Worth Reading
Reading Neruda In Spanish Reveals Poetry's True Beauty
I’ve been reading two books while in Chile: A Short History of Chile by Sergio Villalobos and Los Versos del Capitan (The Captain’s Verses)by Pablo Neruda. The first one, at 204 pages, is the perfect length for someone with only a tourist’s interest in the country. The second one left me with the same thought I had after reading some of Neruda’s other poetry: If you can read Spanish, even rudimentary Spanish, it’s better to read him that way rather than in translation. Spanish, when articulated melodically – either in song or in poetry – is so much more beautiful than English.