The Weight of the World

努诺·朱迪斯 / 姚风Guangxi Normal University Press · ChinaFeb 2023

Rating 3.9
Word count
23K words
Chapters
82
ISBN
9787559855237

Tags

Literature Natural ImageryTheme of LovePhilosophical LyricismSpiritual ComfortSlow ReadingLyric NarrativePoetry CollectionExotic CulturePortuguese LiteratureMusical Rhythm

Summary

This collection brings together seventy-seven poems selected by the renowned contemporary Portuguese poet Nuno Júdice from across different periods of his career. Its subjects range from nature, love and philosophy to art and poetics, including such poems as "Bird," "Love," "Philosophy" and "Recipe for Making Blue Pigment." His work combines deep erudition, serene philosophical reflection and lyrical poetry into a distinctive voice. At times he dissolves the boundary between poetry and prose, rendering the poetic through narrative; at other times he moves between the classical and the modern, creating a transcultural poetic backdrop across different dimensions of time and space. He excels at starting from ordinary lived experience, capturing fleeting glimmers of poetry, and examining and pondering the human condition with an intellectual gaze, expressing a thought that is profoundly philosophical.

Editor's review

The Weight of the World is a deep and restrained poetry collection by the Portuguese poet Nuno Júdice, published by Guangxi Normal University Press. As an important voice in contemporary Portuguese poetry, Júdice is known for his keen observation of everyday life and his metaphysical contemplation. In this collection he explores such eternal themes as memory, time, loss and existence, in a language that is concise yet dense, with clear images that linger long after reading.

From a professional perspective, the value of this collection lies in its refined expression and precise emotional control. Júdice does not overuse rhetoric; instead, he uses seemingly ordinary objects—a chair, a window, a patch of light—to carry the weight of emotion and philosophical inquiry. This effortless-seeming writing keeps the poems close to life while reaching beyond the particular, inviting readers into a state of quiet reflection. Readers familiar with Pessoa, Andrade and other Portuguese-language poets will find here a spiritual continuation and a new variation.

Reading The Weight of the World is like finding a corner for contemplation in a noisy world. It offers no impassioned manifesto or sweet consolation; instead, with an honest gaze, it measures the delicate balance between individual life and the world. This book is suited to slow reading in solitude; each poem is like a carefully polished lens through which we may see more clearly the contours of our own feelings and the texture of existence.

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Reading tips

  1. Read only a few poems at a time, giving yourself space to savor and absorb the language and imagery
  2. You may read alongside some knowledge of twentieth-century Portuguese history and culture to deepen your understanding of the poetic context
  3. As you read, pay attention to the everyday objects that recur in the poems and consider how they are given emotional and philosophical weight

