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The Flowers of Evil
The Award-Winning Translation
Brief Description
The celebrated, National Book Award-winning translation of Baudelaire's masterpiece. 'It is the English edition to acquire.' Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and translator, Richard Howard, gives readers the true voice of Baudelaire in this masterful translation. Charles Baudelaire's 1857 masterwork was scandalous in its day for...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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See moreBilingual edition of the French masterpiece--with the definitive English translation.
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Description
The celebrated, National Book Award-winning translation of Baudelaire's masterpiece.
'It is the English edition to acquire.' Washington Post
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and translator, Richard Howard, gives readers the true voice of Baudelaire in this masterful translation. Charles Baudelaire's 1857 masterwork was scandalous in its day for its portrayals of sex, same-sex love, death, the corrupting and oppressive power of the modern city and lost innocence, Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) remains powerful and relevant for our time.
In Spleen et ideal, Baudelaire dramatises the erotic cycle of ecstasy and anguish of sexual and romantic love.
Tableaux Parisiens condemns the crushing effects of urban planning on a city's soul and praises the city's anti-heroes including the deranged and derelict.
Le Vin centres on the search for oblivion in drink and drugs. The many kinds of love that lie outside traditional morality is the focus of Fleurs du Mal while rebellion is at the heart of Revolte.
'Howard's achievement is such that we can be confident that his Flowers of Evil will long stand as definitive, a superb guide to France's greatest poet.' The Nation
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781567928273
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher Inc
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 05 June 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: David R. Godine Publisher Inc
Edition: New edition
Illustration: Not illustrated
Contributors:
- Translated by Richard Howard
- Translated by Richard Howard
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 184
Collections
About the Author
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet whose work explored taboo areas of sensuality and sexuality. His highly original style of prose-poetry influenced a whole generation of poets including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stephane Mallarme, among many others. He is credited with coining the term 'modernity' (modernite) to designate the fleeting, ephemeral experience of life in an urban metropolis (such as mid-19th century Paris), and the responsibility of artistic expression to capture that experience.
Richard Howard was one of the most prolific and respected twentieth-century literary critics and translators. He won a Pulitzer Prize, a PEN Translation Prize, a National Book Award (for Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil)), a Literary Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, a MacArthur Fellowship, the title of Chevalier from France's L'Ordre National du Merite, and the position of Poet Laureate of New York.
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