When talking about Neruda's life, don't leave out the fact he had a mentally challenged daughter. He had her institutionalized to never visit again in her entire life. He was a great poet, lived a lavish life, had many women and an eccentric lifestyle. But he was no role model, in fact, he was far from it.
I maybe wrong in this assumption but I think very few know about a rape[0], at least that's what I think it was (from his memoir[1]), that he committed in Sri Lanka (Ceylon back then). It was a native Tamil woman. Doesn't at all read like a consensual act or an act of a transactional nature (which could be considered consensual).
I loved his love poems and I think I would still like them (maybe) but for some reason I don't think it's going to be the same after knowing about this incident from his life. Maybe I need to work on separating the art from the artist, if at all that can be a thing.
It is not clear if Neruda died from cancer as his death certificate indicates. Most likely got killed by the regime because of his political affiliations.
Wrong, he died from Cancer. Only in the past few years this conspiracy theory surfaced. It is well known he was very ill way before the military coup. In fact, the left wanted him to be the candidate instead of Salvador Allende, but he didn't go for it, because he was involved in medical treatments.
This is just the left trying to rewrite history, and please don’t cite journalists as sources. It is said that journalists have a bast amount of information but an inch of depth on it.
True. There was an investigation last year (in Spanish)[0] and they are expecting results later this year to possible confirm that it was killed by Pinochet's regime (which, tbh, it would not surprise me at all).
“Poetry is like bread, It should be shared by all, by scholars and by peasants, by all our vast, incredible, extraordinary family of humanity.”
And yet, do the vast majority of humans actually read poetry? Perhaps they access it tangentially in Bob Dylan or The Beatles, but more likely than not, they're consuming Netflix or cable TV or much less high art than poetry. What are the top most sold books on Kindle, for instance? So many are romance novels, not Earthy, gritty, brilliant poetry like Neruda's.
You don't have to shit all over romance novels, "the kids the days", or (through omission) music made in the last half-century to encourage people to appreciate poetry more.
Incidentally, many forms of poetry are fairly popular these days. The Hamilton musical is one of the most successful pop culture phenomena of our time. Tons of artists like (recent Pulitzer Prize winner) Kendrick Lamar are shoving poetry into the ears of millions of people constantly.
Edit: I'll put this here as an example, and since it's a cover it shows the widespread enthusiasm that's out there for the material: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqGGmfDZsWU
[+] [-] dieg0|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] balladeer|8 years ago|reply
I loved his love poems and I think I would still like them (maybe) but for some reason I don't think it's going to be the same after knowing about this incident from his life. Maybe I need to work on separating the art from the artist, if at all that can be a thing.
[0] https://globalvoices.org/2015/10/05/portrait-of-nobel-litera...
[1] http://tamilwoman.tumblr.com/post/79412843312/tw-rape-pablo-...
[+] [-] soperj|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] partycoder|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dieg0|8 years ago|reply
This is just the left trying to rewrite history, and please don’t cite journalists as sources. It is said that journalists have a bast amount of information but an inch of depth on it.
[+] [-] funkaster|8 years ago|reply
Edit: found a link with a similar article in English: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41702706
[0]: http://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2017/10/20/peritos-e...
[+] [-] sifusam|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WhompingWindows|8 years ago|reply
And yet, do the vast majority of humans actually read poetry? Perhaps they access it tangentially in Bob Dylan or The Beatles, but more likely than not, they're consuming Netflix or cable TV or much less high art than poetry. What are the top most sold books on Kindle, for instance? So many are romance novels, not Earthy, gritty, brilliant poetry like Neruda's.
[+] [-] rukuu001|8 years ago|reply
Obviously related, among the dross, hiphop has some excellent writing.
Let's celebrate a return of poetry as performance, instead of a purely written form.
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|8 years ago|reply
Incidentally, many forms of poetry are fairly popular these days. The Hamilton musical is one of the most successful pop culture phenomena of our time. Tons of artists like (recent Pulitzer Prize winner) Kendrick Lamar are shoving poetry into the ears of millions of people constantly.
Edit: I'll put this here as an example, and since it's a cover it shows the widespread enthusiasm that's out there for the material: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqGGmfDZsWU
[+] [-] toomanybeersies|8 years ago|reply
It took me about 5 years after finishing high school to begin to enjoy poetry again.
[+] [-] ghostbrainalpha|8 years ago|reply
As long as the discipline exists, writers who study and learn it, will let it subtlety influence their writing.
Ursula K. Le Guin was supposedly a brilliant poet. I don't have to read books of poetry, to enjoy her Fantasy series.
Authors like Dan Brown I'm sure would be more palatable if they devoted some time to studying poems.