José Martí (1853–1895)

At the age of seventeen, José Martí was sentenced to six years’ forced labour by the Spanish colonial authorities, for drafting a letter attacking as an apostate a Cuban classmate who had enlisted as an officer in the Spanish army. Martí’s friends were eventually able to get the sentence commuted to exile in view of his youth and frail health, but not before he had suffered permanent damage to his health in the appalling conditions of the quarries.

Twenty-five years later, in 1895, he show more was killed fighting against Spain in the Cuban War of Independence. In between times, he had become a well-known modernist poet and playwright as well as a tireless political activist and journalist, attacking colonialism, the Catholic Church, slavery, capitalism, racism and the oppression of women, but above all promoting the cause of Cuban independence, both against Spain and against the threat of a new hegemony from the United States.

In this anthology, Andrés Sorel gives us a potted biography of the political Martí, as well as a broad selection of his writings right through from his account of his experiences as a political prisoner to his last, unfinished letter from camp and the final entries in his diaries. We only get a very thin selection of his more literary works, but these do include the one line of his verse most English-speaking readers will remember (thanks to Pete Seeger) — “Yo soy un hombre sincero”.

It’s fascinating to see how well Martí lived up to (or rather gave us a model for) the 20th century ideal of the revolutionary. Apart from looking more like Marcel Proust than Che Guevara, that is. The bulk of his political ideas could have been shifted fifty years on in time without anyone spotting a major incongruity. It’s hard to disagree with his arguments. Reading his essays and speeches back to back is a little tiring, though: there’s only so much exalted rhetoric you can take in at one go, and Martí clearly lived in a permanent state of rhetorical excitement. But plenty of other Cubans since have exhibited the same fault. More disturbing in the field diaries is the calm way in which he goes from lyrical descriptions of Cuban landscape and peasants to cold reports of courts martial and firing squads. Revolutionaries can’t afford to be nice people. show less

I had to read this when I was in school, probably around 7th or 8th grade. Jose Marti, the Cuban poet and independence fighter, was exiled for a time in New York City. During that time, one of his projects was this: La Edad de Oro, a magazine for children. Now, keep in mind this was the late 19th century or so, thus we are not talking the crappy pap kids get fed today. Marti treated children like human beings who were smart and capable of learning and growing up to be productive citizens and show more members of society. His magazine reflected that. This volume collects the four issues of the magazine he published. Each issue contains some essays on a broad range of topics from Latin American heroes to the World's Fair in Paris. He also wrote poetry, and the magazine included some kind of fiction such as a fairy tale or fable. He wrote and adapted content reflective of a wide worldview, and he did it all in a language that young people could easily understand. And, as if that is not enough, the guy was a pretty good writer; there is a certain lyricism to the text.

For me, this was one of the first books I read that explored a variety of topics. I still remember the fable of the magical shrimp and reading about the great men--Bolivar, San Martin, and Hidalgo. It is a book that you can read a piece now and a piece later. I had not revisited it in years, so I felt I should reread it. It is still a pretty good read, very literary, which is amazing considering he was writing this particular work for children. In other words, he had high expectations of his young readers, expectations that are rarely found in children and YA writers today (yes, there are some good children and YA authors that treat their audience seriously, with respect, dignity, and as good readers, but this seems rare).

This particular edition includes illustration plates by Lorenzo Amengual, which add to the classic look of the book.

Overall, if all you have read of Marti is his poetry, which is excellent, this volume will give you a different look at this brilliant writer. It will show him as a humane man who also cared for and believed in children. Finally, I believe there is a recent translation in English, which may be worth looking into if you don't read Spanish. However, if you read Spanish, you should read it in the original. show less

I have to say I had a little bit of a hard time with this. I particularly liked Martí's poetry that discussed his experiences with the fight for independence, but I felt like a lot was lost in translation. I don't read rhymed, metered poetry very well--I get hung up on the flow and rhythm, especially when it isn't right, and there were lots of inconsistencies in the English. I give translator Anne Fountain credit for the hard work--I know it's a mighty task; I'll just have to try the show more Spanish when I learn it one day. :) show less

De las dos obras que contiene este volumen, "Ismaelillo" y "Versos sencillos" me parecieron muy, muy bellos. "Versos libres", aunque bello también, es demasiado largo para mi gusto.
Martí tiene el don de hacer poemas aparentemente simples, muy digeribles y conmovedores. Aunque me pareció más romántico que modernista, su obra parece estar a caballo entre las dos corrientes. Su compromiso ideológico que nota en sus versos, pero nunca molesta, más bien enriquece muchos de los poemas.
Muy show more recomendable. show less