THE BEDBUG And Selected Poetry

by Vladimir Mayakovsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

This excellent little book about the famous Russian Revolutionary poet falls into three parts. The first is a brief life and critique of his works by the editor, Patricia Blake. The second consists of some dozen of his best and most famous poems in Russian- with a fine English translation on facing pages. The third is his playlet, The Bedbug, a stinging satire of Stalinism. Mayakovsky is a name that some Americans know-but few know very much about him (Stalin and Pasternak praised him; Lenin had no use for him). He was a poet and propagandist, and also a prophet who interpreted the sterility and pettiness and philistinism of the Stalin era before his suicide in 1930. A romantic, there is a gigantism to his poetry- and his verse is bold, brutal, and original, reflecting the era in which he lived. This is one of the great Russian poets of the century. Pasternak's poetry pales to more lyricism in contrast with Mayakovsky's and his work fully deserves its presentation here to an American audience.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 0253201896

Page Count: -

Publisher: Meridian

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1960

Categories: NONFICTION