The Monument

KIRKUS REVIEW In this unusual collection of notes, confessions, instructions, and humorous asides, Mark Strand takes the characteristic theme of his poetry--literal and figurative absence--to its extreme in prose. Written as an address by a writer (who is never specifically named) to his future translator, the book serves as an ambiguous guide to his identity. It describes and instructs with the self-conscious notion that the writer will be dead while being translated; that death itself is a form of translation from one life to another. The journal-like form given the material intensifies its impact as a series of cohesive, multi-faceted meditations defining the nature of artistic immortality. Whether apologizing to the translator for self-indulgence, telling the story of his own death, or ranting about the nature of the muse, the voice is always convincing and the writing persistently elegant. It is a monument not only to Strand, who handles language and concept deftly throughout, but to the notion that the passing of one era into another translates the way a piece of literature will be regarded. Pub Date:Feb. 28th, 1978