In [Millay and Dillon’s] Flowers of Evil a path has been opened for the blending of French and English poetry. Here are translations not smelling at all of the dictionary. ‘The Litanies of Satan’ in particular seems to come from a dim chapel draped with black banners....Let us hope that this book will stand as an English Baudelaire for some time, without the guidebook counterparts.” —Agnes Lee Freer, Poetry
“The perfume of Baudelaire’s infernal flowers still wafts off the page, as powerful a deliriant as ever, 167 years on.” —Mark Dery, 4Columns
Flowers of Evil
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Charles Baudelaire— 1 hours, 28 minutes
Flowers of Evil
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Charles Baudelaire— 1 hours, 28 minutes
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Overview
Editorial Reviews
Mid-nineteenth-century poet and translator Baudelaire is one of the great progenitors of modern poetry. Jonathan Keeble's excellent narration reminds us just how radical this work was and why parts of it were banned in France as late as 1949. Keeble restrains some of the passionate excesses that are part of Baudelaire's radicalism, preserving the contrasts that let the heights of passion stand out. Passion can be low-key as well, and Keeble shows he understands that in the way he delivers a body of work ranging in subject from Satan to cats. A real oversight is the lack of credit on the cover to the translator, James McGowan, who did a fine job. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940169277951 |
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Publisher: | LibriVox |
Publication date: | 08/25/2014 |
Sales rank: | 403,206 |
Read an Excerpt
INTRODUCTION The modern literary spirit was born out of the measured angles so carefully calculated by Laclos. He was the first element discovered by Baudelaire, who was a refined and reasonable explorer from a privileged background, but whose views on modern life contained a particular madness. Laclos delighted in inspiring the corrupt bubbles that rose from the strange and rich literary mud of the Revolution. Like Diderot, Laclos was the intellectual son of Richardson and Rousseau, and his work was continued by Sade, Restif, Nerciat - some of the most notable philosophical storytellers of the late 18th century. Most of them, in fact, contained the seeds of the modern spirit, and they were poised to create a triumphant new era for arts and letters. During this nauseating and often brilliant era of Revolution, Baudelaire mingled his spiritualistic poison with the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, a strange American, who had composed, in the poetic field, work which was as disturbing and as marvellous as the work of Laclos. Baudelaire then is the son of Laclos and Poe. One can easily untangle the influence that each exerted on Baudelaire's prophetic mind and on his work, both so full of originality. As of this year, 1917, when his work enters the public domain, we can not only place him in the front rank of the great French poets, but also award him a place alongside the greatest of universal poets. The evidence for the influence of the cynical writers of the Revolution on Les Fleurs du Mal can be seen everywhere in Baudelaire's correspondence and in his notes. When he decided to translate and adapt Poe's works, strangely, he found a higher lyricism and moral feeling than he had thought was present in the writings of the marvellous Baltimore drunkard and his prohibited readings. In the novelists of the Revolution, he had discovered the importance of the question of sex. From the Anglo-Saxons of the same era, such as de Quincey and Poe, Baudelaire had learned that there were artificial paradises. Their methodical exploration - supported by Reason, the revolutionary goddess - enabled him to reach the lyrical heights towards which the mad American predicants had directed Poe, their contemporary. But Reason blinded him, and he abandoned it as soon as he had reached the heights. Baudelaire then is the son of Laclos and Edgar Allan Poe, but a son who is blind and insane...