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kfan's review against another edition
Really wanted to like this--I love the way he structures his poems, the rhythms of the lines. They have this easy lilt to them that's just about perfect. But I couldn't get into the actual content of the poems! I kept waiting for an ending, a line, a stanza that would come at my unexpectedly, knock me on my ear, but it never happened. I wanted to be surprised, I wanted to suddenly learn that the subject matter wasn't really the subject matter, but that was not the case here. For me the poems were almost pat, and I guess almost too light, in both senses of the word. I want poetry that looks at darkness and still finds hope, but here it was like we were pretending the darkness doesn't even exist.
(Looking forward to re-reading this in 10 years and discovering how totally wrong I was about this book.)
(Looking forward to re-reading this in 10 years and discovering how totally wrong I was about this book.)
joannemerriam's review against another edition
4.0
Billy Collins has visited my city a number of times in the past two years, including giving a two-day writing workshop which I was fortunate to attend, as well as several readings. I enjoy his poetry most read aloud and in person, where his charismatic reality distortion field is in full effect and I as an audience member forget that I don't like easy poetry with easy conclusions provided pre-packaged for me, so that in the end I must grudgingly admit that I quite enjoy his work despite all my theories about what poetry should be.
If you like his poetry you'll certainly like this collection, which is, I think, quite representative of his work and has the advantage for me of containing my favourite of his poems, "Canada" (which readers can preview at The Poetry Foundation's website, where it is reproduced) about summers in Canada in his boyhood, which sound pretty similar to my own summers in Canada as a child. I think what Billy Collins does best is remind us of things we already know.
If you like his poetry you'll certainly like this collection, which is, I think, quite representative of his work and has the advantage for me of containing my favourite of his poems, "Canada" (which readers can preview at The Poetry Foundation's website, where it is reproduced) about summers in Canada in his boyhood, which sound pretty similar to my own summers in Canada as a child. I think what Billy Collins does best is remind us of things we already know.
cozylifewithabby's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful poems that cause you to slow down and really consider life
mcipher's review
4.0
I loved some of the poems, some I just loved a few lines, and a couple I didn’t really like. But in the whole, this was a great book of poetry. My favorites are the ones that have a sly wit to them but also capture the mundane perfectly. I like many of the lists, but sometimes they take away from the rest of the poem. Standouts for me were Piano Lessons, Pinup, Man in Space, Reading in a Hammock, Osso Bucco, and Water Table.
drekklin's review
5.0
I enjoyed these poems a lot! Billy Collins has a simple writing style, and by “simple” I mean he does not leave you guessing as to what each poem is about. The purpose of it strikes you early on.
bibliocyclist's review against another edition
3.0
"This city of clean lines was my inheritance,
and it would fall into my outstretched arms
as soon as the present grew old and died in its sleep."
and it would fall into my outstretched arms
as soon as the present grew old and died in its sleep."
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