A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry [Paperback]

Czeslaw Milosz (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

"A collection of 300 poems from writers around the world, selected and edited by Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz

 

Czesław Miłosz's A Book of Luminous Things—his personal selection of poems from the past and present—is a testament to the stunning varieties of human experience, offered up so that we may see the myriad ways that experience can be shared in words and images. Miłosz provides a preface to each of these poems, divided into thematic (and often beguiling) sections, such as “Travel,” “History,” and “The Secret of a Thing,” that make the reading as instructional as it is inspirational and remind us how powerfully poetry can touch our minds and hearts. "

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nobel laureate Milosz states in his introduction that the purpose of this personal and eclectic collection is to present poetry that is "short, clear, readable, and...realistic, that is, loyal toward reality and attempting to describe it as concisely as possible." And for the most part, he has succeeded. The poems have a clarity and immediacy that would appeal to even the most poetry-averse reader. Most of the selections are from classical Chinese and 20th-century American and European (primarily Eastern European, Scandinavian, and French) poets. The poems are grouped by intriguing headings ("The Moment," "The Secret of a Thing," "A Woman's Skin"), and Milosz has written brief prefaces to many of them, creating an unusual sense of dialog between editor and reader. "My intention," says Milosz, "is not so much to defend poetry...but rather, to remind readers that for some very good reasons it may be of importance today." This refreshing and wise anthology is recommended for all collections.?Christine Stenstrom, Brooklyn P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This is the second international poetry anthology to be published in as many months. The first, The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry , is organized geographically. Milosz, who, naturally, appears in the Vintage collection, has approached his work as anthologizer from a far more personal and thematic perspective. His introduction is passionate and enlivening as he guides readers toward his vision of poems as forms of enchantment, then his clustering of poems under such alluring headings as "Epiphany," "The Secret of a Thing," "The Moment," "People among People," "Woman's Skin," and "Nonattachment" deepens and extends the readers' understanding of his poetics and the poems he has so lovingly chosen. Milosz remains a vital presence throughout the volume. There are plenty of American poets here, quite a few Chinese poets, and a diverse scattering of Europeans, but place of origin isn't as significant, ultimately, as place of arrival: a poem that speaks to everyone in every land. Donna Seaman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Reprint edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156005743
• ISBN-13: 978-0156005746
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An anthology of epiphanies, December 31, 2004

By 

Boris Bangemann "boyse" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (Paperback)

To call this excellent collection of poems an "international" anthology is a bit presumptuous. The bulk of the poems were written by poets whose native language is American (88), Chinese (53), Polish (35) or French (16). The selection, however, aptly reflects the geographical stations in the life of the Nobel Prize winner of 1980, Czeslaw Milosz. Born in 1911, he lived in Poland until 1951 when he emigrated to France. In 1960, invited by the University of California, he moved to Berkeley where he lived and worked until his death in August 2004. During the Second World War he lived in Warsaw, writing for the underground presses - which probably explains why only one German poem (by Rilke) appears in this book. To put this in perspective: poetry in German ranks on the same level as Inuit poetry here, one poem each.

But never mind. After swallowing my national cultural pride, I admit that "A Book of Luminous Things" is my favorite anthology of poetry. By a wide margin. Milosz did not simply compile a "best of" collection; he created a very personal, intimate book. The poems collected in this anthology are as much about the joy of living as they are about the awareness that old age may bring. What they teach are attention to the particular and appreciation of the transitory. Milosz's proposition for the collection was to present poems, "whether contemporary or a thousand years old, that are, with few exceptions, short, clear, readable and, to use a compromised term, realist, that is, loyal toward reality and attempting to describe it as concisely as possible. Thus they undermine the widely held opinion that poetry is a misty domain eluding understanding."

Milosz titled the last chapter of his anthology "History." At first, I found it a strange choice to conclude such a personal book with a chapter of poems that for the most part deal with the inhuman crimes perpetrated in the 20th century. A strange choice in particular because the preceding chapter titled "Non-attachment" would have given the book a final note of calm and serenity. Eventually, however, I considered the last chapter quite appropriate for a poet like Milosz who was committed to realism and political activism. As much as Milosz may have admired the attitude of non-attachment - illustrated with ultimate skill by the Chinese poets in this anthology - the formative experience of his life were the unspeakable deeds of cruelty committed by Germans in his home country.

A Book of Luminous Things begins with a very short chapter titled "Epiphany." Epiphany, Milosz explains, is an unveiling of reality. What in Greek was called 'epiphaneia' meant the appearance, the arrival, of a divinity among mortals or its recognition under a familiar shape of man or woman. Epiphany thus interrupts the everyday flow of time and enters as one privileged moment when we intuitively grasp a deeper, more essential reality hidden in things or persons. This definition of epiphany informs Milosz's understanding of realism. It is in fact an understanding that goes back to Heraclitus in European intellectual history and to Chuang Tzu in Chinese intellectual history - although admittedly the poems in this anthology are more easily accessible than most of the fragments of Heraclitus and Chuang Tzu.

It is difficult to praise this book highly enough. Indirectly, surreptitiously it is a wonderful portrait of the old Czeslaw Milosz who was in his mid-eighties when he compiled it. It is also an intimate guided tour through poetry, with introductions to every chapter and short, illuminating comments on almost every poem. It is full of unexpected discoveries, especially when it comes to some contemporary female poets like Wislawa Szymborska (1923- ; Nobel Prize for Literature 1996), Denise Levertov (1923-1997), and Anna Swir (1909-1984). And finally, A Book of Luminous Things is one of the most impressive and inspiring documents of the plentiful harvest that can come with experience and age:

THE GREATEST LOVE (by Anna Swir)

She is sixty. She lives
the greatest love of her life.

She walks arm-in-arm with her dear one,
her hair streams in the wind.
Her dear one says:
"You have hair like pearls."

Her children say:
"Old fool."

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant collection for the peripatetic reader of poetry, December 29, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (Hardcover)

A brilliant collection of poems by scores of poets from various countries and various eras. A book that will be well-thumbed by the peripatetic reader who moves from form to form, and from image to image. Milosz's commentary is also poetic. Sometimes he simply provides facts about a poem or a poet, but usually he frames the poem, as if hanging a border to concentrate the qualities of each poem in the reader's eye

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Keep This in My Glovebox, November 24, 2003

By 

Crazy Mel W "crazymel" (San Marcos, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (Paperback)

I have ordered this book for my college English classes for the past four years. Each time I browse through it I find something new, something valuable. I do indeed keep a copy in my car's glovebox. I pull it out if I find myself stuck somewhere and I read a poem or two.
The selections are indeed eclectic and span the globe. They are loosely arranged by theme and my international students assure me that the translations are good and truly reflect the spirit of the originals.
I recommend this highly to people who love poetry and to those who think they might someday at least like it.