"One of the finest and most original writers...and one of the greatest Polish writers of [the 20th] century. [Herbert] is a figure comparable to, say, T. S. Eliot or W. H. Auden."
--Edward Hirsch, The New Yorker
Polish essayist, poet, and spiritual leader of his nation's anti-Communist movement, the late Zbigniew Herbert is a literary giant whose writings are revered throughout Europe and the world. A companion volume to the author's Collected Poems (Ecco 2007), Collected Prose is the only English language edition of the award-winning writer's prose works collected in a single, beautiful, accessible volume--including in their entirety his renowned Labyrinth on the Sea, Still Life with a Bridle, King of the Ants, and Barbarian in the Garden.
From prehistoric caves to Dutch still lifes, Herbert's erudite and personal prose illuminates the enduring power of art in the face of history.
- A Poet's Art History: Journey with Herbert from the Lascaux caves and the temples of ancient Greece to the masterworks of Piero della Francesca and the Dutch Golden Age.
- Tragic Humanism: Discover how a witness to the brutal history of the 20th century seeks what is timeless and worth living for in the great art of the past.
- Myth Reimagined: Encounter the gods and heroes of classical mythology--from Achilles to the Minotaur--through a collection of witty, ironic, and profound philosophical parables.
- Erudite and Personal Prose: Experience the celebrated voice of one of Poland's literary giants, whose elegant and accessible literary essays read like a conversation with a wise and compassionate guide.
About the Author :
Zbigniew Herbert was born in Lwów, Poland, in 1924. Herbert studied law, economics, and philosophy at the universities of Krakow, Torun, and Warsaw. His books include Selected Poems, Mr Cogito, Report from the Besieged City and Other Poems, Barbarian in the Garden, Still Life with a Bridle, The King of the Ants, and Reconstruction of the Poet.
Review :
"In a just world Mr. Herbert would have received the Nobel Prize long ago." - Stephen Dobyns, The New York Times Book Review
"Zbigniew Herbert is a poet for this place; above all, for this time." - Joseph Brodsky
"[Herbert] is a poet with all the strengths of an Antaeus. . . . [He] shoulders the whole sky and scope of human dignity and responsibility." - Seamus Heaney
"If the ket to contemporary Polish poetry is the collective experience of the last decades, Herbert is perhaps the most skillful in expressing it." - Czeslaw Milosz
"[Herbert's] poems, even in English, seem to me finer than anything currently being written by any English or American poet." - A. Alvarez, The New York Review of Books
