If not, winter : fragments of Sappho

The poetry book of the year, If Not, Winter irresistibly combines the ancient mysteries of Sappho with the contemporary wizardry of acclaimed poet and classicist Anne Carson in what is sure to become the standard translation of Sappho for our time. Of the nine books of lyrics Sappho is said to have composed, only one poem has survived complete. The rest are fragments. Refracted through the refreshingly contemporary sensibility of the fanatically admired Carson, these fragments invite a thrill of discovery and conjecture that can be described only as electric. Presented with the Greek on facing pages, her verses appear here as if on the ragged scraps of papyrus that preserve them. Together with Carson's introduction and notes, they provide a tantalizing window into Sappho's genius.