A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Los Angeles Times Fabulous Holiday Book


"Crane’s verse sounds good in English, and it comes with facing-page Swedish.... Her Tranströmer wants to be heard: “If I could at least get them to feel,” he writes, “that this trembling beneath us/ means we’re on a bridge.” Readers who know earlier versions, or who know Swedish, will want to contrast these versions with what they know; readers new to Tranströmer should bundle up and dive in."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Immediate, bodily...vivid...full of intent and personality. To my ear, Crane has so far made the best English version of Tran­strömer....Tran­strömer’s poetry is concerned with precisely how little we’re able to really see, yet how much that little is worth. His is a tense, taut music, easier to hear in Crane’s slightly relaxed interpretation."
—The New York Times Book Review

“Reading this poem, a translation from its original Swedish, I was reminded of that childhood wonder and felt again the heft of so many truths waiting to be known.”
—Natasha Trethewey, New York Times Magazine

"Sometimes a new piece of shared cultural heritage seems to click into place; the appearance of Bright Scythe—selected poems by Swedish Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer, translated by Patty Crane—feels like such an occasion. These poems are adamantly delicate parcels of offhand eternity, dwelling in a space few have inhabited usefully in any sustained way….If, as Borges says, “poetry springs from something deeper,” then these poems are leaded windows and fine-hewn doors ajar into that fathoming—rendered in “glass-clear” translations—and a lasting tribute to the poet’s passing earlier this year. "
—World Literature Today

"Quietly revelatory...Between his own words and Crane’s warm remembrances of her time with the Tranströmers, this book acts as a kind of shadow biography of the poet. It’s a haunting, mysterious, but ultimately warm and humanistic work, and a welcome introduction both to Tranströmer’s poetry and in the debates over how best to translate it into another tongue."
—Biographile

"Patty [Crane]'s book has such transparency and illumination and candor.... For me, this is the finest translation since Bly's."
—Teju Cole

"For those of you who missed out on the Nobel Prize-winning poet Tranströmer, who died last year, Bright Scythe—with its lively translation by Patty Crane (who worked with the poet)—is the place to start."
—Flavorwire, "Ten Must-Read Books for November 2015"

"Bright Scythe, a collection of [Tranströmer's] work newly translated from the Swedish by Patty Crane, is a literary panorama with work from 1954 to 2004, and deftly traces the poet’s quiet interrogation with life’s phenomena.... Crane, whose work presents the original jagged Swedish on the opposite page of her translations, stays close to the source. She measures with finesse each syllable and simile."
—Electric Literature

"Bright Scythe is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of Tranströmer’s concise and penetrating body of work."
—The Cafe Review

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Los Angeles Times Fabulous Holiday Book


"Crane’s verse sounds good in English, and it comes with facing-page Swedish.... Her Tranströmer wants to be heard: “If I could at least get them to feel,” he writes, “that this trembling beneath us/ means we’re on a bridge.” Readers who know earlier versions, or who know Swedish, will want to contrast these versions with what they know; readers new to Tranströmer should bundle up and dive in."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Immediate, bodily...vivid...full of intent and personality. To my ear, Crane has so far made the best English version of Tran­strömer....Tran­strömer’s poetry is concerned with precisely how little we’re able to really see, yet how much that little is worth. His is a tense, taut music, easier to hear in Crane’s slightly relaxed interpretation."
—The New York Times Book Review

“Reading this poem, a translation from its original Swedish, I was reminded of that childhood wonder and felt again the heft of so many truths waiting to be known.”
—Natasha Trethewey, New York Times Magazine

"Sometimes a new piece of shared cultural heritage seems to click into place; the appearance of Bright Scythe—selected poems by Swedish Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer, translated by Patty Crane—feels like such an occasion. These poems are adamantly delicate parcels of offhand eternity, dwelling in a space few have inhabited usefully in any sustained way….If, as Borges says, “poetry springs from something deeper,” then these poems are leaded windows and fine-hewn doors ajar into that fathoming—rendered in “glass-clear” translations—and a lasting tribute to the poet’s passing earlier this year. "
—World Literature Today

"Quietly revelatory...Between his own words and Crane’s warm remembrances of her time with the Tranströmers, this book acts as a kind of shadow biography of the poet. It’s a haunting, mysterious, but ultimately warm and humanistic work, and a welcome introduction both to Tranströmer’s poetry and in the debates over how best to translate it into another tongue."
—Biographile

"Patty [Crane]'s book has such transparency and illumination and candor.... For me, this is the finest translation since Bly's."
—Teju Cole

"For those of you who missed out on the Nobel Prize-winning poet Tranströmer, who died last year, Bright Scythe—with its lively translation by Patty Crane (who worked with the poet)—is the place to start."
—Flavorwire, "Ten Must-Read Books for November 2015"

"Bright Scythe, a collection of [Tranströmer's] work newly translated from the Swedish by Patty Crane, is a literary panorama with work from 1954 to 2004, and deftly traces the poet’s quiet interrogation with life’s phenomena.... Crane, whose work presents the original jagged Swedish on the opposite page of her translations, stays close to the source. She measures with finesse each syllable and simile."
—Electric Literature

"Bright Scythe is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of Tranströmer’s concise and penetrating body of work."
—The Cafe Review

Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015), winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is Sweden’s most acclaimed poet. Known for sharp imagery, startling metaphors and deceptively simple diction, his luminous poems offer mysterious glimpses into the deepest facets of humanity, often through the lens of the natural world. These new translations by Patty Crane, presented side by side with the original Swedish, are tautly rendered and elegantly cadenced. They are also deeply informed by Crane’s personal relationship with the poet and his wife during the years she lived in Sweden, where she was afforded greater insight into the nuances of his poetics and the man himself.
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Newly translated bilingual English and Swedish edition of late Nobel Prize winner's “unobtrusively unforgettable” poetry.
CONTENTS FOREWORD BY DAVID WOJAHN I. ETT URVAL DIKTER/SELECTED POEMS: 1954–1973 Stenarna 2 The Stones 3 Hemligheter på vägen 4 Secrets on the Way 5 Spår 6 Tracks 7 Kyrie 8 Kyrie 9 Balakirevs dröm 10 Balakirev’s Dream 12 Trädet och skyn 14 The Tree and the Sky 15 Ansikte mot ansikte 16 Face to Face 17 Lamento 18 Lament 19 Allegro 20 Allegro 21 Den halvfärdiga himlen 22 The Half-Finished Heaven 23 En vinternatt 24 A Winter Night 25 Vinterns formler 26 Winter’s Formulas 28 Under tryck 30 Under Pressure 31 Från snösmältningen –66 32 From the Snowmelt of ‘66 33 Skiss i ocktober 34 Sketch in October 35 Längre in 36 Further In 37 Sena maj 38 Late May 39 II. ÖSTERSJÖAR/BALTICS (1974) 41 III. ETT URVAL DIKTER/SELECTED POEMS: 1978–1983 Övergångsstället 68 The Crossing Place 69 Galleriet 70 The Gallery 75 Kort paus I orgelkonserten 80 Brief Pause in the Organ Recital 82 Från mars–79 84 From March of ‘79 85 Minnena ser mig 86 Memories Watch Me 87 Vinterns blick 88 Winter’s Glance 89 Stationen 90 The Station 91 Eldklotter 92 Fire Scribble 93 IV. FÖR LEVANDE OCH DÖDA/FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD (1989) Den bortglömde kaptenen 95 The Forgotten Captain 97 Sex vintrar 99 Six Winters 101 Näktergalen i Badelunda 103 The Nightengale in Badelunda 104 Alkaiskt 105 Alcaic 106 Berceuse 107 Lullaby 108 Gator i Shanghai 109 Streets in Shanghai 111 Djupt i Europa 113 Deep in Europe 114 Flygblad 115 Leaflet 116 Inomhuset är oändligt 117 The Indoors is Infinite 120 Vermeer 123 Vermeer 125 Romanska bågar 127 Romanesque Arches 128 Epigram 129 Epigram 130 Kvinnoporträtt—1800-tal 131 Portrait of a Woman, 19th Century 132 Medeltida motiv 133 Medieval Motif 134 Air Mail 135 Air Mail 136 Madrigal 137 Madrigal 138 Guldstekel 139 Golden Vespid 141 V. SORGEGONDOLEN/THE SORROW GONDOLA (1996) April och tystnad 144 April and Silence 145 Osäkerhetens rike 146 Insecurity’s Kingdom 147 Nattboksblad 148 Nightbook Page 149 Sorgegondol nr 2 150 Sorrow Gondola No. 2 153 Landskap med solar 156 Landscape with Suns 157 November i forna DDR 158 November in the Former GDR 160 Från juli 90 162 From July ’90 163 Göken 164 The Cuckoo 165 Tre strofer 166 Three Stanzas 167 Som att vara barn 168 Like Being a Child 169 Två städer 170 Two Cities 171 Ljuset stömmar in 172 The Light Streams In 173 Nattlig resa 174 Night Travel 175 Haikudikter 176 Haiku Poems 178 Från ön 1860 180 From the Island, 1860 181 Tystnad 182 Silence 183 Midvinter 184 Midwinter 185 En skiss från 1844 186 A Sketch from 1844 187 2004 Fasader 189 Facades 190 Afterword by Patty Crane
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$3500 marketing and publicity budget Galleys available: national mailings with special push to publications to publications that have previously reviewed Transtromer National advertising in Poetry, The Paris Review, and relevant literary blogs and websites eBook available at same time as print publication, eBook ISBN to be included on all press materials and wherever print ISBN is listed. Author will promote both mediums through social media. Internet marketing campaign to include announcement on Sarabande national listserv as well as review copy mailing to online journals and blogs
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781941411216
Publisert
2015-12-31
Utgiver
Sarabande Books, Incorporated
Vekt
467 gr
Høyde
228 mm
Bredde
165 mm
Dybde
15 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
240

Forfatter
Introduction by
Oversetter

Biografisk notat

Tomas Gösta Tranströmer: Tranströmer is a Swedish writer, poet and translator, whose poetry has been translated into over 60 languages. He's acclaimed as one of the most important European writers since World War II and was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died March 26, 2015 at the age of 83. Patty Crane: Patty Crane’s translations of Tomas Tranströmer’s poetry have appeared in American Poetry Review, Blackbird, New Ohio Review, Poetry Daily, Poetry East, and Smartish Pace. She spent three years living in the Stockholm area of Sweden, where she worked closely with Tranströmer and his wife, Monica.