In Pablo Neruda, Moran takes a detailed and often critical look at this relationship, focusing as much on what the poetry sometimes strategically hides about Neruda the poet, the lover, and the political proselytizer, as what it reveals. Moran describes a life that was marked by an increasingly militant communism, the seeds of which can be traced to Nerudaโs experiences in Spain during the early months of the Spanish Civil War. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Neruda became a literary torchbearer for the International Left, and he spent his final years campaigning to bring socialism to his beloved Chile. He lived just long enough to see his hero Salvador Allende unseated by Augusto Pinochetโs bloody coup.
Pablo Neruda paints a fascinating picture of one of the most prodigiously gifted literary figures of the twentieth century. It will appeal to fans of Nerudaโs verse who wish to learn more about the life behind it, as well as to readers interested in Latin American literature, politics, and history.
Dominic Moran is a lecturer and tutor in Spanish at Christ Church, Oxford. He has written books and articles on a range of twentieth-century Spanish American writers including Julio Cortรกzar and Alejo Carpentier. He has also published a critical edition of Nerudaโs Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair.