Mysticism for Beginners: Poems [Hardcover]

Adam Zagajewski (Author), Clare Cavanagh (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 1998

Powerful New work by a modern master.

You must listen, listen, listen.
Tired springs breathe under water.
At four in the morning
the last, lonely bolt of lightning
scribbles something quickly in the sky.
It says "No." Or "Never."
Or "Take courage, the fire's not dead."
-from "The Last Storm"

Mysticism for Beginners is the third and most beautiful of Adam Zagajewski's collections to appear in English. The poems are about nature, history, the life of cities, the transformations of art, the spiritual essence of everyday life. Their remarkable staying power derives from the gentle meditative authority of Zagajewski's voice, here expertly rendered into English by Clare Cavanagh. Zagajewski's committed, compassionate poems offer access to the mysteries at the heart of experience.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

Contemplative and grimly ironic ... these heart-staggering poems should only widen his reputation.

Review

"So how can a poet-an intelligent, serious poet-write mystical verse now? The poetry of Adam Zagajewski provides the beginning of an answer to this question."--Adam Kirsch, The New Republic

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (January 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374217653
• ISBN-13: 978-0374217655
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,269,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At the height of his powers, July 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mysticism for Beginners: Poems (Hardcover)

This is quite simply one of the best books of poetry I've ever read. Don't be fooled by the fact that it starts out with shorter poems (some of which have less impact)-- one can only understand the fineness of this book when contemplating it as a whole. It is a book that should be read from beginning to end. These are heartbreaking poems. "Summer' is only one of my many favorites. Adam Zagajewski is one of the finest poets writing today. I recommend this book to everyone who reads poetry.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, like water on ice in the sun, November 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mysticism for Beginners: Poems (Hardcover)

Zagajewski is an amazing talent, with the ability to paint pictures--images, not representations--both warm and cold, painful but filled with loving insight. This is a poet who knows the limit experience, but can speak of it like he was sitting at your kitchen table over taboule and coffee. A wonderful gift of words to the world.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a treasure, September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mysticism for Beginners: Poems (Hardcover)

Zagajewski's work is a treasure -- poems here are the best to come from Europe in a long time. This is a major poet who has no equals in his generation. The mysticism here is how to be a human being. Though it comes from Europe, this book is about ourselves. We should bow our heads for this is the voice of Orpheus speaking.