Inventario II

Rating:
Summary: Too many adjectives, and a book that deserves them all ...
Review: Distinctive, exceptional, extraordinary, particular, individual, unique, eccentric, markedly personal, noteworthy, particular, peculiar, singular, uncommon ... Too many adjectives, and a book that deserves them all: "Inventario II".

"Inventario II" ("Inventory II") compiles the poems in Spanish that Mario Benedetti wrote from 1986 to 1991. But... who is Benedetti?. That is an extremely pertinent question, especially in the USA, where not many people know him (unfortunately for them, I might add). He is a very gifted poet and writer, born in Uruguay in 1920, who had to abandon his country for quite a few years due to a military dictatorship in his country... In my opinion, some of his books are wonderful, and "Inventario II" is one of them. I generally don't like poetry, but after borrowing this book from a friend out of curiosity, I decided to buy it.

I would like to point out that my favorite poem in this book is "Otherness", written in Spanish but with a title in English. I'll copy the last part of that poem, as a way of ending my review. After all, what better way to make you understand how well Mario Benedetti writes than allowing you to appreciate exactly that?:

"...siempre me aconsejaron que escribiera distinto
pero he decidido desalentar / humilde
y cautelosamente a mis mentores

en consecuencia seguiré escribiendo
igual a mí o sea
de un modo obvio irónico terrestre
rutinario tristón desangelado
(por otros adjetivos se ruega consultar

críticas de los últimos treinta años)
y eso tal vez ocurra porque no sé ser otro
que ese otro que soy para los otros".

Oh!!. I forgot to give you my recommendation :) All in all, I think that you are likely to love this book. Enjoy it as much as I did !.

Belen Alcat