Books in Brief: South America of the Poets

South America of the Poets, by Selden Rodman, illustrated by Bill Negron (Hawthorn Books, 270 pp., $9.95). South America is a terribly big place, a fact that most Americans fail to appreciate. There is as much difference between countries like Paraguay and Peru as there is between the United States and Argentina. If the reader detects a certain suspicion of books dealing with the entire continent, he is right. Nevertheless, I recognize the need for such books, especially since most Americans are quite ignorant of South America. Among the things about which we are especially ignorant is the vast literary traditions of its countries. I say “traditions” because I do not think it possible to refer to anything so vague as a South American literature. How can one compare a Julio Cortázar or a Pablo Neruda with a Jorge Luis Borges or (to go back a few years) a Ruben Dario. Mr. Rodman has filled something of a need with this chatty little book, especially for readers only familiar with the South American literature in an Englished-up version. All our favorites are here: Jorge Luis Borges, sounding more like a Talmudic scholar, or maybe an English conservative, every day; Neruda, perhaps the greatest love poet in any language of our century, sounding like one Communist who will manage to get along with Sr. Allende. If the book has a weakness, it is in its treatment of Brazilian literature. The author is clearly not fluent in Portuguese, and it is apparent in his encounter with Jorge Amado, which is simply not up to his interviews with Spanish-speaking writers. The book is delightfully illustrated by Bill Negron.