern poetry--not just of translations (of which we are privileged in our time to have many that achieve greatness as translation--from Daniel Mendelsohn, John Ashbery, Richard Howard, to name only a few) but great poetry. For anyone who values Mandelstam, for anyone who cares at all about poetry, Wiman's volume is essential. Read it however you can, buy it if you can. You will treasure it.

I wrote out a longer version of this review with quotes from a number of the poems. I ditched it. The whole is so much better than the tease of passages. Every poem in this book is great. And sometimes, maybe often, Wiman's versions of Mandelstam's poems are absolutely stunning. I say "Wiman's versions" because many of these are more than just translations. They are English language versions of Mandelstam's poems created with license to give the feeling of Mandelstam instead of the precise words of Mandelstam. I like Wiman's own poetry as well, but I do not find that these poems are close in style to Wiman's own poetry. He and his muses have achieved an amazing volume of poetry. I am giving copies of this book to children and grandchildren, something I almost never do. They are that good.

Book arrived in beautiful condition as promised. A really lovingly made book of poetry, as a poetry book should be. And what a privilege to be able to experience the beauty that can come from a searching mind when the world around is mad. An enormous debt to Christian Wiman for that. My favorite - The Necklace.

These translations are beautiful and memorable. I have no idea how faithful they are to the original. But the mind for images and sounds is definitely not missing. Its also good (though disturbing) to read some of Mandelstam's later poems, right before his untimely death at the hands of the criminally insane.

Gorgeous poetry ... and an exceptional translator to match. A must buy for anyone who appreciates poetry.

No comments.

Mandelstam is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century and, unfortunately, little known by general readers in the US. Among the virtues of this book is Ilya Kaminsky's introduction, which is not only informative, but lyrical and poetic itself. As other reviewers have noted, Wiman's poetry captures (I trust, not reading Russian) a muscular musical sound to Mandelstam's poetry that is lacking in other translations. I appreciate, for example, Wiman's assertive use of alliteration, assonance, and internal and slant rhyme. Some of the poems virtually punch one from the page. Among my favorites are "Bring Me To The Brink" ("The pain that sings in me does not sing, and is true") ; "Leningrad"; "Gown of Iron"; Faith ("Mother of maple, mother of snow"); "To Natasha Schtempel" ("Because the soul of brokenness is the soul") and the sublime poem "The Necklace." In the latter case, though, I find the translation by W.S. Merwin and Clarence Brown more forthright and simpler, in a positve way. Compare these two translations:"Love, what's left for us, and of us, is thisLiving remnant, loving revenant, brief kissLike a bee flying completed hiveless" (Wiman)"For us, all that's left is kissestattered as the little beesthat die when they leave the hive" (Merwin)Of course, this is purely subjective, but I find Merwin's translation, without the verbal tricks, more effective in capturing the melancholy sense of ending, with the bittersweet solace of love, than Wiman's.Occasionally, Wiman's translations of Mandelstam (and Wiman is very upfront and honest that these are ultimately his poems, not Mandelstam's, because of the nature of translation) read too contemporary to me, too much like Wiman's own poetry or the poetry of Franz Wright.Nevertheless, this is certainly a book that contemporary poets and readers of poetry should own.