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A Season In Hell: The Psychological Autobiography Of Arthur Rimbaud
Written by Rimbaud at age 18 in the wake of a tempestuous affair with fellow poet, Paul Verlaine, A Season in Hell has been a touchstone for anguished poets, artists and lovers for over a century. This volume presents the text in French and English with photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe.
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Community Reviews
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I'm an organized person. Psychotically organized. Except when it comes to books. I try to plan my readings, I try to finish one book in order to begin a new one, but it's all in vain. I read what I want to read, whenever I have the need of reading it. So, with four books on my currently-reading shelf, today I felt like reading something different. First, some weird stuff by Tim Burton, then,
A Season in Hell
caught my attention and here we are.
Anyway, this is one of those books I should read whi ...more
Anyway, this is one of those books I should read whi ...more
view all 12 comments
Jul 31, 2012
Chiara Pagliochini
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
letteratura-francese
,
poesia
« Finii col trovare sacro il disordine del mio spirito. »
Stamattina devo aver appoggiato il piede sbagliato sullo scendiletto. Altrimenti non si spiegherebbe perché la mia testa abbia associato una tazza di latte coi cereali (la crusca, detesto la crusca) ad Arthur Rimbaud. Non si spiegherebbe perché sono entrata in punta di piedi nella stanza-studiolo, ho aperto l’anta dell’armadio-libreria con un timore quasi reverenziale e ho tirato giù dallo scaffale il volume grosso e blu che giace lì da te ...more
Stamattina devo aver appoggiato il piede sbagliato sullo scendiletto. Altrimenti non si spiegherebbe perché la mia testa abbia associato una tazza di latte coi cereali (la crusca, detesto la crusca) ad Arthur Rimbaud. Non si spiegherebbe perché sono entrata in punta di piedi nella stanza-studiolo, ho aperto l’anta dell’armadio-libreria con un timore quasi reverenziale e ho tirato giù dallo scaffale il volume grosso e blu che giace lì da te ...more
It would be impossible to get a better edition than Bulfinch Press's. The pairing of Rimbaud's fiery poetry with Mapplethorpe's photographs is the perfect marriage en enfer for the demon bridegroom.
Some literature does to a tormented soul what antibiotics does to the body. It can prescribed as a cure when someone needs it.
Rimbaud here is a broken man after a lover has left him. The reason of his descent is not clearly made but the whole poem demonstrates his tormented, confused presense and need for love.
Reading this I was amazed how he used such strange surrealist images to create a desperate, morbid atmosphere in which he is looking for satisfaction to come eventually. Rimbaud, like ano ...more
Rimbaud here is a broken man after a lover has left him. The reason of his descent is not clearly made but the whole poem demonstrates his tormented, confused presense and need for love.
Reading this I was amazed how he used such strange surrealist images to create a desperate, morbid atmosphere in which he is looking for satisfaction to come eventually. Rimbaud, like ano ...more
Uno de los libros de mi temprana juventud bohemia, lleno de rabia y de atisbos de surrealismo:
Oh, el moscardón embriagado en el urinario de la pensión, enamorado de la borraja y al que parte en dos un rayo!
Oh, el moscardón embriagado en el urinario de la pensión, enamorado de la borraja y al que parte en dos un rayo!
ده العمل اللي أرثر قرر نشره بنفسه
وبما أني قرأت أولي كتاباته
فالفرق واضح جدًا
ده اكثر نضوجًا جدًا
وبما أني قرأت أولي كتاباته
فالفرق واضح جدًا
ده اكثر نضوجًا جدًا
Burguesadas ni más ni menos. Somos burguéses e intensos. Tuve la mala fortuna de leer esto al mismo tiempo que leo a Ciorán y bueno, no hay punto de comparación en la expresión acerca del dolor entre uno y otro. Rimbaud parece estar jugando al dolor, cuando Ciorán parece más un antropólogo que filósofo del mismo.
