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Slight Exaggeration: An Essay
A new essay collection by the noted Polish poet
For Adam Zagajewski―one of Poland’s great poets―the project of writing, whether it be poetry or prose, is an occasion to advance what David Wojahn has characterized as his “restless and quizzical quest for self-knowledge.” Slight Exaggeration is an autobiographical portrait of the poet, arranged not chronologically but with that same luminous quality that distinguishes Zagajewski’s spellbinding poetry―an affinity for the invisible.
In a mosaic-like blend of criticism, reflections, European history, and aphoristic musings, Zagajewski tells the stories of his life in glimpses and reveries―from the Second World War and the occupation of Poland that left his family dispossessed to Joseph Brodsky’s funeral on the Venetian island of San Michele―interspersed with intellectual interrogations of the writers and poets (D. H. Lawrence, Giorgos Seferis, Zbigniew Herbert, Paul Valéry), composers and painters (Brahms, Rembrandt), and modern heroes (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke) who have influenced his work.
A wry and philosophical defense of mystery, Slight Exaggeration recalls Zagajewski’s poetry in its delicate negotiation between the earthbound and the ethereal, “between brief explosions of meaning and patient wandering through the plains of ordinary days.” With an enduring inclination to marvel, Zagajewski restores the world to us―necessarily incomplete and utterly astonishing.
For Adam Zagajewski―one of Poland’s great poets―the project of writing, whether it be poetry or prose, is an occasion to advance what David Wojahn has characterized as his “restless and quizzical quest for self-knowledge.” Slight Exaggeration is an autobiographical portrait of the poet, arranged not chronologically but with that same luminous quality that distinguishes Zagajewski’s spellbinding poetry―an affinity for the invisible.
In a mosaic-like blend of criticism, reflections, European history, and aphoristic musings, Zagajewski tells the stories of his life in glimpses and reveries―from the Second World War and the occupation of Poland that left his family dispossessed to Joseph Brodsky’s funeral on the Venetian island of San Michele―interspersed with intellectual interrogations of the writers and poets (D. H. Lawrence, Giorgos Seferis, Zbigniew Herbert, Paul Valéry), composers and painters (Brahms, Rembrandt), and modern heroes (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke) who have influenced his work.
A wry and philosophical defense of mystery, Slight Exaggeration recalls Zagajewski’s poetry in its delicate negotiation between the earthbound and the ethereal, “between brief explosions of meaning and patient wandering through the plains of ordinary days.” With an enduring inclination to marvel, Zagajewski restores the world to us―necessarily incomplete and utterly astonishing.
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
23 people are currently reading
590 people want to read
About the author
Adam Zagajewski
109 books205 followersAdam Zagajewski was a Polish poet, novelist, translator and essayist. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.
The Zagajeski family was expelled from Lwów by the Ukrainians to central Poland in 1945.
In 1982 he emigrated to Paris, but in 2002 he returned to Poland, and now resides in Kraków.
His poem "Try To Praise The Mutilated World", printed in The New Yorker, became famous after the 9/11 attacks.
He is considered a leading poet of the Generation of '68, or Polish New Wave (Polish: Nowa fala), and one of Poland's most prominent contemporary poets.
Source: wikipedia.com
The Zagajeski family was expelled from Lwów by the Ukrainians to central Poland in 1945.
In 1982 he emigrated to Paris, but in 2002 he returned to Poland, and now resides in Kraków.
His poem "Try To Praise The Mutilated World", printed in The New Yorker, became famous after the 9/11 attacks.
He is considered a leading poet of the Generation of '68, or Polish New Wave (Polish: Nowa fala), and one of Poland's most prominent contemporary poets.
Source: wikipedia.com
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 30, 2022
I absolutely love reading this type of book. It is simply Zagajewski rambling on about a huge variety of subjects. It is written in a very conversational manner as if he is talking about things as they come to mind without any pre planned idea of what he will be discussing. His discussion included little stories of his personal life, mostly about his father, but also a great deal about poetry and poets as well as subjects like music, travel and much about the occupation of Poland by the Germans and Soviets. One story I especially enjoyed was about a phone call he got from Czeslaw Milosz, who was feeling a little down at the time, and asked Zagajewski "Please tell me honestly, have I ever in my life written a single good poem?". It's amusing because anyone who has read any poetry from Milosz knows that he is one of the greatest poets of all time. This is the type of book that the reader can simply sit back and enjoy without worrying about picking up on subtle nuances or meanings because it's entirely about only the writing.
January 26, 2021
சமீபமாக, போலாந்து நாட்டுக் கவிஞரான ஆடம் ஜகாஜெவ்ஸ்கியின் கவிதைகளை அதிகம் விரும்பி படித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். அழகு, உண்மை , ஒழுங்கு இவற்றின் மீது அவர் காட்டும் அக்கறை எனக்கு நெருக்கமானவராக அவரை மாற்றியிருக்கிறது (ஷோப்பினின் தீவிர ரசிகர் என்பதும் ஒரு காரணமாக இருக்கலாம்) என்று நினைக்கிறேன். Slight Exaggeration. இந்நூலை அவருடைய நாட்குறிப்புகள் என்று சொல்லலாம். தனது குடும்பம், நாடு, பயணங்கள், சக கவிகள், வாசித்த நூல்கள், பருவகாலங்கள், பறவைகள், கவிதை குறித்த தியானங்கள் என பல்வேறு விஷயங்கள் குறித்து எழுதியவற்றின் தொகுப்பு.
