Neruda, by: Alberto Costa

Robin Darío and Pablo Neruda are without a doubt the most writers who left a mark in Spanish-speaking poetry in this century. But the Chilean poet "Neruda" surpassed the Nicaraguan "Darío" in terms of the spread of his works. And we can confirm that - since Tzamentis - no Spanish-speaking poet has gained popularity comparable to Neruda's. His translations number in the hundreds - starting from all European languages, and ending with unimaginable languages like Uzbek, Urdu, and Bengali - and the editions of his books number in the thousands, and the copies bearing his name on their covers across the world number in the tens of millions. During his lifetime, he received all the awards and honors a writer aspires to, until he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1971, and he had been nominated for it twenty years earlier - his life was also the subject of countless other awards, and honorary doctorates from several American and European universities. In addition to the non-poetic factors that contributed to Neruda's astonishing popularity, there is no doubt - because only his enemies would debate such a matter - that the primary and ultimate reason for his popularity must be sought in the nature of his poetry. The task of this book - after a quick review of Neruda's poetic talent and personal achievements - remains an attempt to analyze that deep nature, the political elements that the poet moved to reach this nature, and at the same time to reach this wide enthusiastic global audience. Number of pages: 142