everything is silent

I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing them.

— Wisława Szymborska

Wisława Szymborska, the 1996 Nobel laureate in literature, is one of the most captivating poets of our time, often hailed as the "Mozart of poetry." Her unique poems frequently draw joy from everyday life, conveying profound thoughts with simple language, opening up vast imaginative spaces with small metaphors, and infusing seriousness with humor and wit. She is a master of language who handles weighty topics with ease, and enjoys a wide readership across the globe.

When the paperback edition of "View with a Grain of Sand" was published in 2012, it quickly became a beloved poetry collection among domestic readers, successively chosen as one of the top ten books of the year by "Sina China" and "Shenzhen Reading Month," and became a bestseller for a time. The publication of this book indirectly fueled a boom in domestic poetry collection publications.

For this hardcover edition of "View with a Grain of Sand," translators Chen Li and his wife have thoroughly revised the text based on the Polish original, and have added five new translations: "In Memory," "The Railway Station," "The Revived One Walks," "A Sad Calculation," and "Nothing Twice," totaling eighty poems. The interior is printed in full color and includes 10 exquisite illustrations.