I've read this many times, and every single time I feel like I've found some new gem. What amazes me most about this book is the English translation on one side and the Spanish translation on the other. I'm a total sucker for emotional, provoking poetry, and this book of poetry was written during a time of exile for Neruda. Neruda has a very intriguing voice, and he puts you RIGHT THERE. One of my favorites. Slow Lament"Into the night of the heartyour name drops slowlyand moves in silence and fa...

This book was a gift from my mother, and I love it. The poems are beautiful, but I tend to like the spanish versions better. The english version are on the opposite page which is helpful in case you don't know some of the vocabulary. Neruda is an amazing poet, and these poems are worth reading several times over just to get all of the nuances.

Its is a region, I have already spokenof this region so lonely,where the earth is filled with ocean,and there is no one but a horse's hoof prints,there is no one but the wind, there is no onebut the rain falling over the waters of the sea,no one but the rain growing over the sea.

The translator for this collection, Donald Walsh, in his Translator’s Note, sites critic Amado Alonso who declares: “‘Instead of the traditional procedure, which describes a reality and suggests its poetic sense between the lines, poets like Neruda describe the poetic sense and nebulously suggest to which reality it refers’” (363). Amen. Instead of moving from the concrete to the abstract or allowing metaphors to emanate from the specific, Neruda seems to dwell, in the bulk of his work, on abstr...

For me, Neruda's poetry is nourishment of the richest and most inspired sort - and in Residence on Earth its beautiful, lyrical melodies ring nearly as sublime in Donald Walsh's sterling translations as in the Spanish of the Chilean Master. Off-and-on my favorite collection of Neruda's genius, one that never sits for long on my bookshelves.The day of the luckless, the pale day peers outwith a chill and piercing smell, with its forces gray,without rattles, the dawn oozing everywhere:it is a shipw...

I could brew a pot of coffee or two and read Neruda for hours, sift through image after image, some in crackling color, some in black and white, some with dead and bleeding soldiers, vulgar war, and some a simple heartbeat you feel in your own soul.

These poems cover a wide range of human experience, from introspective pieces on loneliness, friendship, fear, etc. to outward-looking social justice works. In the Residences there's alot to pick from, some losers, mostly great.The poems translate well into English, particularly since Neruda was usually involved in the translation, but you'll miss out on the sounds if you can't at least sound out the Spanish text.

RESIDENCIA EN LA TIERRAPablo Neruda[* ] 1/2 Star.This book is hard to fully get since vanguardists are wonky at best (which I tend to approve) but damn, his background makes me dislike the dude. I spent the whole class on a "what the heck? stop whining!" state of mind.I'm a subjective person trying to get rid of her emotions so I can be somewhat of an objective adult here. I can't help but judge him though and I dislike the fact. His writing may be quite good but his constant whining without tak...

For the 1st half of the book * * * but for the 2nd half. * * * * This man is one of the most influential poet of all times with his subtle poetry, realistic approach, beautiful style & thought-provoking stanzas. I am alone among rickety substances,the rain falls upon me and it seems like me,like me with its madness, alone in the dead world,rejected as it falls, and without persistent shape.I look for you, I look for your image among the medalsthat the gray sky models and abandons,I do not know w...

Certainly Neruda is one of the greatest poets in any language. This, I believe, is his magnum opus. Really three collections in one, it ranges over a vast terrain of love, endurance, teleology, politics, mourning and renewal. It is clear that the isolation he felt during his time abroad as a diplomat provided him the impetus to dive into primal regions in ways few are ever capable of. Nearly every line is stunning, a surprise that provides not just a source of thought but a new profound experien...

Residence on Earth is a stimulating and earthy collection of Pablo Neruda's poetry from the 1930s and 40s. It is a mix of the personal and the natural (which he marries exceptionally) and the political (which are a bit dated with their communistic ideals, though still interesting). I've long since learned that the best way to read Neruda is to just let the poems flow over you like a river, in keeping with the Chilean poet's irrepressible ability for making ordinary natural occurrences and person...

Meh ://

But, like earth's memory, like the stonysplendor of metal and silence,is your victory, people, fatherland, and grain.Your riddled banner advances like your breast above the scarsof time and earth.

There is a lot here, so its taking a while to get through, but it is worth every moment.His imagery is intense and incredible, so much so that I feel as if I am getting sucked into each poem.Also, Neruda, if the colloquialism may be pardoned, is savage. He has no problem with pointing fingers at who he sees as the villains of the Spanish Civil War. He criticizes the Catholic Church of Spain (which largely sided with the militarists), tradition, and even directly accuses individuals. He has a poe...

After finishing 2666 I started reading the books Bolaño loved and thought I'd start with poetry. Having known more about Pablo Neruda than having known his work first-hand, I decided to start with this collection. When asked what his favorite poem by Neruda was, Bolaño said, "almost any in RESIDENCE ON EARTH." I forget that appreciating poetry in another language is quite different from appreciating prose in another language, and I do feel a barrier to the texts of these poems. What comes across...

This is the poetry book I most return to. I read each poem in Spanish first for its magical and musical quality and then in English to hear the bluntness of the words. Neruda's writing is, for me, elemental and raw. He goes to the heart of things. Red, black, azure, salt, blood, pain, loss, dirt, victory, heart, love, moon, silence, rain, night, sobs, fury, battles, death, absence, rust, flesh, glass, el mar... Brings to mind paintings of Dali, Picasso, Chagall. His words come to life before my

I have a hard time reviewing poetry as I find poetry more visceral than cerebral, especially when it comes to Pablo Neruda. Even when he discusses his politics, or his environment, his words evoke such emotion in me. His poetry is not just about love for another woman as a lot of poetry does, and occasionally there is the disdainful poem which only illustrates to me his humanity.Neruda is a poet to be experienced, not taught. Do yourself the favor of reading something by him.

I loved this book until I got to section IV of Third Residence, p. 248, "Spain in Our Hearts". At this point Neruda is overwhelmed by grief over the Spanish civil war and his intricate surrealist imagery gives way to dull political poetry. Section headings: "Spain poor through the fault of the rich", "General Franco in Hell", "The Unions at the Front", "A New Love Song to Stalingrad". Plenty of great stuff before that, though: "Ghost of the Cargo Boat", "El Desenterrado", and others stayed with

My all-time favorite author is Isabelle Allende. The worlds she builds are evocative, emotional and memorable. I wanted to understand her influences, so I read a book of poetry by her favorite author, Pablo Neruda.Neruda lived in historic times. He was an envoy to the Second Spanish Republic before its fall to the fascist regime of Francisco Franco. He was a Senator in his native Chile in the 40's, and in 1964 when Jean-Paul Sartre was offered the Nobel Prize in Literature, Sartre refused to acc...

It took me a long time to go through this book, reading (and rereading) a few poems a day with a cup of tea. The writing is lush and descriptive but accessible. The book is three parts (three “residences”) and it’s interesting to see the focus shift as he evolves as a poet. The first two residences were beautiful but I didn’t enjoy the third as it focused primarily on war propaganda on the Spanish front and the red army. However, I will say that Neruda does a great job of responding in his poetr...