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June 30, 2009 COMMEMORATING THE 210TH ANNIVERSARY OF ALEXANDER PUSHKIN’S BIRTH The Pushkin Foundation in St. Petersburg Russia (Издательство Пушкинский Фонд) is commemorating the 210th anniversary of the birth of Russia’s national bard by publishing My Talisman, The Lyric Poetry of Alexander Pushkin--a bilingual edition of 180 of Pushkin’s most beloved poems, plus extensive excepts from Eugene Onegin, plus commentary and a lively biography of the poet, illustrated handsomely by Pushkin’s own remarkable drawings. The translation is by noted American poet and translator Julian Henry Lowenfeld. Excerpts from first reviews are attached: Vecherniy New York Vitaly Orlov Russia’s greatest poetess Marina Tsvetaeva once wrote, in 1936: “ They say Pushkin is untranslatable…How can something be untranslatable when it is already translated into words once already? Is not verse above all the expression in human language of the inexpressible, an embassy in human speech from the divine, the ineffable? Ah, yes, but the translator of this translator must first of all be a poet himself. ” Julian Lowenfeld is a divinely inspired poet…His translations perfectly—and seemingly effortlessly— capture in English the magical lyricism, lightness, music, and grace of the Russian original. His introduction and biography of our national poet also sparkle with enormous talent and incredible accomplishment. His book is an utter joy. Novoye Russkoye Slovo Oleg Vulf, Virginia Woolf has described the attempts of English-speaking translators to convey the jewels of Russian literature into English as follows: “Only a crude approximation of the original meaning survives, and the Russian classics seem to stagger out at us in shock like victims of a train wreck or an earthquake.” Georges Nivat agreed: “Pushkin has suffered more from this than any other great Russian author.” Yet we Russians, who have revered Pushkin from childhood as our greatest national treasure, look on with shame and impatience as attempt after attempt to translate Pushkin ends with the inevitable conclusion that Pushkin is untranslatable. Perhaps the reason is that we expect nothing less than a miracle from the translator. In other words, we want not just the meanings of the words to be conveyed with scrupulous accuracy, not just a complete scholarly approach, but also with complete poetic triumph on par with the original. We have been waiting for, at long last, a reflection of the charm of his poetry, his creativity, his musicality, designed not just for the foreign-language Russian scholar, but for any person at all, anyone who has the capacity to appreciate poetry. We want a work that is spiritual and soulful, a work that, in Nabokov’s phrase, “reflects that particular state of grace which is Pushkin’s, in which you feel yourself somewhere, somehow, anyhow locked in union with a higher, deeper, power, in a place where art, curiosity, tenderness, grace, and joy are the norm.” Such a norm abounds in American writer, poet, and translator Julian Henry Lowenfeld’s My Talisman, The Poetry of Alexander Pushkin, containing over 700 pages of inspired translation…Exceptionally praiseworthy and compelling as well are his introduction and the biography of the poet, which give a key to understanding his life, works, and uniqueness, and reveals how Pushkin’s personality and creative growth transformed his poetic achievement into an inimitable feat of daring, in which the fate of the poet and the works themselves were woven together seamlessly. The profound research, and the attention paid to odd and mystical coincidences, the analysis of turning points in the poet’s life, the guesses, the imaginative hypotheses, the fundamental understanding, as if he were one of “ours”, and above all, the enormous love with which the work is written, and its intelligence, cheer, sharpness, and wit make this biography of the poet truly something that you almost do not read, but literally swallow down eagerly in one breath. This book is truly amazing, remarkable for its breadth, its understanding, its playfulness, its rejoicing in Pushkin’s language, shades of meaning, subtleties, ambiguities, and the grand genealogy of Pushkin’s immense vocabulary, which the translator, who himself knows eight languages, having studied at Harvard and then Leningrad State University, is uniquely placed to catch. If modern physics is devoted to making the realm of what surpasses our comprehension comprehensible in thought, great poetry collects and links at first seemingly unrelated and distant thoughts and conveys them into feeling through words. The “depth, seriousness, and inevitability” of true poetry, in [Nobel-prize winning poet] Joseph Brodsky’s words, become more needed more than ever. Which makes all the more indispensable, in our contemporary demanding life, this beautiful book by Julian Lowenfeld.” The Pushkin Review Professor Adrian Wanner, Chair, Russian Department, Penn State University Lowenfeld’s rendering of Pushkin’s dramatic verse is particularly brilliant…The stately “Shakespearean” quality of Lowenfeld’s blank verse perfectly captures the effect of the Russian original. Aside from Lowenfeld’s perfect stylistic pitch, his translation also preserves Pushkin’s musicality, whimsy, and wit. Given that Pushkin is not as well known in the English-speaking world as he ought to be, Lowenfeld’s translations deserve a wide readership. Pushkinskiy Museum Professor Elena Alexandrova Lowenfeld’s translations have an emotional impact, a lightness, a freedom, and an effortlessness that befit the original. He preserves the musicality and the grace of the original perfectly. It is frequently simply astounding how exact his translations are…Lowenfeld has a brilliant feel for the magic of the line of Pushkin verse which creates complete immersion for the English reader into Pushkin’s thoughts and feelings. His translations are elegant, intimate, lively, fun, yet philosophical. He has achieved the majesty of the Great Russian poet’s original, while keeping the musicality an grace in a way which surpasses all previous translations. |
