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The Flowers of Evil (Oxford World's Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Charles Baudelaire
Creators: Jonathan Culler, James N Mcgowan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $8.52
You Save: $5.43 (39%)
New (24) Used (6) from $8.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 60212
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0199535582
Dewey Decimal Number: 841.8
EAN: 9780199535583
ASIN: 0199535582
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
The Flowers of Evil, which T.S. Eliot called the greatest example of modern poetry in any language, shocked the literary world of nineteenth century France with its outspoken portrayal of lesbian love, its linking of sexuality and death, its unremitting irony, and its unflinching celebration of the seamy side of urban life. Including the French texts and comprehensive explanatory notes to the poems, this extraordinary body of love poems restores the six poems originally banned in 1857, revealing the richness and variety of the collection.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 The first (and one of the best) modern poet's of our time July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Baudelaire's poetry is a potent brew of Poe's mystery/terror, Flaubert's realism, Byron's brand of romanticism and a touch Sade's sexual philosophy. Having said this however, I do not wish to say that Baudelaire's Fleur du Mal is derivative, far from it! In many ways, Baudelaire's poetry is like Manet's paintings, in the sense that Baudelaire's verse blazed a trail for later movements like impressionism and symbolism (but one could never truly say that he fully belonged in either school of art). Just as one could not say that Baudelaire is fully a Romantic poet (a particular label, which I find extremely unfounded). In short, Baudelaire is Baudelaire and no one else. This is exactly what makes his verse so fresh and exciting. Even if you might find his topic matter a bit morose and depressing at times, his verse seldom slips into tropes or cliches and it always remains incredibly personal. Baudelaire is not just innovative for his times either, many of the themes of death/decay (without redemption), of secular love/sex, of urban filth/alienation and (especially) his poems on ennui are still common experiences for the modern individual. This is why, I think, Peter Gay (among many other writers on modernism) chose Baudelaire as the first modern artist. I also suggest reading Claude Pichois' biography of Baudelaire, as well as Baudelaire essay titled "The Painter of Modern Life" in order to enrich one's reading of Les Fleurs du Mal.
 for the love of depravity March 3, 2008
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is a leftover from a long ago break-up with a French Athiest boyfriend many, many years ago... he was obsessed with Baudelaire and I wasn't. A bit raw for the sake of depravity, if you ask me. The "all women are vile" got a bit too repetitive for my taste. Even his moments of tenderness come across as cold and empty remorse, much like a child who gets scolded for being bad and then only apologizes because he was sorry he was caught. The one saving grace is that this Oxford version offers facing French text to compare language "differentials" .
McGowan's Baudelaire January 27, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Every translation of poetry is a compromise - on the one hand, the translator wants to "carry over" (the literal meaning of "translation") the poet's words and meaning exactly, but on the other hand, the translator also wants to create a poem that is as beautiful as the original! It is not an easy task.
McGowan's 1993 translation, into rhyming and metrical English verse, leans to the "literal" end of this spectrum. He renders Baudelaire's words, images, and verse closely enough that the reader can get a pretty reliable idea of the original. Although this is a faithful translation that stays away from "poetic license" and flights of fancy, it still reads well in English.
As an example of its acceptance in the world of Baudelaire studies, McGowan's translation is the one that is used by "The Cambridge Companion to Baudelaire" (ed. Rosemary Lloyd, 2005) for all quotations from Les Fleurs du Mal. If I could only have one English-language translation of Baudelaire in my library, this would be a good first choice.
The lurid and arabesque world of Baudelaire September 30, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Such a great price for a book with so much superb poetry! I really love Poe and the decadent poets and French Symbolists, and this book is a great introduction to the works of Baudelaire. I first picked this up in a library in Canada, then got a copy of it for myself when I returned back home. The cover art is nice too -- it seems to reflect that exotic world of poisons and deadly flowers that seem so representative of Baudelaire; however, there are also some very spiritual poems here that show how multifaceted he was as an artist. I highly recommend this book, if only for the price itself.
A 2007 review August 3, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I am disappointed by this translation, it being the Oxford World Classic by James McGowan. I compared some of McGowan's word choices when he switched from the French to English (the French text is beside English). I switched them back again by inserting Baudelaire's original word in the sentence (an exact English equivalent in spelling at times) and the line went from meek to brazen! Why would McGowan change something like that when the original poet is the master? McGowan should have trusted Baudelaire's work to shine through on its own. As a result, the edge was taken off the blade.
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