Point Books Toward Paroles
| Original Title: | Paroles |
| ISBN: | 2070367622 (ISBN13: 9782070367627) |
| Edition Language: | French |
Jacques Prévert
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 254 pages Rating: 4.26 | 6113 Users | 133 Reviews
Interpretation Concering Books Paroles
This is Jacques Prévert's first collection of poems, published in 1946, and yet we can already appreciate the whole range of his fully developed skills and interests, perfectly displayed in this amazing masterpiece.Because Prévert achieved in poetry what Picasso achieved in art: the perfection of polymorphism.
As the Spanish genius mastered any conceivable style and technique in visual art, Prévert ws able to explore any possible dimension of poetry: from his well-known politically committed realism (the grotesque description of a presidential dinner, in which intellectuals, politicians and wealthy industrialists are portayed as macabre puppets or masks reminding of J. Ensor's) to his famous odes to love, both physical ("Alicante", one of my faves) and lyrically pure ("Cet Amour", This Love); from his funny puns with erotic undertones to the merciless 'j'accuse' denouncing the hypocrisy of the social, political and religious institutions of his - our - time (the ferocious, hilarious tale of the French worker who goes to Rome and meets the Pope).
"Paroles" is the beginning of an intense relationship with the inner truth of Life, the naive curiosity of a man walking around and looking at the people, the houses, the changing landscape of a city he identifies with the whole world in an almost pantheistic sense of empathy.
War was over in 1946, after having scattered its load of material and human debris all over the world... layer upon layer.
The city was being enthusiastically rebuilt, but the spiritual wounds of the people were still bleeding: loss, disenchantment, self-abasement, bewilderment. The poet perceives the latent violence permeating the world, a violence that goes far beyond the war and takes the shape of numberless abuses and acts of injustice. "L'Effort humain", Human Effort, is an elegy to the humble people of any time and nationality, men and women struggling to (re)build the world... and dying to be forgotten and replaced ("Chanson dans le sang", Song in Blood).
Prévert's social commitment is not merely part of a political agenda: it's urgent and honest, an impulse from the depth of his soul as well as a declaration of his rational mind. It's not political, it's moral. Human.
The poet is often classified as an atheist: quite unjustly so. Well, Prévert is certainly not a fervent believer - least of all a devoted follower of the Church, seen as anachronistic, superstitious and overtly repressive, walking hand in hand with so many evil powers of this world. But there's so much more than that in his so-called blasphemous attitude, something different and almost moving: the poet's atheism is indeed a tension toward a true spirituality, although entangled with his earthly affection for mankind (take his "Pater noster", for instance...); it's a dream of peace, a new childhood of the heart that he claims for in these wonderful poems of hope and sorrow.
As always in Prévert, love is the only way out, the path leading to our redemption. Love in all its forms and intensity: body and soul. A love so shameless and pure that it transcends the boundaries of the individual, so that "Cet amour" culminates in what can be considered the ultimate (atheistic?) prayer of mankind:
(...)
'I beg you
For you for me for all who love each other
And who loved each other
Yes I cry out to it
For you for me and for all the others
That I don't know
Stay here
There where you are
There where you were in the past
Stay here
Don't move
Don't go away
We who loved each other
We've forgotten you
Don't forget us
We had only you on the earth
Don't let us become cold
Always so much farther away
And anywhere
Give us a sign of life
Much later on a dark night
In the forest of memory
Appear suddenly
Hold your hand out to us
And save us.'
Our relationships - their delights, regrets, expectations, disappointments; our bursts of passion, desire, tenderness... this is all that remains when grief, anger, selfishness, fear are wiped away and our eyes finally start seeing through the fog.
That's the true community of mankind. Once again, poetry opens the door and lets us in.
Details Appertaining To Books Paroles
| Title | : | Paroles |
| Author | : | Jacques Prévert |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 254 pages |
| Published | : | March 1st 1972 by Folio (first published June 5th 1949) |
| Categories | : | Poetry. Cultural. France. Classics. European Literature. French Literature. Literature. 20th Century. Fiction |
Rating Appertaining To Books Paroles
Ratings: 4.26 From 6113 Users | 133 ReviewsAssess Appertaining To Books Paroles
One of my all time favorite writers ..Whimsical and sad in that particular French way. The cover of my version just reads: "Paroles: Prevert." which I think my fellow subway riders were reading as "Parole: Pervert," (from which I derived some small satisfaction).
Just like any poetry book, it takes just a little time to get in the author's rythm, and then it gets flowing.Not absolutely happy, not terribly sad, however there is passion and it is just "real".
This is Jacques Prévert's first collection of poems, published in 1946, and yet we can already appreciate the whole range of his fully developed skills and interests, perfectly displayed in this amazing masterpiece. Because Prévert achieved in poetry what Picasso achieved in art: the perfection of polymorphism. As the Spanish genius mastered any conceivable style and technique in visual art, Prévert ws able to explore any possible dimension of poetry: from his well-known politically committed
An old classic and my favorite book of poetry ever :)
I read this collection years ago; short, sharp poems about everyday life simply costructed. My favourite ever start to a poem; "Our Father who art in heaven .... stay there!" I lent my copy to a friend years ago and haven't seen it since.
Beautiful poems that speak of what has been lost - what should stay lost - and what should be found after the war.
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