The Essential Tagore Hardcover – April 15, 2011

Oh boy, what a disappointment! The breadth of this endeavor was oh-so promising. But this volume will set back the reputation of the transcendent, genius poet Rabinadranath Tagore for a decade or two. The authors made the terrible mistake of FORCING Tagore's lines to rhyme in couplets rather than let his imagery flower in all its incomparable majesty. Instead of a display of constant genius we get thousands of rhymes worthy of the worst of high school poetry. For those new to Tagore, go for older volumes of his poetry, prose, and plays. Stay away from this travesty--a total whiff. What were they thinking; trying to show off their own cleverness? Tagore would slap them with a big, colorful, wet flower. Fail.

Beautiful intro, good comments about the published pieces and great collection!!! ....besides the nice quality printing job..

Marvelous collection. I pick it up randomly and always find something to meditate upon for the entire day.

Great book from a great thinker.

Tagore is such an essential addition to my library. I adore him. I wished there had been more poetry, but it is a comprehensive overview of his large body of work.

I got stuck taking a tagore class in college that used this book. I found to appreciate his works through a concentrated study of his work. Its a great cheap way to learn about the works of one of the most important writers in the worlds history.

Tagore is brilliant and is the complement to Ghandi in the Indian Pantheon. More practical and in some ways wiser that Ghandi as well. You will thoroughly enjoy this book.

I bought this to add to my collection of Tagore works. It isn't my favourite translation of his work but still an essential for Tagore fans.

I had heard 3 of Tagore's quotes some time back, based on that alone I became interested in the man. He'd said so much with so little. I thought I'd pick up a selection of he's works so I bought Gitangali, the work for which he won a Nobel price. As good as the poetry was it honestly didn't stand out to me, even Tagore was shocked that he won a Nobel price with that book largely cited as the reason, the material didn't necessarily cover what he was thought was he's best works.Undeterred, I purchased this book 'The Essential Tagore', and now I see why the man was considered extraordinary, it is impossible to understand the gravity of he's thinking by only reading a selection of he's poems, to see the greatness of the man, the breath of he's insight and beauty of he's prose a reading of he's Personal letters, Essays And Poetry is essential and this collection does just that. For that I am eternally grateful.Based on this collection, he's become one of my literary heroes along side Leo Tolstoy, Ravi Zachariahs and Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Excellent. Most interesting.

Very nice. It's a collection of Tagore's work that you can return to anytime. It's timeless and a must for Tagore readers. The editors must face a tough job to choose and pick but have done a good job.

Excellent buy!!!