Furor & Mystery and Other Writings (Black Widow Press Translation) (English and French Edition)

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Rene Char is one of the greatest French poets of the 20th Century. He also has a reputation for being difficult, associating with the Surrealists in the 1930s. This aspect that was also perhaps accentuated by the fact he wrote much during his time as a member of the French Resistance and perhaps had to write in a coded way. He was later friends to the likes of Albert Camus and Pablo Picasso.This volume is almost certainly the largest one to date of Char's work in English, consisting of one complete collection published after the war, his aphoristic memoir of his time in the Resistance (Leaves of Hypnos), and a generous selection of other poems from other books. One of the translators was involved in a previous Selection of Char's work, which remains an excellent introduction to his work and includes also translations from poets of the stature of James Wright, Samuel Beckett and William Carlos Williams. Knowing that work also I do miss those translations here, but equally there are also translations that are an improvement on the previous book. There is also a bonus of essays by the translators, academics who knew an studied him (all women interestingly) as well as Char's widow.This is a generous selection of Char's work as all previous ones have been short works. Many of the poems, prose poems and aphorisms are getting their first exposure in English. In one case I was interested in comparing one from in this book to one I have attempted myself. The translators have kept their work faithful to his originals, without over doing the hermeticism.Char deserves reading. The war memoir, shows his frustrations at events, of his existential musings time, as well a strong integrity. After the war Char, refused honours and to engage in witch hunts for collaborators which reflects a certain moral integrity. He is looking for truth, while also looking to what is the truth behind things, which his sometimes oblique metaphors point to.This is a beautifully presented selection of his work and will only further Char's presence in the English Language. Of course the best way to understand Char is in the original French. Mine can only go half way, and Char like all great writers in any language deserves to be known outside his own. Congratulations to everyone involved in this volume. This will only increase appreciation of Char. Many thanks.