Pablo Neruda

Muchas gracias, John Muncie, for your marvelous article on “Pablo Neruda’s Chile” (March 17). This poet has long been my favorite. It so happens that an organization of which my wife and I are members, the Friendship Force of Los Angeles (telephone: [818] 348-2808 or [818] 998-3290), is planning a trip to Chile in November, when we will stay in homes of Chileans who are also members. Earlier, in September, we’ll welcome Chileans in our homes. I’ve been reading Neruda’s memoirs, glorious writing sheds much light on the fauna and animals of Chile. It seems he developed many of his interests throughout childhood, collecting insects and bugs. Wish we had enough time to visit the forests of which Neruda writes: “Anyone who hasn’t been in the Chilean forests doesn’t know this planet.”

HENRY BRUNELL

Chatsworth

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Neither your article, nor any other I’ve seen on Neruda since the release of “Il Postino,” has discussed the origin of the name “Neruda” as his nom de plume. Neruda renamed himself after Jan Neruda, who distinguished himself in the middle 19th century as one of the greatest of Czech writers, as popular in his time as Hemingway was in his. In fact, even to this day, Neruda is far more well-known than Franz Kafka among average Czech readers. According to my Funk & Wagnalls, [Jan] Neruda “created the newspaper essay as a medium for education of his people [and] wrote cryptic, ironic poetry and colorful stories about the life of the Prague middle classes.” These writings must have made a great impression on a young man in Chile at the beginning of this century.

OLGA HEBROVA

Altadena

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Neruda named his house “La Chascona,” an endearing reference to a friend’s uncombed, tousled head of hair. To compare a chascona (or male chascon) to a “Medusa” with snakes on her head is definitely not the correct interpretation. This from a nostalgic former chascona!

ERIKA FRAGA

North Hollywood

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John Muncie replies: There is some debate over Neruda’s pen name. Neruda himself told conflicting stories, including the Czech version. Regarding Chascona: The word is open to several interpretations. When we were in Chile touring Neruda’s houses, two guides offered that interpretation. There was a ship’s figurehead in Isla Negra with carved tousled hair that he also called La Chascona.

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