About this title: A collection by the Nobel Prize winner reflects on the wonders of life in poems featuring a sister's postcard, the discovery of a new star, the ruins of Greece, and a bodybuilding contest.
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780156002165ISBN:0156002167
Description: New. First Edition. Slight shelfwear GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to the cover, dust jacket not necessarily included minimal wear to binding, majority of pages undamaged, minimal to no highlighting/underlining of text, no missing p. read more
Description: New. 0156002167 NEVER USED! This book has never been read. There are no highlights, No pen marks, No missing pages. The binding is sturdy. Tracking information provided for all orders. Orders over $49.99 will receive an upgrade from standard to priority mail. Customer satisfaction guaranteed! ! read more
Description: Very Good + 8vo 0156002167 very good or better, clean and firm Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 214 p., Topics Continental European; Eastern Europe; Poetry; Szymborska, Wisawa-Translations into English; read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1995-05-26
ISBN-13:9780156002165ISBN:0156002167
Description: Good. PAPERBACK with moderate wear to softcover with small corner bends, light scuffing, very small tear. One dogear found inside, but no notes or highlights. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1995-05-26
ISBN-13:9780156002165ISBN:0156002167
Description: Very Good. Binding is tight and square. Text is clean and bright. Light edge and corner wear. Careful packaging and fast shipping. We recommend PRIORITY MAIL for even faster delivery! read more
"I'm not super-into poetry, so I don't have a poetry shelf. But I gave this to my Dad, and he loaned it back to me. She's Polish (oh yeah!) with a Nobel Prize in Literature, and her work is so accessible. Philosophical yet using common vernacular. I loved the one about the poetry reading: "Twelve people in the room, eight seats to spare... Half came inside because it started raining, the rest are relatives." (p 26), or the one about Hitler as a little baby, or Lot's life reflecting on why she turned around, or "In Praise of My Sister" ("the truth is, none of my relatives write poems")(p 112). I also liked the two love poems, one of which ends "Let the people who never find true love keep saying that there's no such thing. Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die." (p 90)
Here's the other love poem in full, "Love at First Sight":
"They're both convinced that a sudden passion joined them. Such certainty is beautiful, but uncertainty is more beautiful still.
Since they'd never met before, they're sure that there'd been nothing between them. But what's the word from the streets, staircases, hallways-- perhaps they've passed by each other a million times?
I want to ask them if they don't remember-- a moment face to face in some revolving door? perhaps a "sorry" muttered in a crowd? a curt "wrong number" caught in the receiver? but I know the answer. No, they don't remember.
They'd be amazed to hear that Chance has been toying with them now for years.
Not quite ready yet to become their Destiny, it pushed them close, drove them apart, it barred their path, stifling a laugh, and then leaped aside.
There were signs and signals, even if they couldn't read them yet. Perhaps three years ago or just last Tuesday a certain leaf fluttered from one shoulder to another? Something was dropped and then picked up. Who knows, maybe the ball that vanished into childhood's thicket?
There were doorknobs and doorbells where one touch had covered another beforehand. Suitcases checked and standing side by side. One night, perhaps, the same dream, grown hazy by morning.
Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through." (p 198)"
"What an extraordinary poet! Some of these sound remarkable - and to think that they were translated from the Polish language! She brings a very different sort of perspective than say, Mary Oliver. She is an Aperspectival Political Philosopher to Oliver's Deep-Self-Recognizing Naturalist."
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