புத்தகத்திலிருந்து சில வரிகளை மட்டும் கீழே கொடுக்கிறேன்
*
A slight exaggeration—it’s actually a good definition of poetry. An excellent definition for poetry on cool and misty days, days when the morning rises late, falsely promising sunshine. It’s a slight exaggeration, until we make ourselves at home in it. Then it becomes the truth. But when we leave it again—since permanent residence is impossible—it becomes once more a slight exaggeration.
*
Music reminds us what love is. If you’ve forgotten what love is, go listen to music.
*
புத்தகத்திலிருந்து சில வரிகளை மட்டும் கீழே கொடுக்கிறேன்
*
A slight exaggeration—it’s actually a good definition of poetry. An excellent definition for poetry on cool and misty days, days when the morning rises late, falsely promising sunshine. It’s a slight exaggeration, until we make ourselves at home in it. Then it becomes the truth. But when we leave it again—since permanent residence is impossible—it becomes once more a slight exaggeration.
*
Music reminds us what love is. If you’ve forgotten what love is, go listen to music.
*
April 20, 2019
"A slight exaggeration - it's actually a good definition of poetry. An excellent definition for poetry on cool and misty days, days when the morning rises late, falsely promising sunshine. It's a slight exaggeration, until we make ourselves at home in it. Then it becomes the truth. But when we leave it again - since permanent residence is impossible - it becomes once more a slight exaggeration." (p.198-99)
Meandering through memories, musings, reveries and anecdotes, Zagajewski sketches a world that never was totaly his but that has always been influencing the world he inhabits. The pre- and postwar world his parents lived in, the histories the city of Lvov has created during his life, the literary world his fellow poets and countrymen have shaped alongside his own writing and living. This mosaic of reflections flows into the kind of book you wish you once would be able to write yourself, without any exaggeration.
Meandering through memories, musings, reveries and anecdotes, Zagajewski sketches a world that never was totaly his but that has always been influencing the world he inhabits. The pre- and postwar world his parents lived in, the histories the city of Lvov has created during his life, the literary world his fellow poets and countrymen have shaped alongside his own writing and living. This mosaic of reflections flows into the kind of book you wish you once would be able to write yourself, without any exaggeration.
May 15, 2017
Really enjoyed this book of short vignettes offering the poet’s musings on books, music, travel, and the role of the artist. I found it particularly inspiring on the topic of poetry and I would love to hear him talk more in person on how he looks at a poem. The examples he gives in this book offered a very light touch that I found so wonderful. He didn’t pick apart every allusion just would look at a couple of elements he found striking and it felt so right and like hey I wish and think I too could participate in this sort of project of viewing poetry more deeply. Ordered some things based on his recommendations which he made very clear were not some sort of bibliography for emulation. His example as a way of being just really caught me. He likes walking with a small book of essays or poems and he nearly sold me on the superiority of the sudden flashes you get from poetry as compared to the long drawn out literal narrative of the novel. Not quite there yet in my own preference but I can now better understand the sentiment. He talked very movingly of Mozart and the undeniable fact and how do we use it that his birthday falls on the same day, January 27th, as the opening up of Auschwitz by Russian soldiers. How do we forge a philosophy and way of being that acknowledges these two aspects of humanity? What is the appropriate way to be in this sort of world? Very thought provoking and absolutely loved his unpedantic appreciation of life as he has encountered it through art and literature.
January 23, 2024
"Una leve exageración. Eso es lo que los ingenieros piensan de la poesía. Creen que no tiene nada de malo y que, en principio, no tiene por qué derivar en la mentira, en el esteticismo y en el afeminamiento, aunque puede hacerlo, y lo único reprobable es el hecho de que sea una exageración. Una leve exageración. Exagera, realza innecesariamente los trazos y las líneas de la realidad, hace que a la realidad le entre calentura y que baile." Esta es la definición que el padre del Zagajewski, ingeniero de profesión, hace de la poesía, y que el autor, filósofo y poeta introvertido, se esfuerza por matizar a lo largo de esta extraña autobiografía. En el medio de apuntes de mayor o menor interés sobre la idiosincrasia familiar, polaca y alemana, aboga por una poesía exenta de ironía, el cáncer de los nuevos tiempos, distinguiendo entre otros, a los poetas racionales (Kavafis), los cínicos (Larkin) y los discretos (Montale). Desde luego es una lectura recomendada para todos aquellos que quieran ser poetas, aunque si de lecturas obligatorias se trata: "la cosa está entre Cioran o Simone Weil, entre la burla o la santidad y la plegaria. La hipérbole atrae a los poetas más que la lítote. Cioran practica la geometría de los ángulos agudos y punzantes, desagradables y horizontales. Para encontrar la verticalidad, hay que recurrir a Simone Weil."
