Les Fleurs Du Mal

Firstly, I love Les Fleur du Mal and Charles Baudelaire is quickly becoming my favorite writer. I only gave this version four stars because I did not like this translation. I found it to be too literal which slightly detracted from the writing. Personally, my favorite translation is by Norman Shapiro. While Shapiro's version is not as literal a translation as this one, I feel he does a better job of retaining the rhythm and essence of Baudelaire's writings. Again, that is just my personal preference but I would suggest trying to find Baudelaire's writings at a local bookstore or library first so you can compare different translations and see which one you like best before purchasing.

I had gotten this for my boyfriend several years ago and last year, at this time he passed away from pneumonia. His family got rid of all his books, so I bought this for myself because he liked it so much.

I could hardly put this down. I hadn't read these in awhile and had forgotten how tranportive they are. These poems take you on a wild ride of emotions, which is so beautiful that at times I could cry. I love to know that love like thta was felt, and you can even feel how much he love he felt even in the angry or murnful poems, that's how deeply he loved.

notwithstanding the number of reviews offering glowing praise (and this book has some merits worthy of praise: its lovely artwork, its cronological history of CPB, an extensive cannon in french), i find myself sadly compelled to agree with the less generous critics: the translations are terrible! i realize that translation is a difficult and demanding art (i write haiku in both japanese & english, with rigid adherence to the classically accepted structure of the form in both languages), but a translator also has a special obligation simultaneously to interpret and to communicate faithfully the thoughts and words of his/her subject. i am surprisd at the complete absence of certain themes from these poems in the english version: when CPB writes about "the lakes before which he trembles," and neither the lakes NOR the trembling are resent in the english text, i must wag my accusing finger at the inadequacy of the translator (who astonishingly offers some excuses for his poor work in a rather self-serving forward).on the up side: having the english close at hand is useful for refreshing the gaps in my french, and the leaves of the french section of the book are already littered with my own translations, which it pleases me to make.i'm not sorry i bought this book, but this poetry is so magnificent i do wish the translation had been its equal.

I am not a fan of Poetry, but this guy had some great concepts in his poetry. Having the French with English translation on the next page really helped me as a native English speaker to get the flow of the poetry and pick up (or disagree with the translator) on the parts I didn't quite understand.

This is a review of Richard Howard's translation. There are two problems with this edition. The first is that that the English translations are in the first half of the book and the French poems are in the second half. There are two separate tables of contents, neither of which cross-references the other. The second problems is that Howard's translations are bad. Baudelaire repeats the same rhymes, the same phrases, etc. so that the poems begin to echo one another. The fourth line of the poem "Correspondences" ends with "des regards familiers" and a poem closely related to it," Obsession" ends with "aux regards familiers." In the excellent Gallimard edition, Jacques Dumont remarks on the connection in a footnote to "Obsession." Howard obscures the repetition of "regards familiers." He renders "des regards familiers" as "with accustomed eyes." He renders "aux regards familier" as "whose eyes acknowledge mine." Howard is writing his own poems. And they are bad poems. The best bi-ligual edition is the Penguin with carol Cook. She gives transliterations at the bottom of each page is a smaller font size from the French poems above them. The Oxford's World Classics has more elegant facing page translations, but the English translations are not good. John E. Tidball's translation has earned high praise. It is not bi-lingual. But do not waste your time and money on Howard's disappointing edition.

I bought this for my boyfriend as a birthday gift and he loves it. Charles Baudelaire is his favorite poet and he loves that there is English and French in this version. The cover is beautiful and the content is beautifully macabre.

I love this book. It has great translations and offers the French original also. It is a beautiful book with lovely pictures as well. Well worth it!

Excelente