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A review by greenspe
Nonrequired Reading by Wisława Szymborska
5.0
I've been known to spend whole afternoons browsing wikipedia--reading articles on historical figures, famous wars, contemporary celebrities, scientific phenomena, the cast of the Golden Girls--you name it. Reading this book was a lot like that, only imagine that the articles have all been written by one of the most probing, curious intellects this century has produced.
There are many great writers, but few of them are also great thinkers. Rather than ruminating on the usual fare--love, death, politics, malaise, and the like--Nobel Laureate Wislawa Szymborska writes about home repair, fairy tales, the psychology of dogs, centuries old European witch hunts, and Ella Fitzgerald, cracking apart the familiar and the concrete to find blueprints of our deepest held fears and triumphs nestled inside. Every other page contains an insight that you'll want to write down and share with everyone you know.
My favorite essay in this collection, if I had to pick one, is "Zuzia"--a piece about birds and their needs as pets. The piece detachedly discusses the finer points of bird care before she closes with an anecdote about her childhood bird, Zuzia, who inexplicably shrieked whenever the clocks would chime on the hour. In a matter of sentences the tone shifts completely, with Szymborska reflecting on the horror of an existence spent under constant reminder of your waning time on earth and ironically wondering whether her beloved Zuzia was astute enough to come to such a despairing realization herself.
It is exactly this kind of humor in the face of the bleak, marvel in the face of the mundane, and humility and wonder in the face of great and powerful beauty that absolutely seethes through all of Szymborksa's work. Even better: her 1996 poetry collection, [b:View With A Grain of Sand|10203|View with a Grain of Sand Selected Poems|Wisława Szymborska|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166131875s/10203.jpg|12929], which contains some of the best poetry written in the 20th century.
There are many great writers, but few of them are also great thinkers. Rather than ruminating on the usual fare--love, death, politics, malaise, and the like--Nobel Laureate Wislawa Szymborska writes about home repair, fairy tales, the psychology of dogs, centuries old European witch hunts, and Ella Fitzgerald, cracking apart the familiar and the concrete to find blueprints of our deepest held fears and triumphs nestled inside. Every other page contains an insight that you'll want to write down and share with everyone you know.
My favorite essay in this collection, if I had to pick one, is "Zuzia"--a piece about birds and their needs as pets. The piece detachedly discusses the finer points of bird care before she closes with an anecdote about her childhood bird, Zuzia, who inexplicably shrieked whenever the clocks would chime on the hour. In a matter of sentences the tone shifts completely, with Szymborska reflecting on the horror of an existence spent under constant reminder of your waning time on earth and ironically wondering whether her beloved Zuzia was astute enough to come to such a despairing realization herself.
It is exactly this kind of humor in the face of the bleak, marvel in the face of the mundane, and humility and wonder in the face of great and powerful beauty that absolutely seethes through all of Szymborksa's work. Even better: her 1996 poetry collection, [b:View With A Grain of Sand|10203|View with a Grain of Sand Selected Poems|Wisława Szymborska|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166131875s/10203.jpg|12929], which contains some of the best poetry written in the 20th century.