Absolutely exquisite, and deeply tragic. To be released as part of the Around-the-World Bookbox.

The World's Embrace: Selected Poems by Abdellatif Laâbi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Really unique voice in poetry - I found this in City Lights bookshop years ago (City Lights also published the book). Poems primarily from the early 90s period, when he was living in Paris. Laâbi is concerned with the deep questions - where we are from, where we ultimately are going in the world, and how are journeys are impacted by deep forces beyond one's control. Many of the poems are dedicated to fellow dissidents; one was dedicated to someone who was murdered by National Front nationalists. I'm not extremely fluent in French, but did my best to read both the original and the translation (laid out in left page / right page format, original on left hand side, translations on right hand side).

Highly recommended.


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To be released as part of the Around-the-World bookbox - can qualify either for Europe (France, where he emigrated to) or Africa (Morocco, where the poet is from). I've had this for more than a decade (I think I bought it in the original City Lights bookstore in SF), so I'm glad to finally read it (and release it).

I'm claiming this softcover poetry collection from the Around the World bookbox. (I visited the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco myself many, many years ago!)

Later: I enjoyed this collection, not least as the side-by-side French and English versions of the poems let me experiment with my not-that-great French before checking out the translations. While many of the poems are quite dark, looking into the world's violence and injustice or into the pains of personal relationships gone wrong, there are some more upbeat ones here and there - and some thought-provoking ones, such as "There is a Cannibal Reading Me," with the reader picking apart the poet's work for the tastiest bits...

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left this book in this new-to-me Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Keep Them Moving challenge. ***

In Little Free Library 126088