A Season in Hell & Illuminations, transl. Wyatt Mason
Having become absurdly near apoplectic in the search for a translation of Baudelaire that I loved, I let enjoyment return by instead reading one of his close kin. There wasn't a shortage of Rimbaud translations which felt right; Louise Varese or John Sturrock , or this one I chose for reasons I can't exactly remember.
As these are prose poems without conventional, clear focus, sometimes more like notes, I thought some readers must decided t ...more
Having become absurdly near apoplectic in the search for a translation of Baudelaire that I loved, I let enjoyment return by instead reading one of his close kin. There wasn't a shortage of Rimbaud translations which felt right; Louise Varese or John Sturrock , or this one I chose for reasons I can't exactly remember.
As these are prose poems without conventional, clear focus, sometimes more like notes, I thought some readers must decided t ...more
I know of no other translator who has captured Rimbaud's youthful voice: Donald Revell is the first. While there are several beautiful translations of A Season in Hell--Paul Schmidt and Wyatt Mason have both produced excellent versions--the voice is always that of a middle aged man, not of a boy in his late teens.
With Revell's transation, we have that voice, and it is amazing to feel the energy and the freshness of this French monolith when an innocence is maintained. Perhaps some of the success ...more
With Revell's transation, we have that voice, and it is amazing to feel the energy and the freshness of this French monolith when an innocence is maintained. Perhaps some of the success ...more
Es la máxima expresión de rebeldía en un tiempo donde la guerra franco-prusiana marcaba la decadencia de la burguesía francesa. Una contestación directa a la hipocresía con todo el vigor y la energía del joven poeta. Precoz en sus alcances literarios fue apreciado junto a los grandes poetas de la epoca : Verlaine, Baudelaire, Lautréamont .
Well, another Penguin 60s book way outside of my circle of interest, and far beyond my simple understanding. Reviews love this book, but for me, no thanks.
I struggle through it all (ha ha, it is a 59 page book, the left page in French, the right translated to English, which means it is only a30 page book), though the complexity of the language, the prose (ok so I detest poetry, so this book was always on a hiding to nothing) and the symbolism are completely wasted on me... but I have the good gr ...more
I struggle through it all (ha ha, it is a 59 page book, the left page in French, the right translated to English, which means it is only a30 page book), though the complexity of the language, the prose (ok so I detest poetry, so this book was always on a hiding to nothing) and the symbolism are completely wasted on me... but I have the good gr ...more
Desde que li uns excertos na Faculdade que tinha a curiosidade de ler mais de Arthur Rimbaud. Poeta simbolista que sei que influenciou os Surrealistas e percebe-se porquê. A escrita é densa, sem fio condutor, textos saídos de uma alma conturbada e inquieta.
Es sumamente increíble todo lo que escribió aquí. Dijo casi cada uno de mis pensamientos y como me veo a mi mismo. Excelente :)
Jul 10, 2010
Julia Boechat Machado
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-own
,
french-literature
,
poetry
,
tingle-of-the-spine
,
constantly-re-reading
,
1870s
Misto de autobiografia psicológica e auto-de-fé alucinado.
Contém alguns dos trechos mais famosos da poesia de Rimbaud.
Contém alguns dos trechos mais famosos da poesia de Rimbaud.
This is the Mark Taharne translation; in his introduction he spells out the enormous difficulties involved with translating and interpreting the poetry, and advises readers to look at as many translations as possible.
