A good introduction to Milosz’s prose work, capturing the range of a memorable mind.
Prose miscellany by the famed poet and Nobel laureate (Milosz’s ABC’s, 2000, etc.) proves he does not need funny spacing to dazzle his readers.
Spanning more than a half-century of the author’s life and thought, the collection mingles free-floating whimsy and earthbound gravitas as it probes the eternal questions of life from some remarkably fresh vantage points. The brief essay “Miss Anna and Miss Dora” manages to hit on the frailty of human existence, the vagaries of memory, and the birth of sympathy in a swirling loop of emotion that never skitters toward the mawkish—and in only two pages. Continuing on, and with a generosity bordering on the motherly, he pours out essays for your delectation, from biographies of friends and acquaintances to musings on human nature and excurses on the state of poetry. “Anus Mundi” ponders the creation of lyric poetry after Auschwitz; “Carmel” meanders along the California coast with Robinson Jeffers’s ashes in the air; “Letter to Jerzy Andrzejewski” praises the nobility of doubt. The maxims, anecdotes, and aphorisms culled from his notebook teem with humor, insight, and luminous warmth. “I am here,” Milosz states in “My Intention”: “and the only thing we can do is try to communicate with one another.” The breathtaking evocativeness of Milosz’s prose coupled with its radiant reflections creates a meaningful sense of synergy with his mind. The introduction by editors Carpenter and Levine provides modest access to his world, although it could offer more detail and biography for readers new to this writer.
A good introduction to Milosz’s prose work, capturing the range of a memorable mind.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-374-25890-2
Page Count: 460
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2001
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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