Carcanet Press Logo
Quote of the Day
Carcanet Press is our most courageous publisher. When you look at what they have brought out since their beginnings, it makes so many other houses seem timid or merely predictable.
Charles Tomlinson

Review of Tsvetaeva's Bride of Ice, the Independent

31 July 2009
As storm-tossed and shock-filled as the times that bred it, Marina Tsvetaeva's ruggedly spectacular poetry traces the path of one smouldering genius through Russia's revolution, turbulent exile in Prague and Paris, and unhappy return to Stalin's terror-stricken Soviet Union. Working from literal versions, Elaine Feinstein first published her electrifying translations of Tsvetaeva in 1971. This expanded selection contains some mesmeric additions - most of all, the 'Girlfriend' sequence about her lover Sofia Parnok that this recklessly passionate poet wrote in 1914-1915, when the scandalous fury of love meant that 'History itself is forgotten'. The savage beauty and coruscating sadness of Feinstein's renderings make this edition a priceless audience with one of the voices of the century - a talent that soared above the din in a 'madhouse of the inhuman'. BT
Next review of 'Bride of Ice'... To the Elaine Feinstein page... To the 'Bride of Ice' page...
Share this...
The Carcanet Blog Poems, Stories and Writings: Margaret Tait read more Selected and New Poems: John F. Deane read more Child Ballad: David Wheatley read more Hell, I Love Everybody: James Tate read more PN Review 273: Editorial read more Something, I Forget: Angela Leighton read more
Find your local bookshop logo
Arts Council Logo
We thank the Arts Council England for their support and assistance in this interactive Project.
This website ©2000-2023 Carcanet Press Ltd