Description:
A new translation of what's considered to be the first modern collection of prose poems.
Brief description:
Louis (Aloysius) Bertrand, a French Romantic writer, was born in Northern Italy in 1807 and died in 1841. In Paris, he associated with the literati of his time (Hugo, Sainte-Beuve) but could not interest publishers in his work. Finally, the sculptor Pierre-Jean David (David d'Angers) took up the cause of seeing Gaspard de la Nuit into print, which happened the year after Bertrand died. Gaspard is considered to be the first modern collection of prose poetry.
Review Quotes:
"A splendid translation of Bertrand, which makes available a text that brings to the light of day the underside of experience that has not yet been noticed. There is some curious mingling of the ordinary and the extraordinary in Bertrand, whose angle of vision and unique perspective have yielded an outstanding text."
- Lawrence Fixel