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The Galloping Hour

French Poems
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( 357 ratings, 64 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Galloping Hour: French Poems presents for the first time in English the complete collection of French-language poems by Alejandra Pizarnik, written during her time in Paris and later in Buenos Aires. Exploring themes of language's limits, silence, the body, night, sex, and intimacy, this volume reveals the poet's profound emotional landscape and literary influences, including Baudelaire and Rimbaud. Pizarnik's work is noted for its penetrating clarity and emotional intensity.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3199
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This collection is ideal for readers interested in introspective and emotionally charged poetry, fans of 20th-century literary figures, and those drawn to explorations of language, identity, and exile within modernist and postmodern poetry.

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A beautifully produced and exquisitely translated edition of French poems by “the best exponent of the poetry of introversion and metaphorical delirium” (Italo Calvino)

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Galloping Hour: French Poems—never before rendered in English and unpublished during her lifetime—gathers for the first time all the poems that Alejandra Pizarnik (revered by Octavio Paz and Roberto Bolaño) wrote in French. Conceived during her Paris sojourn (1960–1964) and in Buenos Aires (1970–1971) near the end of her tragically short life, these poems explore many of Pizarnik's deepest obsessions: the limitation of language, silence, the body, night, sex, and the nature of intimacy.

Drawing from personal life experiences and echoing readings of some of her beloved/accursed French authors—Charles Baudelaire, Germain Nouveau, Arthur Rimbaud, and Antonin Artaud—this collection includes prose poems that Pizarnik would later translate into Spanish. Pizarnik's work led Raúl Zurita to note: "Her poetry—with a clarity that becomes piercing—illuminates the abysses of emotional sensitivity, desire, and absence. It presses against our lives and touches the most exposed, fragile, and numb parts of humanity."

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise Pizarnik's poetry for its essential rigor and emotional depth. Joshua Cohen highlights the strength in her lines, while Zack Anderson calls reading the collection a privilege. Nathan Scott McNamara remarks on her restless and longing voice that spans languages and continents. Publishers Weekly gave a starred review recognising the poems' intense desire and melancholy. Nick Ripatrazone emphasises the poet's melancholic, recursive style, and Julio Cortázar admired the expansive power of each poem.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780811227742

Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 July 2018

Country: United States

Imprint: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Contributors:

  • Translated by Patricio Ferrari
  • Translated by Forrest Gander

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 218.0mm

Weight: 114g

Pages: 96

About the Author

Alejandra Pizarnik (1936–1972) was born in Argentina and educated in Spanish and Yiddish. In addition to poetry, Pizarnik also wrote experimental works of theater and prose. She died of a deliberate drug overdose at the age of thirty-six. A poet, translator, and editor, Patricio Ferrari has translated the works of Fernando Pessoa and Alejandra Pizarnik, among others. Forrest Gander was born in the Mojave Desert and lives in California. He taught at Harvard University and Brown University. Gander is a translator and the author of many books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. He has received a Pulitzer Prize, the Best Translated Book Award, and fellowships from the Library of Congress, the Guggenheim, Whiting, and United States Artists Foundations.

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