READ: 23.10.17
BOOK: Three Tang Dynasty Poets
AUTHOR: Wang Wei, Li Po, and Tu Fu
GENRE: Poetry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Lyrical verses evoking the rural landscapes and people of 8th-century China, from three of its finest poets. [Penguin Little Black Classic No. 9]
REVIEW: I don't know if I have an opinion on this collection because:
1) I don't have any historical knowledge of the Tang Dynasty
2) I'm pretty sure the flow and lyrical style of the poems was lost in translation.
When reading these poems, I couldn't help feeling like I was missing out the true meaning of the words and what makes them so great just because I don't have the historical context of the period. When I do learn about the Tang Dynasty (which hopefully will be soon), I will make sure to revisit these poems.
However they did conjure up some really beautiful images of rural China, and beautiful scenes of rivers and cherry blossom. Poetry is still something I'm trying to get into, and I'm still not comfortable in older and ancient poetry.
What I love about the Penguin Little Black Classics is that they're allowing me to read pieces of literature and poetry which I would never have read before, and it's really opening my eyes to how little of literature I've read.
FINAL VERDICT: Not a personal favourite, but I don't think that reflects on the poets but more on my intellectual knowledge and the translation.
RATING: ?
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A Bookaholic's Book Log
Random2017. My New Year's resolution: read at least one book every week. Like actual, physical, made-of-dead-trees books. This log will contain the result of this maybe ambitious plan. A book containing my thoughts, opinions and recommendations about the...
