Travel for Pennies

Pablo Neruda was Chilean born, and is now considered one of the most influential poets of the 20th Century.  He was born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, but changed his name in part as teenage fashion and in part to hide the fact that he was writing poetry, to hide if from his father.  As then is as it is now, with parents wanting their children to choose practical and sensible careers, not those so unpredictable as a life in the arts.  So ironically funny today, as stated before he is the influential poet of his time, and then some.  A poet who because of his writings and political activism received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.  What would his father say today?  Fellow Nobel Prize winner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is quoted as naming Neruda the most influential poet of all time.  He was forced to go into exile because of his controversial writings, but was later given jobs as a diplomat in Argentina and Barcelona, relishing in the city life and experiences in the cafes and 5 star Barcelona hotels.  He was much the center of late nite literary circles, as was Dorothy Parker in the days of the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan.  Proof that the arts, and writing specifically in this case has an effect, not only on those partaking in the late night conversations, but the world in general.

As diplomat and consul in Madrid he became well known and saw a side of government that forever affected is soul and his writings.   The beginning of the Spanish Civil war put Neruda in the political, rather than the literary, public eye.  He desired a more communal way of life, not that communes were the way, but communal in feel, people taking care of each other in general life and society.  It was during this time that he became, quite self-proclaimed and not named by others as part of the ‘Red Scare’, communist.  He was compelled after the shooting execution of fellow poet and friend, Spanish born poet Francisco Franco.  Through his work during this time, he was appointed by the Spanish Government as the consul in Paris.   It was a political position he did not seek out, often commenting that he put his everything into something that he never wanted.  His most noble of missions.   Many familiar with his writings on politics, society and love may beg to differ.  Regardless, he was a man of his time, and a man for all times.