The Solitudes

An epic masterpiece of world literature, in a magnificent new translation by one if the most acclaimed translators of our time. A towering figure of the Renaissance, Luis de Gongora pioneered poetic forms so radically different from the dominant aesthetic of his time that he was derided as "the Prince of Darkness." The Solitudes, his magnum opus, is an intoxicatingly lush novel-in-verse that follows the wanderings of a shipwrecked man who has been spurned by his lover. Wrenched from civilization and its attendant madness, the desolate hero is transported into a natural world that is at once menacing and sublime. In this stunning edition Edith Grossman captures the breathtaking beauty of a work that represents one of the high points of poetic achievement in any language. Luis de Gongora (1561-1627) is among the most prominent figures of the Spanish Golden Age. Edith Grossman is the acclaimed translator of Don Quixote, as well as books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Carlos Fuentes. She is the recipient of the inaugural Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Translation Prize, the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, and a Guggenheim fellowship. Alberto Manguel is the bestselling author of dozens of books, including A History of Reading and The Dictionary of Imaginary Places.