[Miłosz's] study of the relationship between the creative writer and the oppressive state, The Captive Mind, has become something of a classic and achieved a popularity in the West which his essays and poetry can hardly hope to attain. Yet many who know the Polish language consider poetry to be his greatest achievement.

Because of his double vision (Eastern and Western) and his double role (politician and poet) Miłosz is especially sensitive to the delicate balance a critic must maintain….

[Miłosz has attempted] to find a middle ground between the extremes of the public and private person, between the journalist or propagandist and the practicer of Ketman…. [In] his sociological essays, his fiction and in particular his poetry this search for a critical perspective is a constant theme. (p. 36)

[This question]—can one ultimately find the proper perspective from which to criticize his age?—has...