Booknote: El Amor, Las Mujeres, y La Vida

Mario Benedetti, El Amor, Las Mujeres, y La Vida. Madrid: Alfaguara, 2004. ISBN: 84-204-8213-7.

Genre: poetry
Subgenre: love poetry, Spanish language
Format: paperback
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

This is a poetry collection where Benedetti's poems emphasize women, love, and life. These are poems with a love theme mostly. The book's title is inspired by Arthur Schopenhauer's El amor, las mujeres, y la muerte. In his prologue. Benedetti says he first read the German philosopher as a teenager. He once more reread the philosopher's work recently in his 60s. Benedetti concludes that women and love are closer to life than death, thus Benedetti's title. Benedetti also writes that this anthology has been building up over 50 years and draws poems from his two Inventarios collections. The book contains a prologue and 100 poems.

The poems vary in length and structure. They are mostly free verse poems. The poems can be light, amusing, serious, profound, deep, passionate, so on. Some poems you can read quickly, and  others you need to take your time and savor. The quality of the poems can vary; I felt some were better than others.

Some of my favorite poems include:

• "Es tan poco."
• "La secretaria ideal."

Overall, I liked this poetry collection. If you enjoy Benedetti's work, you'll want to read this though keep in mind you may have read some poems before. If you have not read the author before, this book provides a good sampling.

3 out of 5 stars.

Biografía para encontrarme

Mario Benedetti, Biografía para encontrarme. Mexico, D.F.: Alfaguara, 2011. ISBN: 9786071111364.

Genre: poetry
Subgenre: Spanish language
Format: trade paperback
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

Finished reading Mario Benedetti's Biografía para encontrarme recently. It felt good to read some poetry for a change, and this is a very good poetry collection. The book collects 72 poems that Benedetti revised, rewrote, and arranged into this book during the last two years of his life. The poetry is intimate, heartwarming, moving at times, and very often introspective. Themes include solitude, nostalgia, death, love, and beauty. Fans of the poet will certainly enjoy this one. For new readers, this is a good book to discover the author's verse. 

I enjoyed the book very much, and I really liked it. It was light reading at times, but it also had moments for deep thought. Libraries with  Spanish language collections would do well to add this book. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Book qualifies for these 2017 Reading Challenges: