Customer Reviews

Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts

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Polish poetry is among the richest in the world, but a formidable linguistic and cultural barrier prevents it from being better known abroad. Szymborska, along with her compatriot Zbigniew Herbert, crosses that barrier rather successfully. One of her advantages is that her poetry (like Herbert's) is based more on the play of ideas than that of words or sounds. Polish poets tend to be less word-drunk than their Russian counterparts, perhaps due to the differing qualities of their respective languages, and Szymborska is one of the most sober of all in this regard. Her work is unpretentious, free of unnecessary adornment, and invariably thoughtful. Language is her assistant, rather than a selfish entity which always wants to be the center of attention.

The translations adhere closely to the originals and make it easy to follow the flow of ideas. The originals are printed on the facing page (something I think should be standard practice with ALL translations of poetry). The Swedish Academy--which has a record of spurning hacks like Joyce, Ibsen, and Tolstoy in favor of such geniuses as Karlfeldt, Gjellerup, and Spitteler--was wise to give the Nobel to Szymborska. If you like her work, you'll probably enjoy that of her compatriots Milosz, Herbert, Norwid, Mickiewicz, Kochanowski, and others too numerous to name here.

Wislawa Szymborska writes with the wit and freshness of the American beat poets, layered with the sence of history and emotional depth that can only come from living through the last seventy years of turmoil in Europe. She has a very musical style. She begins by building descriptive lines, then rises to a staccato rediscovery of her subject, then resloving each poem with a kind of rational passion that is rare in even the most accomplished poets. This book has the added advantage of being the only one of her books that has been translated by people who not only know both tongues, but who understand language, meter, lyric and nuance. More poems are offered in View with a Grain of Sand, but not with the level of quality of translation. Highly recommened for those who do not want sentimentality, endless rhyming and dull subject matter. Szymborska is deserving off all of the attention she is finally receiving, and more.

Of all the compilations, I prefer this one as it gives you both the original Polish as well as the translated English. So if you are feeling ambitious, you can take a stab at the Polish. This is the best translation of her work by far -- it retains the lyrical intent of the author without being too literal. The poetry dances off your toungue and into your mind. If you read another version, you are missing out!

I like the fact that this book includes the English and Polish poems. Of all the genres in literature, poetry must be the hardest to translate and poetry is not the easiest to translate without getting lost in translation. Also, Polish is a very difficult language to read, write, and even speak and I would know because I grew up in a Polish-speaking household. Anyway, poetry is most effective in it's native tongue. I hope there is an audio recording of her speaking poetry. Of all the Nobel prizewinners in Literature, Wislawa is the most humble, as if embarrassed by receiving such an honor. We know little about her. We know she still lives in a 3 room flat in Cracow where she has lived most of her life. She might be a widow which means a husband but no children. She worked as a publisher, editor, poet, and columnist for the Polish press still Wislawa mezmerizes us with her poetry and we would like to know more about her.