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A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
by
"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. Miło
...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
April 1st 1998
by Mariner Books
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'I have always felt that a poet participates in the management of the estate of poetry, of that in his own language and also that of world poetry.'
-Czesław Miłosz
For those, like me, that always wished they could have enrolled in one of Miłosz's courses at Berkeley, can find a bit of a consolation in A Book of Luminous Things. Edited, with a wonderful introduction asserting his intention to not defend poetry but 'remind readers that for some very good reasons [poetry] may be of importance today', ...more
-Czesław Miłosz
For those, like me, that always wished they could have enrolled in one of Miłosz's courses at Berkeley, can find a bit of a consolation in A Book of Luminous Things. Edited, with a wonderful introduction asserting his intention to not defend poetry but 'remind readers that for some very good reasons [poetry] may be of importance today', ...more

Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) was a Polish poet, prose writer and translator of Lithuanian origin. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980.
Tomorrow, the Filipinos group here in Goodreads will celebrate our 2nd year anniversary. Our main activity during the celebration will be a poetry reading. This will be our first time to have this kind of ambitious activity. As I try to read at least one work written by each of Nobel Prize awardees, I picked and read this book by Milosz. I thought I could ...more
Tomorrow, the Filipinos group here in Goodreads will celebrate our 2nd year anniversary. Our main activity during the celebration will be a poetry reading. This will be our first time to have this kind of ambitious activity. As I try to read at least one work written by each of Nobel Prize awardees, I picked and read this book by Milosz. I thought I could ...more

This anthology was a serious underachiever – I found little excitement in it. Of course there were some good poems, but many of them so well known that they provided little surprise (ever hear of Walt Whitman?).
Part of the problem is Milosz’s apparent love of the Chinese. I almost felt he would have been happier doing a whole anthology of Chinese poets. No disrespect to the Chinese, but I felt I was going to o.d. Chinese poetry is pretty much all contemplation, and unless you're looking exclusi ...more
Part of the problem is Milosz’s apparent love of the Chinese. I almost felt he would have been happier doing a whole anthology of Chinese poets. No disrespect to the Chinese, but I felt I was going to o.d. Chinese poetry is pretty much all contemplation, and unless you're looking exclusi ...more

I bought this, along with a collection of Robert Hass essays, at the Oblong Book Store in Rhinebeck, NY, in the Hudson Valley. Visiting the Valley was more fun than visiting the City, at least for this more-rural sort, and those two books will always remind me of geography--where I was, when I was, why I was--thus gaining stature among books on my bookshelves (most with a more humble pedigree).
What makes this collection is the guiding hand of Czeslaw Milosz, who made it such a personal mix chief ...more
What makes this collection is the guiding hand of Czeslaw Milosz, who made it such a personal mix chief ...more

Nothing Twice
-Wislawa Szymborska
Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.
Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.
No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with precisely the same kisses.
One day, perhaps some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as ...more
-Wislawa Szymborska
Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.
Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.
No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with precisely the same kisses.
One day, perhaps some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as ...more

Jan 03, 2008
Cami
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
Summer Loper, Jessica, anyone who loves poetry
Shelves:
poetry
I've been reading this book for 10+ years now. The great thing about poetry anthologies is that you don't have to read it all at once and you can easily pick them up, get something wonderful out of them in under a minute and be better for it.
Anyway, this is a marvelous collection of just what the title implies. It is divided under the following groupings: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, People Among People, Woman's Skin, Situations, Nonattachment and History. ...more
Anyway, this is a marvelous collection of just what the title implies. It is divided under the following groupings: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, People Among People, Woman's Skin, Situations, Nonattachment and History. ...more

My clearest feeling response to this was disappointment. And I have been struggling with why. The poetry chosen by Miłosz was generally very good to excellent, but often enough flat. I somehow felt myself plodding through the collection, rather then dancing or racing. And, even worse, found myself comparing the collection to Robert Bly's enthralling and stimulating collection News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness. I am very well aware that it does a disservice to both to compare,
...more

This anthology by Czeslaw Milosz has taught me much about reading poetry. It has also provided me a list of poets’ works for future reading. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is intrigued by the ability of good poems reaching the rarefied realm of consciousness: truth, beauty, sufferings and nobility. These poems are highly distilled; they are also short, vivid and accessible.
There is no T.S. Eliot, because the Milosz made “accessibility” the primary criterion for this anthology. Exce ...more
There is no T.S. Eliot, because the Milosz made “accessibility” the primary criterion for this anthology. Exce ...more

I don't know how I would begin to review a poetry anthology, especially as my interactions with them are typically one hitter quitters, dropping in for one poem, tumbling it for a bit, and dropping back into the world. They almost become reference, right?
This works well not as a reference but as something to read through, pages at a time. My attention span doesn't allow for me to stay in one steady line for too long, and the swamps of poems (these are good swamps) swamp me in in a real way.
But t ...more
This works well not as a reference but as something to read through, pages at a time. My attention span doesn't allow for me to stay in one steady line for too long, and the swamps of poems (these are good swamps) swamp me in in a real way.
But t ...more

This was good, but I didn't love it. I was surprised not to love it, considering I like so many of the poets represented here. But I didn't love it. The choice of poems was - I don't know, deliberately non-magical, maybe? I'm all for everyday life - I'm a big fan of taking the ordinary and making it strange. But many of these poems were all ordinary, no strange. That said, it does have some wonders.
...more

A really wonderful anthology of international poets. Some of them are pretty old, like 1,000 years or so - but there are also lots of contemporary poets, and often the two are showcased side by side. Milosz also gives a little preface or description before a new poet or poem. Since the poems vary widely in geography, culture, and history, these little snippets really helped me to appreciate each poem and learn something new or fun.

There’s a traveler mad with grief,
no doubt seeing odd things;
he talks to himself, and when he looks
wipes us out with his look.
— Antonio Machado
Poor moth, I can’t help you,
I can only turn out the light.
— Ryszard Krynicki
Autumn, cloud blades on the horizon.
The west wind blows from ten thousand miles.
[…]
A single wild goose climbs into the void.
— Tu Fu
no doubt seeing odd things;
he talks to himself, and when he looks
wipes us out with his look.
— Antonio Machado
Poor moth, I can’t help you,
I can only turn out the light.
— Ryszard Krynicki
Autumn, cloud blades on the horizon.
The west wind blows from ten thousand miles.
[…]
A single wild goose climbs into the void.
— Tu Fu

In any anthology of poetry, some poetry is a hit and some is a miss. This book had a wide variety of hits. I adore poetry, in all it's forms, and even the old English poems that involved dense language and intricate rhyming schemes were still interesting and easy enough to understand. I love that Milosz specifically wanted to choose poems that were easy to read and easy to understand.
This book was light and refreshing and represents everything I adore about poetry. ...more
This book was light and refreshing and represents everything I adore about poetry. ...more

Oh this book! Best anthology of poetry I have ever picked up. I will be eternally in debt to my professor. This book didn't cover Shakespeare, Milton or Frost but translations from the Chinese, Polish and authors you have never heard of before! In a wonderfully surprising way that made me read for days like a novel. Excellent. If you don't own a copy, do.
...more

I know -- big deal, another poetry anthology. Still, I love this one because I dig the editor's tastes, and I love that he chose poetry that is life affirming. He says, "I rejoice in being able to make an anthology as this one, and it may be a source of optimism that in this cruel century such an anthology could be made." Amen.
...more

This book, a birthday present from a dear friend, will keep on giving. I have already read a few poems several times. Czeslaw Milosz curates poems from all over the world and from all different ages. I love good anthologies because they lead to the discovery of poets you may have heard of but have not picked up yet: in this case, Kenneth Rexroth, Anna Swir, and Tu Fu. Old favorites Mary Oliver, Elizabeth Bishop, and Tomas Transtromer are part of the poetry party, as well.
Utterance
Sitting over w ...more
Utterance
Sitting over w ...more

So good. Every poem was new to me, and Milosz' brief thoughts on each poem, it's magic, like having tea with him. A must read. Something I return to. A great consolation.
...more

It was a decent selection of poems. Fewer indigenous tribal poems and a bit heavy on Polish poets.
Some time of the editor's comments were frustrating. Several times based on his comments it was obvious he didn't understand them poem. Once he even said "I feel this is a good poem." Really? His ridiculous commentary almost ruined the anthology for me. If it's not going to add insight into my deeper understanding of the poem, just don't say anything.
The stars are for the poems, NOT for the editor' ...more
Some time of the editor's comments were frustrating. Several times based on his comments it was obvious he didn't understand them poem. Once he even said "I feel this is a good poem." Really? His ridiculous commentary almost ruined the anthology for me. If it's not going to add insight into my deeper understanding of the poem, just don't say anything.
The stars are for the poems, NOT for the editor' ...more

A refreshing and diverse collection of poetic verse—pleasingly varied in length, structure, linguistic roots, country origins, religious influence, and author obscurity.
This reader tends to view poetry as a meditative exercise as well as a sort of literary palette cleanser. To that end, this book was largely effective. I felt it expanded my exposure, and reaffirmed my impression that certain forms agree with me. (i.e. the cadence of many ancient Chinese poems, the impactful word choices of Walt ...more

