A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
List Price:
Our Price: $24.97
You Save: $3.03 (11%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.98 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Editor: Czeslaw MiloszEditor: Drenka Willen
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-09
ISBN: 0151001693
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Harcourt
Book Reviews of A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
Book Review: Anyone can find great value in this collection
Summary: 5 Stars
Poetry collections can be quite valuable things - picking one up rather than a body of work by a single author frees one of the apprehension that comes with committing to that author's work and the possibility that said author's work might not be worth owning in such a concentrated format. Conversely, a collection of multiple authors can open a reader up to poets they may have never come across otherwise. Indeed, that was one of Milosz's aims in putting together this compendium - to largely deflect the focus from the accepted and reliable canon (though Robert Frost and D.H. Lawrence do find their way in somehow) as well as provide work from an international selection of authors (though the concentration is frustratingly biased toward English, Polish and Chinese language works - not a bad thing in of itself, but it does play against the international appeal to some degree). The other criteria is that the poems be "short, clear, readable and, to use a compromised term, realist, that is, loyal toward reality and attempting to describe it as concisely as possible" (p. xv). The work rarely sways from this description, though like any good author Milosz isn't afraid to break his own rules. What you arrive at in the end, then, is a collection of easily approachable, short works of poetry that tend to shy away from a philosophical or fantastic focus. That is not to say that the philosophic and fantastic are not there in the poets' intentions, thoughts and/or subtext, but they do not overwhelm the pieces. As for the editor's contributions, he formats each page by introducing the poems with a few sentences about them printed above, but I found that the best way to read the work was to start with the poem itself and then read the editor's note. I felt that reading these notes undermined the sense of mystery and discovery that comes with navigating one's way through a new poem, though reading these thoughts after usually provided me with some new insight into the piece. However, I did feel that his interpretations left little room for argument and undermined the multiple layers that many of the works here comprise. It was as if there could be no individual readings that differed from what Milosz thought - though this was not always the case, and more obvious in his tone than his content. Another point of bother was his critique of some of the works; for example, his note on Jean Follain's "School and Nature" - "Frankly, the modernist technique consisting of unexpected associations is not to my liking, as at the end of this poem, in which drops of blood fall upon a road. In order to understand this, we must presume that there are hunters in the neighborhood, that they shot a bird, and that a wounded bird flies over the road" (p. 162). These are rare, but when they are there I can see no constructive purpose; if someone likes the image they may feel embarrassed or frustrated that the editor has forced them into arguing with them, and if they interpret the image a different way than his literal understanding, an unconfident reader may feel, again, embarrassed, and one more sure of themselves may feel irritated at the editor's apparent limitations. In any event, I can see no good in this type of note, especially in that it is printed before the poem itself and thus one may be inclined to read it before the poem, probably putting a damper on their experience. As I said before, however, this type of thing doesn't happen too often, and when it does we can forgive it, because, qualms aside, this is a very good collection of poetry. Though not every piece is awe inducing, to ask this would be somewhat ludicrous, and more often than not the works were quite enjoyable. I found many that touched me deeply, and almost all of them had multiple ways in which they could be interpreted, multiple layers and viewpoints, and thus one can come back to any number of poems again and again. Layers aside, these are all works that are short, approachable and enjoyable enough to be reread multiple times, and as long as one knows to read the editor's note after, not before as the format suggests, the poem itself, anyone can find great value in this collection.
Summary of A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz selects and introduces 300 of his favorite poems in this "magnificent collection" that ranges "widely across time and continents, from eighth century China to contemporary americanca" (San Francisco Chronicle).
Anthologies Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Music to Make the Season Blaze and Shimmer
Shoemaker Martin (North-South Paperback)by L. Tolstoy
North-South / Night Sky Books; Published: 1997-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
John Lennon - ImagineRelease date: 2000-04-11; Music CD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Bob Marley & The Wailers - LegendRelease date: 1990-05-31; Music CD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink)Sony Pictures Classics; Release date: 1999-04-20; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond the Missouri Sky (Short Stories)Release date: 1997-02-25; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Hilary Hahn Plays BachRelease date: 1997-10-21; Music CD
Best price: $17.09
A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of PoetryHarcourt; Published: 1996-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.33
Price in other shops:
A Christmas Carolby Charles Dickens
HarperAudio; Published: 1994-09-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
A Child's Christmas in Walesby Dylan Thomas, Trina Schart Hyman
Holiday House; Published: 1985-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Christmas with KiriRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $8.56
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Inferno of Dante Alighieri (New York Review Books Classics)by Dante Alighieri
NYRB Classics; Published: 2004-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
In the Time of the Butterfliesby Julia Alvarez
Plume; Published: 1995-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.45
Price in other shops:
Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book One)by C.S. Lewis
Scribner; Published: 2003-03-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovichby Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Signet Classics; Published: 2008-08-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.48
Price in other shops:
Foe: A Novel (King Penguin)by J. M. Coetzee
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1988-01-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops:
Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare)by William Shakespeare
Washington Square Press; Published: 2003-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetryby J.D. Mcclatchy
Vintage; Published: 1996-06-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Pushcart Prize XXXII: Best of the Small Presses, 2008 Edition (Pushcart Prize)Pushcart Press; Published: 2007-12-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.46
Price in other shops:
The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short StoriesPenguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.47
Price in other shops:
New and Collected Poems: 1931-2001by Czeslaw Milosz
Ecco; Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.66
Price in other shops: