Category: Adults, Poetry
Language: EnglishKeywords: Anthropology Indigenous Mythology Philosophy Spanish Literature
Written by Anonymous, Michael Bazzett (Translator)
Read by Michael Bazzett
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Unabridged
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST POETRY BOOK OF THE YEAR
In the beginning, the world is spoken into existence with one word: âEarth.â There are no inhabitants, and no sunâonly the broad sky, silent sea, and sovereign Framer and Shaper. Then come the twin heroes Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Wielding blowguns, they begin a journey to hell and back, ready to confront the folly of false deities as well as death itself, in service to the world and to humanity.
This is the story of the Mayan Popol Vuh, âthe book of the woven mat,â one of the only epics indigenous to the Americas. Originally sung and chanted, before being translated into proseâand now, for the first time, translated back into verse by Michael Bazzettâthis is a story of the generative power of language. A story that asks not only Where did you come from? but How might you live again? A story that, for the first time in English, lives fully as âthe phonetic rendering of a living pulse.â
By turns poetic and lucid, sinuous and accessible, this striking new translation of The Popol Vuhâthe first in the Seedbank series of world literatureâbreathes new life into an essential tale.
Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
Release date: 05-14-24
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST POETRY BOOK OF THE YEAR
In the beginning, the world is spoken into existence with one word: âEarth.â There are no inhabitants, and no sunâonly the broad sky, silent sea, and sovereign Framer and Shaper. Then come the twin heroes Hunahpu and Xbalanque. Wielding blowguns, they begin a journey to hell and back, ready to confront the folly of false deities as well as death itself, in service to the world and to humanity.
This is the story of the Mayan Popol Vuh, âthe book of the woven mat,â one of the only epics indigenous to the Americas. Originally sung and chanted, before being translated into proseâand now, for the first time, translated back into verse by Michael Bazzettâthis is a story of the generative power of language. A story that asks not only Where did you come from? but How might you live again? A story that, for the first time in English, lives fully as âthe phonetic rendering of a living pulse.â
By turns poetic and lucid, sinuous and accessible, this striking new translation of The Popol Vuhâthe first in the Seedbank series of world literatureâbreathes new life into an essential tale.
Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
Release date: 05-14-24