Imagine having a writer whom you respect, who also happens to be a Nobel Prize laureate, recommend a few poems. Czeslaw Milosz has done this for us. I like to think of it as a gateway book to poetry in the same way that viewing a performance of one of Shakespeare's comedies may be a better introduction than reading Julius Caesar in the tenth grade. Milosz has selected poems according to accessibility and length. To those developing a taste for poetry he has selected works that are vivid and enga
...more

The three poems I choose were: The August Afternoon
The Window
Black Meat
I decided to choose The August Afternoon poem because my birthdays in August.
I choose The Window because in books at night people always look at the window and freak.
I choose Black Meat because I like eating meat for dinner.
This book fits onto Three Poems or short stories from one anthology.
I found all of them interesting. The August afternoon was about someone and his mother taking a walk. The Window is about a storm that ...more
The Window
Black Meat
I decided to choose The August Afternoon poem because my birthdays in August.
I choose The Window because in books at night people always look at the window and freak.
I choose Black Meat because I like eating meat for dinner.
This book fits onto Three Poems or short stories from one anthology.
I found all of them interesting. The August afternoon was about someone and his mother taking a walk. The Window is about a storm that ...more

A rich and varied collection by a Nobel laureate, noteworthy for an especially generous sampling of old Chinese poetry. Sometimes the editorial comments are longer than the poems, but overall a book I'm glad I experienced.
...more

A stunning collection. I was blown away by the sections on the body, and women's self image-some achingly poignant. Confession: some skimming throughout
...more

I'd give it eight stars if I could. This is the most beautiful poetry anthology I've ever read. You seriously want it near you, every day for the rest of your days.
...more

Epiphany may also mean a privileged moment in our life among the things of this world, in which they suddenly reveal something we have not noticed until now, and that something is like an intimation of their mysterious, hidden side. In a way, poetry is an attempt to break through the density of reality into a zone where the simplest things are again as fresh as if they were being seen by a child. (5)
So I am not a big poetry reader. My reading mostly consists of (1) romance novels, (2) academic h ...more
So I am not a big poetry reader. My reading mostly consists of (1) romance novels, (2) academic h ...more

A remarkable compendium of international poetry, with each poem lovingly selected, introduced and commented on by the late great 20th century Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004). It was first published in 1996. He has organized some 300 poems into unusual, overarching themes: Epiphany, Nature, The Secret of a Thing, Travel, Places, The Moment, People Among People, Woman's Skin, Situations, Nonattachment, and History. Some of these categories are more successful than others, and some could hav
...more

I don't think I've read a poetry anthology since college -- and even then, I mostly just read the poems we were studying and ignored both the commentary and all the other poems. A Norton Anthology of Poetry can be a very intimidating book, after all.
I didn't actually intend to read one this time, either. However, I happened to come across a poem by Eastern European poet Czesław Miłosz which I liked, and when I googled him I discovered he'd edited this anthology. I figured it might be nice to br ...more
I didn't actually intend to read one this time, either. However, I happened to come across a poem by Eastern European poet Czesław Miłosz which I liked, and when I googled him I discovered he'd edited this anthology. I figured it might be nice to br ...more

For me, and one must suspect there are others, poetry labors under an unfortunate cloud. A cloud of inaccessibility. While one grasps by its nature - not to mention its penchant for elitism - poetry operates on elevated terrain. But like Moses, it must (or at least should occasionally) leave the damn summit. And with Czeslaw Milosz' deft powers of finding gems in this genre, his selections and brief comments seldom disappoint. For herein, the Nobel laureate performs a considerable literary, and
...more

Sometimes, poetry seems to try to hard and not have any connection. Whether slam that requests that you witness, or maybe some type of classical poetry that tries to get at Truth.
These aren't those poems. This collection from all over the place at different times feels fresh. The focus is on a being more present and real, for a lack of a better term. These are poems about objects and things. Less flower and description and more sparse and hard.
There are some surprising poems here. Some poets t ...more
These aren't those poems. This collection from all over the place at different times feels fresh. The focus is on a being more present and real, for a lack of a better term. These are poems about objects and things. Less flower and description and more sparse and hard.
There are some surprising poems here. Some poets t ...more
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Czesław Miłosz was a Nobel Prize winning poet and author of Polish-Lithuanian heritage. He memorialised his Lithuanian childhood in a 1955 novel,
The Issa Valley
, and in the 1959 memoir
Native Realm
. After graduating from Sigismund Augustus Gymnasium in Vilnius, he studied law at Stefan Batory University and in 1931 he travelled to Paris, where he was influenced by his distant cousin Oscar
...more
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“Since poetry deals with the singular, not the general, it cannot - if it is good poetry - look at things of this earth other than as colorful, variegated, and exciting, and so, it cannot reduce life, with all its pain, horror, suffering, and ecstasy, to a unified tonality of boredom and complaint. By necessity poetry is therefore on the side of being and against nothingness.”
—
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