Ahh... where do I begin to explain why I admire, adore, and revel in Szymborska's poetry? It all began in roughly 1996-97 when I learned that this Polish poet, previously unbeknown to me, had been awarded the Nobel Prize. While I don't consider the Swedish Academy to be the ultimate authority on good literature and count only several of the previous prize winners among my favorite authors (Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak, O'Neill to name a few), I anticipated that an encounter with her poetry is bound to be special. The brief biographical sketches I then read and her photograph emitted wisdom, modesty, and wit. Or at least that what I think I must have sensed at the moment. In any case, after reading several of Szymborska's poems on-line (at a wonderful site called 'Poems from the Planet Earth') I was irrevocably enamored with her verses. Since then I have read and reread them on occasions too numerous to be counted, and I've read them to friends and strangers.

I find that Szymborska writes with great clarity, never failing to gracefully walk the fine line between excessive (hmm..) eloquence and ascetic laconism. Her metaphors and characterizations are incredibly precise, and her poetry is rich with aphorisms. At the same time, it has somewhat of a haiku-like quality. Whether writing of grand and global matters or of minute things and creatures she is critical yet humane, and -- very genuine. The poems are sharp and witty but never cynical. Simply put, Szymborska's work is sheer brilliance from a poet with love for the human and the inanimate.

I wonder whether the paperback scheduled for release this autumn will contain new poems... On a final note -- all translations I have had the privelege to read (Maguire, Baranczak, Cavanagh) are marvelous -- an occurence that is very unusual, and, hence, very precious.

This book was and still is my first poetry book; not because I haven't read anyone else's, but it's the first compilation that I was really willing to pay the often outrageous prices for. (LOL) I am not an avid poetry reader, nor am I familiar with the current favorite contemporary poets, but I find that she really does succinctly portray "life's improbability as well as its transient beauty" quite well.

As a younger reader , I do have a bit of a problem identifying with the poetry that she writes pre-1972 (that is, the first few sections before the 'Could Have' section), because I don't really know much about it. As a note though, I probably should say that 'Nothing Twice,' which is about the probabilities of chance, from the pre-1972 section has been a real gem. Anyhow, the travelogues, the places, the books are things that frankly, I'd ask my parents and they probably wouldn't know either, or know very little about. I suppose if I researched enough, I would have no trouble understanding her message, but the stuff I really bought this book for was the pro-1972 sections. I can identify the issues because they're fairly general knowledge and have a certain mocking humor to some of them, but the words do just pull you in. The poems are addressed to one, and to all, and you feel like you're part of the whole. There are instances in which you feel like she's writing about you and the instances you've gone through, and that's what makes you feel amazed at the depth of understanding she has on these matters.

I first discovered her poetry in my high school English class and was surprised to find this book as the only book available in my favorite bookstore (and costing almost triple the cost of a volume of poetry that must have been 600 pages long, with of course long-dead, long-cherished poets). Oh, wait--I did find another book containing her work (that I don't remember the name of) but I bought this one because there were simply more poems that I liked. After a month or two of muddling around and waiting for the price drop (which it didn't), I just gave up and bought it. I can't say that I've regretted that decision.

And...if you still have trouble deciding, the Nobel Prize for Literature she won should be more than enough of a pull to help you decide. It wasn't as much of a deciding factor for me, but it's always nice to know that somewhere in the depths of the blackhole that is my room, I actually have nobel prize literature that I understand and can recommend to others...

My favorite poems from her have been 'Could Have,' 'The Onion,' 'Discovery,' 'True love,' 'Under One Small Star,' 'Pi,' of course 'View with a grain of Sand' because of wordplay, but I find that every time I re-read it, I uncover more about the poems and so that favorites list keeps on getting longer and longer.

It may sound a little strange, but I keep it with me when I travel for long periods of time away from home and turn to it when I have that rare solitary moment to really think about life and what its inner workings are because it just gives such a realistic criticism that you sort of go...wow. Never really thought about it like that before.

I never cared much for poetry, but this book has changed my mind. I - who some might consider uneducated - am curious about what is experienced, within us and without us, in life. Still, I find a lot of poetry difficult to understand since an education from Oxford or Harvard seems a requirment to get through it. This wasn't the case with the poems in this book. I'm able to digest much of the words and pharses in Szymborska's poetry which evoke different images, feelings and thoughts as easily as reading fictional prose. I even had shivers sent through my body reading a poem in this book. This existential jolt happens only rarely and only when I listen to music which affects me deeply. This is poetry I can appreciate.

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.

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!

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.

This is a book of prose essays by the 1996 Nobel Prize winning author Wislawa Szymborska. They were from her newspaper column of 30+ years ago, "Nonrequired Reading". They are the musings on everyday books and subjects.

It is a wide ranging and eclectic collection. There will be one essay on a touching Korean fable. Then, the next will be on how to make a reptile aquarium. Many of these essays were book reviews. However,they are more her thoughts on the subjects than reviews.

When I say this book is like a "box of chocolates" it is in the Gumpian sense of the word. You never know what you're going to get and it will be interesting no matter what the topic. The aforementioned reptile aquarium piece was not only interesting but, philosophical as well.

That the book was from a translation was not a problem. Ms. Cavanaugh, the tranlator, was the winner of the PEN Translator prize. Reading this, it seems to have travelled without a problem.

For those buying this book: please read it! Do not put it on your coffee table to show off your erudition of having a Nobel Prize winning author's book so prominently on display. There is too much enjoyment to be had by reading this book.

The essays are from one page to a page and a half in length. Hopefully, there will be more essays to come in the future.

This is a splendid collection of verse. Szymborska's work is insightful and remarkably deep. This collection has a Forward written by Czeslaw Milosz, who comments that "Szymborska offers a world where one can breathe...."

Miracle Fair begins with "Commemoration" and "Openness," which attempt to situate mortal beings in a natural world full of splendor, mystery, and awesome wonder. This is a lovely collection, which includes "A Dream," "Cat in an Empty Apartment," and "Love At First Sight." There are other moving and poignant poems here, such as "Starvation Camp at Jaslo," and "Turn of the Century."

S's verse is very human in the sense that it reminds us of the smallness of daily existence and the saving grace that can be found in the 'whispering trees.' It also has a vision of historical integration, whereby the ghosts of unfortunate memories speak to us softly.

Polish Nobel winner Wislawa Szymborska was born in 1923. She's lived through a lot, and she has a highly developed social conscience. She is concerned about ordinary life, love, war, death, and meaning. In poem after beautifully translated poem, she shows her understanding of the things of this world, the mysteriousness of life, and the things that might matter the most.

I reread these poems after the events of September 11th and was astonished to find so much of use to me in thinking about the unthinkable, really. In "A Thank-You Note," she writes "I owe a lot/to those I do not love." In the incredible "Cat in an Empty Apartment" Szymborska takes a cat's point of view, noting "Something here isn't starting/at its usual time./Something here isn't happening as it should./Somebody had been here and had been,/ and then had stubbornly disappeared/and now is stubbornly absent."

Szymborska knows that there are not only unimaginable horrors in the world, but also "miracles," small truths that are awesome and often wonderful - not because of any religious or magical event, but because they remind us, once again, of our humanity and of what good things might be possible. She treasures ordinary life, love, physicality - and communion. Her poems on love (and lovers) are beautiful, and beautifully simple.

She cautions against war in "The End and the Beginning," reminding the reader that "After every war/someone has to clean up./Things won't/straighten themselves up, after all." She wryly and trenchantly describes war's motives in "Hatred." Hatred, she insists, "is not like other feelings," and "gives birth to causes/which rouse it to life."

Szymborska's vision is one worth taking in, reflecting upon, and learning from. Current events aside, Szymborska's a terrific teacher of poetry.

This is a wonderful collection of poems.