The Flowers of Evil (Oxford World's Classics) (English and French Edition)

Beautiful writing, at times very violent and at others very tender. Way ahead of it's time, but still feels like a product of its deserted era. Highly recommend to anyone interested in this beautifully chaotic piece of literature.

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.

Charles Baudelaire's poetry is some of the best poetry ever written. He explores a number of different themes, often focusing on his personal experiances and emotions. To those of us who have suffered in life, one can easily relate to a lot of the feelings he felt. There are many hidden messages in the poetry, and the language is very rich and educated. You can get a lot of different interpretations out of these poems, which make them all the more relevant to the reader.The best thing about this book is the fact that it features both the original French and an English translation, side by side. For those who are fluent or well versed in French, this is a dream come true. The translations are expertly done, and great care has been done to preserve the rhyme schemes without losing the meaning of the poems.

Fans of Edgar Allen Poe, Bukowski, The Story of the Eye, and Tom Waits will likely enjoy this morbid venture into debauchery and death. The poems are not beautiful or pleasant. I am still ambivalent as to whether or not I truly like them. For the curious, they are worth the read. There is not too much variation in the tone, subject matter, or style throughout the book. Although many of his poems are available online, it is worth it to me to enjoy poetry from an actual book.

When translating poetry from one language to another one must take into account that there's often an exchange involved. Either the translator maintains the music of the poetry in exchange for some of its intended meaning, or vice versa. In this edition of Baudelaire's wonderful masterpiece, the Flowers of Evil, Oxford tries to paint Baudelaire's message in the most comprehensible way and as a result it does lose some of its music. What can ya say, though. If I had the time, I would just learn French and read the work in the original language. Oh wait, but you can! This edition is bilingual.

As a lesbian, and a citizen of the world, I think Baudelaire’s subjects on the infuriating nature of unattainable understanding of beauty is both gnarly and palpable. As a conversational to near- fluent speaker of French, and long time Baudelaire fangirl, this is a fantastic translation of Les Fleurs du Mal. 5/7 everyone should have a copy.

When critics say that Baudelaire is the greatest French poet, they underestimate him. He remains one of the greatest poets of all time. His willingness to delve into the depths of human nature and extract reality-even the "guts"-with surgical skill marks a boldness and dexterity few poets can approach. He is a witness to the essential beauty of every part of the human condition. He writes of life as experienced by many, but leaves most of us lost for words. James McGowan's translation is superb and brings the vibrancy of the original as well and anyone possibly could.

I'm an American trying to read foreign poetry. This, of course, is impossible. I can not in the slightest evaluate how well this translation conveys the French. Nonetheless, this translation touched me emotionally. I think I caught the idea of what Baudelaire was trying to do. For me, the intention is more important than the execution. A lot of reviews will tell you to read Baudelaire in the French. That is excellent advice. But if you can't, this translation conveys something about what is important about the emotions that are conveyed in Baudelaire's poetry.