A Season in Hell & Illuminations

By Arthur Rimbaud

Book Overview

Translated, edited and with an Introduction by Wyatt Mason "The definitive translation for our time." -Edward Hirsch From Dante's Inferno to Sartre's No Exit, writers have been fascinated by visions of damnation. Within that rich literature of suffering, Arthur Rimbaud's A Season in Hell -written when the poet was nineteen-provides an astonishing example of the grapple with self. As a companion to Rimbaud's journey, readers could have no better guide than Wyatt Mason. One of our most talented young translators and critics, Mason's new version of A Season in Hell renders the music and mystery of Rimbaud's tale of Hell on Earth with exceptional finesse and power. This bilingual edition includes maps, a helpful chronology of Rimbaud's life, and the unfinished suite of prose poems, Illuminations. With A Season in Hell , they cement Rimbaud's reputation as one of the foremost, and most influential, writers in French literature.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679643273
• ISBN13: 9780679643272
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Modern Library
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Rimbaud is a deadent genius

Arthur Rimbaud is one of the great poetic geniuses in the canon of world history. His brilliance manifests itself in his iconoclastic criticism of the world at large, a world which condemns him in his relentless pursuit of truth. These poems are a vision of personal truth, one rooted in pain and experience, in the lessons of a life which was bled out of him in the streets of Paris and the crumbling cities of the Old World. Rimbaud, like Baudelaire, is a decadent genius, offering insights into the human soul and its relation to a world which offers nothing but alienation. His verses are strange and unfamiliar, breaking conventional poetic forms to such an extent that it cannot be considered rebellion; it is almost as though he disregards the work of every poet before him to find a perfectly honest form of expression. And the results are striking. If sometimes a bit obtuse, his poems have the feeling of a revelatory hymn: each word conveys layers of meaning, and when taken together they form a sort of gestalt for the human spirit. Rimbaud, like those he inspired--from Jim Morrison to Alan Ginsberg--is voice of suffering and redemption that should not be ignored.

A Season in Hell : Illuminations

It's been well over a century since Arthur Rimbaud penned "A Season in Hell" and "Illuminations" in his native French. It is said by many that "Illuminations" was the most complex collection that Rimbaud wrote in his short span of writing, but this translation by Mark Treharne truly captured the essence of Rimbauds work. "A Season in Hell & Illuminations" embodies Rimbauds thoughts and state of being at the time with his amazing use of metaphors and grasp of the written word. This book is definately a must have for the most zealous Rimbaud fans and new readers alike.

POWERFUL AND AMAZING FOR A 16 YEAR OLD!!

I FOUND THE WORK OF ARTHUR RIMBAULD STIMULATING AND BEAUTIFUL THE MOVIE "TOTAL ECIPSE" MADE ME AWARE OF HIS WORK IT'S AMAZING WORK FOR ONE AS YOUNG AS 16 I'D RECOMEND IT TO SERIOUS POETS

best work ever by genius Rimbaud.

This is the best work ever, by THE genius, Arthur Rimbaud. This is written when he was 18, and it is his last work. This book is full of rebelious thoughts, very thought-provoking, and it throughoutly inspired me. really. whoever likes/admires/don't know of/curious of this genius Rimbaud, please read this, amazement guaranteed!