Hailed by the poet Paul Eluard as an "absolute masterpiece" upon its first appearance in 1946, Rene Char s "Hypnos" is both a remarkable work of literature and a document of unique significance in the history of the French Resistance. Based on a journal Char kept during his time in the Maquis, it ranges in style from abrupt and sometimes enigmatic reflections, in which the poet seeks to establish compass bearings in the darkness of Occupied France, to narrative descriptions that throw into vivid relief the dramatic and often tragic nature of the issues he had to confront as the head of his...
Hailed by the poet Paul Eluard as an "absolute masterpiece" upon its first appearance in 1946, Rene Char s "Hypnos" is both a remarkable work of liter...
One of the foremost poets of the French Resistance, Rene Char has been hailed by Donald Revell as the conscience of modern French poetry. Translated by Mark Hutchinson, "The Inventors" is a companion volume to Char s critically acclaimed "Hypnos." It gathers more than forty poems that represent a cross-section of Char s mature work, spanning from 1936 to 1988. All three genres of Char s work are represented here: verse poems, prose poems, and the abrupt, lapidary propositions for which he is best known. These "maxima sententia" combine the terseness of La Rochefoucauld with the probing and...
One of the foremost poets of the French Resistance, Rene Char has been hailed by Donald Revell as the conscience of modern French poetry. Translated b...