I got this off the shelf yesterday to coincide with the BBC Radio 3 production in its series 'Between the Ears'. The latter is a marvellous ongoing immersion in 'soundscapes', music, song and spoken word. The R3 site and its blog say of this production:
An abridged radio reworking o ...more
I got this off the shelf yesterday to coincide with the BBC Radio 3 production in its series 'Between the Ears'. The latter is a marvellous ongoing immersion in 'soundscapes', music, song and spoken word. The R3 site and its blog say of this production:
An abridged radio reworking o ...more
I keep coming back to this book, and I don't know why. When ever you have a translation of a poem (because I sadly do not speak French) you lose some of the rhyme and meaning. When you read A Season in Hell, at times this is abundantly clear, that it's a translation. What remains though is the agony, you have to think about what this book meant for the time, and meant now. What is apparent, through all translations and such, is that Rimbaud poured himself into this, and it is raw and real and co
...more
Este es uno de los libros más alucinantes que he leído en mi vida. Ha sido muy duro traducirlo, pero con Laura Rosal hemos tratado de hacer una bonita versión, a nuestra manera. Las ilustraciones de Laura San Román y Laia Arqueros terminan de cerrar un libro que si ya era especial para nosotras ahora lo es aún mas. Queremos mucho a Arthur Rimbaud y esperamos que se haya sentido bien tratado.
Gracias.
Gracias.
De haber entendido algo, le daba 5 estrellas.
Saw
Eddie and the Cruisers
for the first time in
years
today and had forgotten that it was inspired by Rimbaud and "A Season in Hell." Thought I would finally give it a read.
Sep 13, 2014
Marius
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-stop-poetry
,
bibliothèque-personnelle
i read this 'booklet' 3 times in one day - i usually do that when a piece of literature is either intriguing or amazing
What do I even plan to say about Arthur Rimbaud? How do I even begin to approach dissecting his work?
I, like Henry Miller, am often moved by the intangible threads of connection between myself and whatever I'm reading. Perhaps it is the universal quality of the creative process, that destruction of the self followed by an eventual rebirth, or refailing as I like to think of it, that connects us creative types in a quaint little place that may as well be Hell. And when your mascot is an enfant t ...more
I, like Henry Miller, am often moved by the intangible threads of connection between myself and whatever I'm reading. Perhaps it is the universal quality of the creative process, that destruction of the self followed by an eventual rebirth, or refailing as I like to think of it, that connects us creative types in a quaint little place that may as well be Hell. And when your mascot is an enfant t ...more
Io ormai sono perdutamente innamorata di Rimbaud, è un piccolo genio e mi struggo sempre di dolore all'idea che non conoscerò mai uno come lui. Dico sul serio. Lo amo troppo, e Una stagione all'inferno ha contribuito sicuramente ad aumentare la mia crush già di per sé spaventosa. L'ho adorato tantissimo, soprattutto in alcuni punti (e certe citazioni sono la meraviglia). Certamente leggerò tutti gli altri suoi lavori.
I shall waste no words describing or criticizing the poem itself; its place as one of the greatest poems of all time is secure, and its meaning, purpose, and poetic techniques are well understood and appreciated. However, there is a problem: most previous translations from the original French have "elevated" the text to that which might be written by a middle-aged or older scholar (while, I do admit, preserving its meaning). All fans know that Rimbaud wrote this, his last poem, when he was 19 ye
...more
Dec 28, 2014
Phil Slattery
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
french-literature
Terrific translation of a powerful and poignant work. The original French is on the left-hand pages while the English translation is on the right. Terrific photography by the controversial Robert Mapplethorpe (not to worry: this volume does not contain any adult photos).
"Me convertí en una opera fabulosa, vi que todos los seres tienen una fatalidad de dicha, la acción no es la vida, sino una manera de estropear a cualquier fuerza, un enervamiento. La moral es una flaqueza del cerebro." Maravilloso de principio a fin.
En tid i helvetet är den enda bok som Rimbaud själv gav ut – och den är skriven mitt i ett destruktivt förhållande men den äldre poeten Paul Verlaine. Det är en diktsamling som bäst kan beskrivas med ångest och smärta... helt enkelt en resa genom helvetet.
Jag var tvungen att erkänna för mig själv att poesi är till större del inte för mig. Rimbaud tillhör tyvärr till större del den sorts poesi. Det är inte det att jag inte sög upp varenda ord. För det gjorde jag. Rimbaud har skrivit en del av mi ...more
Jag var tvungen att erkänna för mig själv att poesi är till större del inte för mig. Rimbaud tillhör tyvärr till större del den sorts poesi. Det är inte det att jag inte sög upp varenda ord. För det gjorde jag. Rimbaud har skrivit en del av mi ...more
Deslabazado y errrático, "Una Temporada en el Infierno" en ningún momento llegó a transmitirme. Todo encaja, sin embargo, cuando averiguas que su ininteligibilidad es consecuencia de los colocones que debió pillarse su autor durante la época en la que fue escrito. Cuando Rimbaud parece que va a conectar, se evade, se muestra esquivo, da la espalda y al instante desaparece dejando tras de sí una polvareda con aroma a opio. Puede que esa sea la propia temporada en el infierno, una especie de casti
...more
El título es bastante descriptivo. La historia demasiado intensa y cruda.
Citas favoritas:
- Una noche senté a la belleza en mis rodillas. Y la encontré amarga. Y la injurié.
- ¿A quien alquilarme? ¿Qué bestia hay que adorar? ¿Qué santa imagen atacamos? ¿Qué corazones romperé? ¿Qué mentira debo sostener? ¿Entre qué sangre caminar?
- La vida es la farsa en la que todos figuramos.
- Satán, farsante, tú quieres disolverme con tus hechizos ¡Yo reclamo un golpe de tridente, una gota de fuego!
Citas favoritas:
- Una noche senté a la belleza en mis rodillas. Y la encontré amarga. Y la injurié.
- ¿A quien alquilarme? ¿Qué bestia hay que adorar? ¿Qué santa imagen atacamos? ¿Qué corazones romperé? ¿Qué mentira debo sostener? ¿Entre qué sangre caminar?
- La vida es la farsa en la que todos figuramos.
- Satán, farsante, tú quieres disolverme con tus hechizos ¡Yo reclamo un golpe de tridente, una gota de fuego!
Very short poem about the hell we have in ourselves. im sure it translates well in french but i couldnt understand a lof of what the poem was about to be honest.
"Y le hacía prometer que no me abandonaría. Veinte veces me hizo esa promesa de amante. Era tan frívolo como yo cuando le decía: "Te comprendo".
Ah, jamás he tenido celos de él. Creo que no ha de abandonarme. ¿Qué haría? No conoce a nadie, jamás trabajará. Quiere vivir sonámbulo. ¿Bastarían su bondad y su caridad para otorgarle derechos en el mundo real? Por momentos, olvido la miseria en que he caído: él me tornará fuerte, viajaremos, cazaremos en los desiertos, dormiremos sobre el empedrado d ...more
Ah, jamás he tenido celos de él. Creo que no ha de abandonarme. ¿Qué haría? No conoce a nadie, jamás trabajará. Quiere vivir sonámbulo. ¿Bastarían su bondad y su caridad para otorgarle derechos en el mundo real? Por momentos, olvido la miseria en que he caído: él me tornará fuerte, viajaremos, cazaremos en los desiertos, dormiremos sobre el empedrado d ...more
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French poet and adventurer, who stopped writing verse at the age of 21, and became after his early death an inextricable myth in French gay life. Rimbaud's poetry, partially written in free verse, is characterized by dramatic and imaginative vision. "I say that one must be a visionary - that one must make oneself a VISIONARY." His works are among the most original in the Symbolist movement. Rimbau
...more
More about Arthur Rimbaud...
“Once, if my memory serves me well, my life was a banquet where every heart revealed itself, where every wine flowed.”
—
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“The hallucinations are innumerable. That's what has always been the matter with me, in fact: no belief in history, obliviousness of principles. I shall say no more about this: poets and visionaries would be jealous. I am a thousand times the richest, let's be as miserly as the sea.”
—
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