Book review: Tsvetayeva's "autobiography"

[Robert Chandler]

Dear Paul and others,

> The volume has an additional appeal. While Tsvetayeva gained some
> literary renown, first in Russia, then among Russian exiles, her poetry
> has always been considered difficult to translate. Indeed, it was the
> publication of her 1926 correspondence with Pasternak and Rainer Maria
> Rilke that finally won her broad recognition in the West in the 1980's.
> Now, with "Living in Fire" -- her metaphor for the sacrificial ritual of
> writing -- still more of her prose has become available outside Russia
> though not in English.
I'm grateful for the information about this new book.  Nevertheless, a
paragraph like the above is irritating.  There are a number of good
translations of Tsvetaeva in English, and they deserve to be mentioned in an
article like this.  To name only a few: Angela Livingstone and Jamey
Gambrell have both  published excellent translations of her prose, and
Angela Livingstone's translation of 'The Ratcatcher' is one of the finest
English translations of Russian poetry that I know.  Elaine Feinstein's
translations also capture much of Tsvetaeva's tone of voice.

Robert

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