Carol Shields and Neruda at the Heck Of A Guy Internet Sunday Salon
Carol Shields and Pablo Neruda Write About Love
Online Treasures: A Carol Shields Short Story and 60 Pablo Neruda Poems
The impressive contrast between the writings of Carol Shields and Pablo Neruda is a reflection of the cataclysmic differences in the characteristics of their regions (Shields is Canadian; Neruda is Chilean), their genders, their times, and their literary formats.
They have, in fact, so little in common that this post could well contain the only direct comparison between the two.1 And, they appear together here only because I coincidentally discovered online sources of their work within the same day.
Yet, I would contend that the Shield’s short story and the book of Neruda’s poems referenced here limn recognizably congruent images of abiding love. The reader can, of course, determine if my hypothesis is correct on completing the gratifying and enjoyable task of reading this material.
In any case, most of us hunger for - and need - all the perspectives on love that skilled writers, such as Shields and Neruda, can create.
I am a fan of Carol Shields.
I’ve revised that line 16 times this morning; “fan” is a good word for expressing ones almost mindless passion for a basketball team fighting its way to the Final Four or even for describing ones adoration for a singer or a band idolized as a teenager but it hardly seems appropriate for communicating ones appreciation of a serious author. One might, I suppose, admire, respect, esteem, or prize a significant writer, but, in truth, I am a fan of Carol Shields. She is, I’ll warn you now, on my ever growing list of feature-length posts that I want to write.
But for today, I’m offering this link to a complete short story of hers that is available on the net. I believe Shields’ novels are superior to her short stories (I’m a fan but not an undiscerning fan), but some of her strengths are blatantly and enjoyably displayed in this work, and, in any case, this is not a story that requires an apology. I’ve excerpted a portion to whet your appetite.
They thought they’d known each other before they married. He’d reported dutifully, as young men were encouraged to do in those days, his youthful experiences and pleasures, and she, blocked with doubt, had listed off hers. The truth had been darkened out. Now it erupted, came to the surface. He felt a longing to turn to her and say: “This is what I’ve dreamed of all my life, being this tired, this used up, and having someone like you, exactly like you, waking up at my side.”
2. Sixty Poems in Translation by Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda,2 a Chilean poet and diplomat, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, wrote about the struggle of the left in the political context of South America. More pertinent to today’s offering, much of his early work, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, were love poems – sexy, earthy, lush, almost hallucinogenic love poems. Sixty of these, translated from Spanish, are available on the net via the link provided. The excerpt below is from another poem, Drunk As Drunk, which is not in the Sixty Poems but which I’ve chosen as a blogger prerogative because it is one of my favorites.
Drunk as drunk on turpentine
From your open kisses,
Your wet body wedged
Between my wet body and the strake
Of our boat that is made of flowers,
(OK, I’m easy — this is the link to Drunk As Drunk)
Enjoy your Sunday.
Footnotes
- This post is, in that case and until challenged, the definitive statement on the comparative styles of Carol Shields and Pablo Neruda, which, in turn, establishes (ahem) yours truly as the authority on that subject. ~back~
- Neruda is a pen name that was legally adopted later; his original name was Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto ~back~
Hi ! I was reading another journal when I came upon yours. Mary is the name of the journal writer. I was reading one of your entries about Pablo Neruda which I enjoyed. I am a fan of his writing and his poems. I also like your blog its quite interesting. I am glad you shared this in your entry. I will return to read the rest of your entries. Take care.
Comment by Monae — July 24, 2006 @ 12:04 am