Odes to Common Things

by Pablo Neruda

Book Overview

A beautiful collection of 25 odes -- in both English and Spanish -- from one of greatest poets of the twentieth century.

Each poem in this collection is accompanied by a pair of exquisite pencil drawings. From bread and soap to a bed and a box of tea, the "odes to common things" collected here conjure up the essence of their subjects clearly and wondrously.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0821220802
• ISBN13: 9780821220801
• Release Date: May 1994
• Publisher: Bulfinch Press
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

This is the quintessential Naruda tome.

I cannot be without this book. It gives one all there could be to know about love and life. It is well worth its cost and leaves the reader that much smarter about everything that matters in love (and life)

Delicious reading

Neruda's use of language is truly sensual, in both English and Spanish. I must read for word lovers.

Ode to the Odes to Common Things Book

WOW. I've never been so moved by this book. As I began to read it, I sensed so many different things. How can such wonderful feelings be sensed by such common things. Pablo Neruda is a master in poetry. Im only 16 years old and I've never been so moved by such poetry. what an amazing man he was. it takes real gift to be able and write like that. This book really touched me, that sense and feeling in every line was enchanting. read this book, and you'll appreciate almost everything in life.

Whatever Happened to Great Poetry?

Pablo Neruda--the last great poet. Every time I pick up one of his books I'm startled back in to coherence. "Odes to Common Things" is no exception. His elevation of what you and I take for granted to entities of self-completeness is nothing short of brilliance. When I see a chair all I see is a place to plant my weary body, but with Neruda the chair is transformed into something wildly exotic, transcendent and magical. "Ode to the dictionary" will make you regret not using yours more. A tell-tale sign of reading profound poetry is an encroaching sense of self-disgust. I rarely fail to acheive this feeling when reading Neruda. So if you're in the mood to be simutaneously elevated and degraded, read "Ode to Common Things", a book that is anything but common.

Beautiful poetry, Beautiful Illustrations

This is a beautifully illustrated collection of Pablo Neruda's Odes to Common Things. As a high school art teacher, this is one of the books I use to teach illustration, both by using the book's illustrations as a good example, and through the poetry, to have students see the variety of imagery available even in things they see every day. In particular, Ode to a Cat and Ode to Scissors are both playful and haunting.