The Book of Questions: Revised and Updated

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William O’Daly’s fine translations of the Nobel winner Pablo Neruda’s posthumous books… are gently astonishing, the way good poetry should be.” — Crossroads

Pablo Neruda was one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. His late-career and playful Book of Questions is a terrific book of poetry, probably not intended exclusively for children. I’ll call it an “all ages” book of poetry, which means that children can also read it, which illustrator Paloma Valdiva recognized in creating this book. The hardcover book is beautifully designed, and the mode of illustration is collage, accessible for kids, translated for this bilingual edition by Sara Lissa Paulson Automated Meeting Scheduling & Reminders: The meeting syncs with your calendar and all members receive a notification so whether you’re meeting virtually or in-person, you’re keeping book club on the calendar! Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda, was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 10 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems, such as the ones in his collection: Twenty Love Poems, and a Song of Despair (1924). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.There is an ironic reversal of expectation in this: Many poems have been written to praise the beauty of fruit and flowers, but roots are often overlooked as merely functional. What does it mean to see the splendor of roots? It can be seen as a political metaphor about the economic base upon which the superstructure is built. These are Marxist terms, relevant to analyzing Neruda’s poetry because he was an active member of the Communist Party. So, this short poem can be seen as a nod to the masses who do the work to keep society alive, but whose labor is concealed by ideology. Alternatively, this could be read a spiritual metaphor, or a reworking or reversal of the famous Dylan Thomas poem that begins “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower/Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees/Is my destroyer.” Roots can also refer to ancestry, so it could also be read as a metaphor for an improper shame towards one’s family history. Later, I would "use" the book as an icebreaker for visiting relatives and finally, it was used often by my hubby and I (lots of fun sex questions in there). This complete translation of Pablo Neruda’s El libro de las preguntas (The Book of Questions) features Neruda’s original Spanish-language poems alongside William O’Daly’s English translations. Pablo Neruda is one of the world’s most beloved poets, and The Book of Questions is one of the best-selling volumes of his poetry. Composed of 316 unanswerable questions, these poems integrate the wonder of a child with the experiences of an adult. By turns Orphic, comic, surreal, and poignant, Neruda’s questions lead the reader beyond reason into realms of intuition and pure imagination. In his introduction, O’Daly writes, “These poems, more so than any of Neruda’s other work, remind us that living in a state of visionary surrender to the elemental questions, free of the quiet desperation of clinging too tightly to answers, may be our greatest act of faith.” Would it disturb you much if, upon your death, your body were simply thrown into the woods and left to rot? Why?" Did any part of this book strike a particular emotion in you? Which part and what emotion did the book make you feel?

Some few of the questions I did find interesting and thought provoking. The majority however I found...well, pointless even silly. I see many don't agree with me but I looked at questions that made strange assumptions or gave an incomplete premise, or an absurd premise and mostly shook my head. Copper Canyon Press, a Pacific Northwest nonprofit publisher who has been devoted to the enhancement and appreciation of poetry for nearly 30 years, leads the way in poetry translations… These new translations magnificently present Neruda’s late work.” — Source Weekly In the second question, the speaker asks “why”; this could be either a direct question to the reader, or a rhetorical question. As in the first stanza, the subject is botanical (here, trees), and personified. The question about the rose wondered if she was revealing all, or hiding something. This question about the trees claims to know what they are doing—concealing—but asks: why? The speaker sees “splendor” in tree roots. The Spanish word, from which this is translated, is very similar: “esplendor.” It comes from the Latin word, meaning “shine, be bright.” So, there a is paradox in the language of this question: roots grow underground, yet the speaker sees them as bright and shiny, which are attributes of light. Trees bring in light through their leaves, converting it along with water into energy. So in a way, light is stored underground in the roots of trees. Trees conceal their roots because they have to. If they are uprooted, they can’t live.If I wanted to attempt to answer questions to make me wonder how I've lived my life and how I treat people, would that make me a masochist? If I am a masochist, how do I effectively balance that with my sadism? Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda assumed his pen name as a teenager, partly because it was in vogue, partly to hide his poetry from his father, a rigid man who wanted his son to have a "practical" occupation. Neruda's pen name was derived from Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda; Pablo is thought to be from Paul Verlaine. With his works translated into many languages, Pablo Neruda is considered one of the greatest and most influential poets of the 20th century. Fast forward to when I moved into my own apartment in college: they were delighted to dump many of their well-worn possessions--including this book--into my lap. I used this book many a time with new and old friends to get to know them better, both in college, in my 20s and beyond. It's a great after dinner activity at a dinner party when the conversation has lulled, because everybody gets to know a lot about everybody else and everybody seems to like it. The questions, a mix of "what would you do in this situation" and "what's more important to you: x or y?" and other psychological questions, are thought provoking and entertaining. Of course, there's no right or wrong answer and every time I've used the book, people have seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. There are some poems one must simply take in visually and revel in the imagery they invoke discarding their literariness.

Some of the problems aren’t all that bad, but they reveal a lot about you I would think. Take Question 001 for example. It goes like this: If you can’t find a guide for the book your club is reading, we’ve put together this helpful list of book club questions. These general book club questions are some of our favorites, and work well for almost any book, whether you’re reading fiction or non-fiction. When Neruda died in 1973, The Book of Questions was one of eight unpublished poetry manuscripts that lay on his desk. In it, Neruda achieves a deeper vulnerability and vision than in his earlier work; this unique book is a testament to everything that made Neruda an artist.One of the best ways to ensure a successful book club meeting is to come prepared with good discussion questions. A great list of discussion questions can help you avoid awkward silences and move your club beyond obvious questions like whether or not you liked the book. Looking for a book club discussion guide?

I've known Pablo Neruda since my teenage years when his romantic love poems kept me awake at night. But this set of poems presented as questions touch me even deeper. It is just a statement that a human being do not stop to answer questions even after long long life.. It is published posthumously, and he died in a year i was born. So it is like an invisible thread between the times for me. Eternity...Have you stopped beating your wife? Follow-up questions: Have you quit smoking yet? Do I look fat in this? Do you think she's pretty?