Gellu Naum (1915–2001)

I've read this. It's just an anthology, but I think it's his best anthology. "Despre identic şi felurit" (About the Same and the Different, 2004) is more complete and the big poems like "Tatăl meu obosit" are present in their original version, but this is more coherent - the poems from the next volumes make slight changes to the style, more obvious in "Malul albastru", for instance, where the poems seem much less spectacular than on "Athanor", but more profound. Anyways, this book has changed my life. It's my introduction to Gellu Naum and while it didn't clicked with me the first time, this and other books by Gellu Naum have grown considerabily on me. He is truly one of the greatest poets Romania has seen, although not as genius as Eminescu (personally, Eminescu still doesn't appeal to me as much as Gellu Naum, but I don't deny his talent anymore) and so far it has to go a long way to be fully accepted by the schools' canon, but then pupils would easily make fun of him. But really, Gellu Naum was, is and will be a truly free person.… (más)

This manifesto is a piece of prose poetry that ought to be mouth-watering for about anyone into Surrealism. It has a lush, baroque-like overloaded style like most of the writings of the Romanian Surrealist group, a style that probably isn't very different from the style in Breton's manifestos (unfortunately, I've barely read anything by the French Surrealists, as there's seldom any translation in Romanian available, for instance none of Breton's books has been translated in Romanian, or at least published as a book). The ending sounds a bit different and questions the "two-faced cages of the world", saying that "poetry, love, revolution are one and the same". After you finished reading it, you might get the feeling of regret that the movement didn't lasted longer. (Actually, the members of the group continued to write on through mails for a couple of years, but they couldn't put out together books and expozitions anymore...)… (más)

Almost everything after "Culoarul somnului" (The Corridor of Sleep, 1944) is gold, but most notably "Athanor", with its combination of seducing metaphore nebulas and spiritual force. But Gellu Naum's finest volume when it comes to spirituality is, without a doubt, "Faţa şi suprafaţa" (Face and Surface, 1994) - which contains few of the best poems by Gellu Naum, "Faţa şi suprafaţa" (almost an "ars poetica"), "Eftihia" or "Călătoria cu Stelică" (The Journey With Stelică), and also let's mention the mysterious pictopoem "Nigredo". This is actually Gellu Naum's last poetry volume before "Ascet la baraca de tir" (Recluse in the Firing Range Shack, 2000), which is still an anthology, although with a very fine set of new poems. From that point, numerous big-sized anthologies would follow, like "Sora fântână" (Fountain Sister, 1995), "Focul negru" (Black Fire, 1995) or the posthumous "Despre identic şi felurit" (About the Same and the Different, 2003). But it doesn't matter which one you pick: each of them is absolutely five stars.… (más)

I've read this. It's just an anthology, but I think it's his best anthology. "Despre identic şi felurit" (About the Same and the Different, 2004) is more complete and the big poems like "Tatăl meu obosit" are present in their original version, but this is more coherent - the poems from the next volumes make slight changes to the style, more obvious in "Malul albastru", for instance, where the poems seem much less spectacular than on "Athanor", but more profound. Anyways, this book has changed my life. It's my introduction to Gellu Naum and while it didn't clicked with me the first time, this and other books by Gellu Naum have grown considerabily on me. He is truly one of the greatest poets Romania has seen, although not as genius as Eminescu (personally, Eminescu still doesn't appeal to me as much as Gellu Naum, but I don't deny his talent anymore) and so far it has to go a long way to be fully accepted by the schools' canon, but then pupils would easily make fun of him. But really, Gellu Naum was, is and will be a truly free person.… (más)