I'm not quite sure what to say about Hồ Chí Minh. He did great things, probably awful things too, went to France at some point (where he got his 'political education'), was a revolution leader, founded the Indo-Chinese communist party, spent two years in various Chinese jails, was president of the Democratic Republic of Việt Nam (YES, democratic!)... The only thing I really wonder is what would have become of Việt Nam if he hadn't died before the reunification.
Anyway, there's one thing I'm sure about, it's that he definitely was not a poet. Today, I read his 'Cuadernos de la Carcel', a collection of poems he wrote during his two years in jail, which are more ideas and impressions about his life as a prisoner.
There's one piece I liked, though, first because it was 'interesting' learning about it, then because it was 'funny', though awful at the same time. For those of you who speak Spanish, here it is:
La Mujer de un Soldado Desertor
Un día te fuiste para siempre
dejándome sola en nuestro cuarto,
con la tristeza por compañera.
Las autoridades se han apiadado de mi soledad,
me invitaron a vivir, provisionalmente,
en la cárcel.
At that time, when a man didn't want to go to war and deserted, his wife and kids were put in jail.
NB.: I believe that this book was first translated from Chinese to Vietnamese, then to French and finally, to Spanish... The edition I read
Anyway, there's one thing I'm sure about, it's that he definitely was not a poet. Today, I read his 'Cuadernos de la Carcel', a collection of poems he wrote during his two years in jail, which are more ideas and impressions about his life as a prisoner.
There's one piece I liked, though, first because it was 'interesting' learning about it, then because it was 'funny', though awful at the same time. For those of you who speak Spanish, here it is:
La Mujer de un Soldado Desertor
Un día te fuiste para siempre
dejándome sola en nuestro cuarto,
con la tristeza por compañera.
Las autoridades se han apiadado de mi soledad,
me invitaron a vivir, provisionalmente,
en la cárcel.
At that time, when a man didn't want to go to war and deserted, his wife and kids were put in jail.
NB.: I believe that this book was first translated from Chinese to Vietnamese, then to French and finally, to Spanish... The edition I read
moodoscope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zdH09mWVF8