Cesar, I really appreciated your piece on Neruda. It told me things I didn't know, for instance, that he probably named himself after Jan Neruda, and that he had been so instrumental in the emigration of Spanish Republicans. I hadn't realized that he'd started writing poetry at 10, which is earlier than most young people. It is always good to learn why someone particularly values a specific poet or writer. I appreciated your personal feeling for Neruda, not only as a Latin American, but as someone who is concerned with human rights and the welfare of peoples across the world.

One question has seized me; an answer might eventually add to your point about Neruda's blend of politics and poetry. Is it known how the poet came to take the surname of Jan Neruda (accepting JN as his source for it)? It's fascinating to consider how the work of a Czech writer who died in 1891 may have found its way into the hands and heart of sixteen-year-old in Chile in (pre-Internet) 1920. Further, to take someone else's name as one's own suggests a deep affiliation. Now I'm curious about Jan Neruda's poetry and prose. Are you familiar with it? What did Pablo Neruda find there that elicited his identification?

You got me so intrigued that I did a little literary detective work. Turns out the best-selling English mystery writer, Edith Pargeter, aka Ellis Peters--author of the Cadfael series--translated Jan Neruda's famous book, Mala Strana (Tales of the Little Quarter), as well as some of his poetry. Pargeter was a life-long Shropshire woman whose World War II experience made her a "Czechophile." A hint of what P. Neruda may have found in J. Neruda perhaps comes through in these words of hers: "[Jan Neruda] made a book the image of himself, high-spirited, amusing, compassionate, occasionally startling us by a flavour of astonishing bitterness, but having at its heart and ground an uncompromising affirmation that life, bitter and sweet together, is to be accepted with ardour, and humanity, in all its folly and imperfection, to be loved without reserve." [From the blog, "Adventures in the Czech Republic," Blogspot.com]

Are there any readers out there who could help us? What did the Czech "May School," of which Jan Neruda was a member, stand for?

I'm glad to know about the WIP site, which looks interesting. And I loved what Neruda said to the military commander who invaded his bedroom. Thanks again!

Good wishes to you,
Maroussia