May 4, 2017
I liked this book considerably. Though it is listed as an essay, it is a collection of apercus, some very brief, some several pages.
Though I don't share Zagajewski's occasional moments of spiritual awareness, his thinking--actually the book is more of a journal--constantly provokes response. In 275 pages, I have noted or made notes on fifty-four of them.
The title comes from his "no-nonsense engineer" (p 197) father's response to a question about Z's writing: "'That's slight exaggeration.' . . . I burst out laughing when I read that, it expressed his views on poetry so perfectly, so completely, really, his views on the whole strange world that had swallowed up his son. A slight exaggeration. That's what engineers think of poetry. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, the engineers think, it doesn't necessarily lead to falsehood, effeteness, aestheticism, it's guilty, above all, of exaggeration. A slight exaggeration" (pp 197-98).
Comments will send me back to Milosz, Brodsky, Musil's essays, Cioran, Simone Weil, all of whom have pride of place in my library. Also, I want to listen to Brahms's "Rhapsody," op. 53 (p 204 and elsewhere), given a reference to William Styron's Darkness Visible and other comments.
The book contains a variety of riches, comments on the art of poetry and specific poets and poems, that offer opportunities for re-reading and more focused consideration.
Though I don't share Zagajewski's occasional moments of spiritual awareness, his thinking--actually the book is more of a journal--constantly provokes response. In 275 pages, I have noted or made notes on fifty-four of them.
The title comes from his "no-nonsense engineer" (p 197) father's response to a question about Z's writing: "'That's slight exaggeration.' . . . I burst out laughing when I read that, it expressed his views on poetry so perfectly, so completely, really, his views on the whole strange world that had swallowed up his son. A slight exaggeration. That's what engineers think of poetry. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, the engineers think, it doesn't necessarily lead to falsehood, effeteness, aestheticism, it's guilty, above all, of exaggeration. A slight exaggeration" (pp 197-98).
Comments will send me back to Milosz, Brodsky, Musil's essays, Cioran, Simone Weil, all of whom have pride of place in my library. Also, I want to listen to Brahms's "Rhapsody," op. 53 (p 204 and elsewhere), given a reference to William Styron's Darkness Visible and other comments.
The book contains a variety of riches, comments on the art of poetry and specific poets and poems, that offer opportunities for re-reading and more focused consideration.
October 8, 2020
Slight Exaggeration
Adam Zagajewski
Part memoir, part essay, all contemplative and fascinating.
I picked this book up last year in Warsaw and have been waiting for the right time to read it. I’m so glad I have read it now.
One of the books I’ve enjoyed most this year, it glows with warmth and wisdom. Thoughtful, articulate, and inspiring, I recommend this wholeheartedly. A splendid writer taking on topics as varied as his youth in Poland, travels abroad, classical music, and mortality. It’s a moving and lovely book.
It also makes me think about how rarely I sit down and really PONDER without scrolling or just staring at a screen. Very refreshing.
#zagajewski #slightexaggeration
Adam Zagajewski
Part memoir, part essay, all contemplative and fascinating.
I picked this book up last year in Warsaw and have been waiting for the right time to read it. I’m so glad I have read it now.
One of the books I’ve enjoyed most this year, it glows with warmth and wisdom. Thoughtful, articulate, and inspiring, I recommend this wholeheartedly. A splendid writer taking on topics as varied as his youth in Poland, travels abroad, classical music, and mortality. It’s a moving and lovely book.
It also makes me think about how rarely I sit down and really PONDER without scrolling or just staring at a screen. Very refreshing.
#zagajewski #slightexaggeration
November 29, 2018
This is a really remarkable book. It's kind of essays, kind of musings, kind of stream-of-consciousness, but never ever as annoying as that sounds. It's an old guy (he points that out himself) talking about things he's experienced and things he's thought about, and it's remarkably beautiful. I'm really glad I got an opportunity to read it, it would never have passed through my world otherwise.
February 12, 2023
Wonderful book of thoughts in a diary commonplace sort of way; digressions on ideas with mentions of writers, musicians, artists by the great Polish poet.
November 5, 2024
Una autobiografía para desentrañar una época y un pensamiento, entretenida
April 4, 2020
I'm on my 3rd reading of these musings, and am enjoying them more than ever.
August 31, 2024
This was good, but I am not the target audience. I was completely unfamiliar with Adam Zagajewski before this. It was a random $1 find. I jumped in expecting something of a memoir or narrative, but it’s more of an informal collection of snapshot memories, essays, commentaries, and asides. Maybe a Zagajewski fan would find this amazing, but it was just okay to me. At times, his thoughts were enlightening and beautiful. At other times, they just felt like they ground on and on with no particular aim.
April 25, 2017
I won this in a GOODREADS giveaway!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews