Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015)

This is a small selection from Tranströmer's lyric verse, in translations selected by editor Daniel Halpern from among the numerous English versions available, sandwiching the poet's childhood memoir "Memories look at me".

I enjoyed the memoir, where Tranströmer writes about growing up in Stockholm before and during World War II and going to the Södra Latin Grammar School (which featured in an Ingmar Bergman film). But it was difficult to get a grasp of the poems, possibly because of the profusion of different translators involved.

One or two appealed to me at first reading — "Grief Gondola No.2", for instance, a poem about Liszt and Wagner in Venice (but it's weird seeing the title of Liszt's piece translated into English when it's normally left in Italian); "Motifs from the Middle Ages"; and the "Vermeer" poem that ends the selection. Others left me baffled with their incongruous or surreal images and leaps of subject. Perhaps he's a poet you need to read in the original, but I didn't really see anything in this selection that would have made me go out and learn a bit more Swedish. At best it seemed good, but not earth-shattering.… (more)

Tomas Tranströmer was born in Stockholm and raised by his mother after his parents divorced when he was very young. He loved nature, especially entomology, as a child, although his interests were varied. His grandfather indulged his passion for trains, and he filled sketchpads with drawings of things that interested him. He attended Södra Latin Grammar School, made famous in Ingmar Bergman's first film Hets/Torment. This small book of sketches from his childhood gives a glimpse both of a child's life in Stockholm in the 1930s and 40s, but also a sense of the poet's beginnings.

What we live through in school is projected as an image of society. My total experience of school was mixed, with more darkness than light—just as my image of society has become.

We always feel younger than we are. I carry inside myself my earlier faces, as a tree contains it's rings. The sum of them is "me."… (more)

I picked this up mostly because it was convenient (my local public library had it) and because it is the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. So, given I had not really heard of this author before, I was curious. I gave it a low rating because, for me, the book was just ok. I think other people may have a higher opinion, and that is ok. This book has some positives and some negatives. On the positive, when the author is good, he is good. There are some very rich images, very evocative of dreams and imagination. However, a lot of this poetry does seem pretty dark and depressing. I am not sure if that is just reflective of the fact he is Swedish, and a lot of the poetry is set up there in Scandinavia, where days can be very gray for very long, but some of the poetry could be right down depressing. Or at least, the kind of poetry to read in a winter's night when you have to stay inside with your hot beverage and a blanket. This is definitely not summer reading.

I did like the earlier works better than the later works. The book collects all his work, according to the introduction, and it is arranged chronologically. I would advise reading this book in small doses. Maybe that is why I just liked it so-so. I read all through it, and this book is best read in small doses. In fact, maybe reading a part of it now, and then putting it aside and picking it up again later, may be the better option. So, for me, it was just alright. And if nothing else, I got to read a Nobel Laureate's work.… (more)