About the publisher

Guangxi Normal University Press China · Founded in 1986

Guangxi Normal University Press is a publisher known for literature, foreign literature and history titles. Its 1,175 books in the database show a solid accumulation in classics and prose collections, including foreign literary works such as Les Fleurs du mal: Annotated Poems of Baudelaire, Snow Country, Dubliners and The Wild Palms, as well as modern prose compilations like The Complete Prose of Zhou Zuoren. History and philosophy also hold a notable share, with titles such as Running Dogs: Clerks and Runners in Qing County Yamen and The History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reflecting attention to Qing local administration and modern history. In art literature there is the 16-volume Ten Bamboo Studio Painting and Calligraphy Manual. Its author resources include foreign writers Charles Baudelaire and Yasunari Kawabata, translators and annotators Liu Nanqi and Zou Bo, and scholars such as Zhong Shuhe, Bradly W. Reed and You Chenjun. As public information is limited, this characterization is based only on the books in the database, which together present a profile balancing Chinese and foreign literary classics with academic works in the humanities and social sciences.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 词语的重量与传统和现代的建构——2022年度“1573国际诗歌奖”颁奖词
  3. The Weight of Words and the Reconstruction of Tradition Vers
  4. 获奖感言
  5. 译者序
  6. 人的证明
  7. 旅行归来
  8. 在里斯本（六十年代末）
  9. 起始
  10. 列数幽魂
  11. 葡萄牙
  12. 南方
  13. 画像
  14. 哲学
  15. 影像
  16. 童年纪事
  17. 爱情
  18. 制作蓝色颜料的配方
  19. 飞鸟
  20. 雨弦
  21. 编故事的人
  22. 诗艺
  23. 照片
  24. 符号学
  25. 里斯本的一个冬天
  26. 声明
  27. 写给一个夜晚和几条狗的交响曲
  28. 一首外用的情诗
  29. 遇见
  30. 展览
  31. 爱在一九九六
  32. 世界的重量
  33. 玫瑰变奏曲
  34. 肖像
  35. 仙乐之国
  36. 完成
  37. 转动
  38. 远离
  39. 醒来
  40. 原则
  41. 光的舞蹈
  42. 秘密谈话
  43. 基本概念手册
  44. 市场压力
  45. 语法练习
  46. 坠落
  47. 盲文
  48. 白色
  49. 哈姆雷特与奥菲莉亚
  50. 如何写一首诗
  51. 巴别塔
  52. 棋局
  53. 新文学理论
  54. 为写一首诗
  55. 动物学：猪
  56. 动物学：乌鸫
  57. 阶级斗争
  58. 在火车的座椅上
  59. 有马克思的静物画
  60. 动词
  61. 美的奥秘
  62. 准备旅行
  63. 灵感论
  64. 时间问题
  65. 武汉之名
  66. 动物学：蜘蛛
  67. 隔离生存指南
  68. 黑岛访聂鲁达
  69. 心爱女人之歌
  70. 仿贾科梅蒂
  71. 孤独之歌
  72. 乡土诗
  73. 海
  74. 短诗学
  75. 金翅雀
  76. 院子
  77. 月亮
  78. 隐喻
  79. 夜
  80. 早晨
  81. 爱
  82. 诗人

FAQ

What is Nuno Júdice's standing in Portuguese literature? Nuno Júdice is one of the most representative contemporary Portuguese poets and also an important essayist and translator. His poetry is known for its calm and precision, and has profoundly influenced the linguistic style and aesthetic orientation of contemporary Portuguese poetry. He is often regarded as an important heir to and developer of Portuguese-language poetry after Pessoa.
What themes does The Weight of the World mainly explore? The core themes of the collection revolve around memory, the passage of time, the poetry of everyday life, existential solitude and the relationship between objects and people. Through minute observation, Júdice anchors abstract philosophical thought in concrete things, exploring how individuals bear and understand the weight of themselves and the world.
How is the translation quality of this book? The book is translated by an experienced translator of Portuguese literature, and the translation strives to stay close to the original's concise style and subtle resonance, preserving Júdice's restraint and density well in Chinese and providing Chinese readers with a reliable text.

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About the author

努诺·朱迪斯 Author

Nuno Júdice is an author about whom limited public information is available. The library currently holds only one work by this author, The Weight of the World, classified under literature. On the basis of the available information alone, it is not possible to confirm the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, or writing career, nor to outline a complete body of work. Judging from the title The Weight of the World and its literary classification, the writing may center on human experience, existential situations, and the weight of everyday life, with a reflective and introspective quality. Because further works and critical materials are lacking, it would be inappropriate to speculate excessively about the author's stylistic influences, literary standing, or social impact. Readers who wish to learn more may begin with this book and consider its themes and modes of expression, supplementing their understanding with further public information as it becomes available.

姚风 Author

Yao Feng is represented in this Chinese-language book database by two works, both classified under literature. Publicly available information about his nationality, dates of birth and death, education, and professional career is limited, so his life cannot be described in detail here; this introduction can only be based on the works and categories in the database. The first, My Heart Is Late: Pessoa's Love Poems, indicates a direct connection with the poetry of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, suggesting that Yao Feng may have translated, edited, or introduced Pessoa's love poems, giving Chinese readers access to this aspect of Pessoa's work. The second, The Weight of the World, points to writing or editing concerned with poetry and literary expression. Together the two books—one a foreign poet's love poems, the other a contemplative literary work—suggest an interest in poetic language, emotional experience, and the inner life, with a readership inclined toward literature. Given the limited materials, his style and influence are difficult to assess systematically and await further sources.