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Monk's Eye

By Cees Nooteboom
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Monk's Eye is a collection of poems by Cees Nooteboom, inspired by two islands: the Dutch Schiermonnikoog and the Spanish Minorca, where the poet spends his summers. The poems explore the archetype of islands, evoking serenity found in nature's quiet places, and meditate on themes of past, memory, illusion, and the essence of poetry itself, reflecting on Socrates' famous question to Phaedrus about origin and destination.
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Format: Hardback
$3599
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in poetry, nature, philosophical reflections, and those fascinated by the cultural and emotional significance of islands.

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Cees Nooteboom wrote the poems that make up Monk's Eye on two islands: he began them on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog and finished them on the Spanish island of Minorca, where he has spent summers for decades.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Cees Nooteboom wrote the poems that make up Monk’s Eye on two islands: he began them on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog and finished them on the Spanish island of Minorca, where he has spent summers for decades.

The poems—which can be read individually or, all together, as the record of a poet’s life—are about the two islands. But they’re also about islands as an archetype, about the serenity that we can find on beaches and amid dunes, the sea sweeping imperturbably around us.

Accompanied by Sunandini Banerjee’s collages, the poems in this volume are rich in allusion; they address the past, memories, illusions, dreams, and the heart of all poetry—which Nooteboom locates in the opening line of Plato’s Phaedrus, when Socrates, walking with his admirer, asks, “My dear Phaedrus, whence came you, and whither are you going?”

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New York Times Book Review praises Nooteboom as "an impressive and inimitable voice among contemporary writers."

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780857425478

Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 15 April 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Seagull Books London Ltd

Contributors:

  • Translated by David Colmer
  • Illustrated by Sunandini Banerjee
  • Translated by David Colmer

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 63

Collections

Arts & Culture Biography & Memoir Cees Nooteboom Non-Fiction

About the Author

Cees Nooteboom is one of Europe's leading living authors. His poetry, novels and travel literature have been translated into many languages. David Colmer is an Australian writer and translator who lives in Amsterdam. This is the third book of Cees Nooteboom's poetry he has translated for Seagull. Sunandini Banerjee is a Calcutta-based graphic artist and editor who has illustrated books by Thomas Bernhard, Yves Bonnefoy and Ivan Vladislavic, among others.

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