jmbz38's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
“TRAIN-TRACK FIGURE”
Imagine a
train-track figure
made of sliver
over sliver of
between-car
vision, each
slice too brief
to add detail
or deepen: that
could be a hat
if it's a person
if it's a person
if it's a person.
Just the same
scant information
timed to supplant
the same scant
information.
TITLE—The Best of It
AUTHOR—Kay Ryan
PUBLISHED—2010 (with some poems published as early as 1994)
PUBLISHER—Grove Press (new york)
GENRE—poetry
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—life’s rhythms and cycles, the beauty & fascination in the mundane, Nature poetry (esp. animals, weather, & landscapes), science poetry (esp. physics, archaeology, & astronomy), human history & legacy, philosophy & psychology, compelling wordplay
WRITING STYLE—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖
COLLECTION/FLOW—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌚
BONUS ELEMENT/S—Ryan’s Nature poetry was especially precious and perceptive.
PHILOSOPHY—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌚
“PAIRED THINGS”
Who, who had only seen wings,
could extrapolate the
skinny sticks of things
birds use for land,
the backward way they bend,
the silly way they stand?
And who, only studying
bird tracks in the sand,
could think those little forks
had decamped on the wind?
So many paired things seem odd.
Who ever would have dreamed
the broad winged raven of despair
would quit the air and go
bandy-legged upon the ground,
a common crow?
My thoughts:
A different kind of poetry collection than what I usually pick up but I read her ELEPHANT ROCKS a couple years ago and had wanted to read more from her so when I spotted this collection at a library book sale I decided it was a sign and I Ryan’s style and the themes and content of her work on this reading utterly absorbing. I especially loved the subtle rhythms of her language and the structure of the poems.
I would recommend this book to readers who are newer to poetry and maybe tend to be more science or “left-brain” oriented. This book is best read slowly—digesting just a few poems each day.
Final note: I’ll definitely be adding more Kay Ryan to my TBR in the future!
“A CERTAIN KIND OF EDEN”
It seems like you could, but
you can't go back and pull
the roots and runners and replant.
It's all too deep for that.
You've overprized intention,
have mistaken any bent you're given
for control. You thought you chose
the bean and chose the soil.
You even thought you abandoned
one or two gardens. But those things
keep growing where we put them—
if we put them at all.
A certain kind of Eden holds us thrall.
Even the one vine that tendrils out alone
in time turns on its own impulse,
twisting back down its upward course
a strong and then a stronger rope,
the greenest saddest strongest
kind of hope.
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Further Reading—
- Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Robert Frost—TBR
timbo001's review against another edition
5.0
Short, hard-edged poems layered with depth and erudition. I tried for years to write short poems like Ryan's and gave up.
jwmcoaching's review against another edition
4.0
After over two years of slowly making my way through this, I finally reached the end of the road. Poetry isn't necessarily my bread and butter but Ryan is an enjoyable poet for those looking to dip their toe in the water.
There were times where I definitely had my patience tried and I certainly wasn't into each and every one of these, but overall there are clever, well-written poems here. There's humor where you might expect cerebral, dry verse. Ryan is a good place to start if you're wanting to get into poetry. Thanks, Haines.
There were times where I definitely had my patience tried and I certainly wasn't into each and every one of these, but overall there are clever, well-written poems here. There's humor where you might expect cerebral, dry verse. Ryan is a good place to start if you're wanting to get into poetry. Thanks, Haines.
hyacinth_girl's review against another edition
3.0
This poet was recommended to me by my poetry TA after I had read Sylvia Plath's collected poetry. Suffice it to say that I do not like Kay Ryan nearly as much as Plath. I have to give her credit, though, because the poems I did like were clever and thought-provoking and some of them were pretty good. But overall, I don't think poets are as awesome as they used to be. I mean, Walt Whitman? He's an amazing poet and no one really writes like him anymore. Kay Ryan, though, is a good poet for her time and I definitely don't regret reading her collected works.
amyponds's review against another edition
3.0
This poetry was fairly average, and I'm not sure why Ryan has gained such acclaim. She uses the same couple metaphors, similes, and themes in free verse (as far as I can tell) for hundreds of pages. I think that there are some good lines and poems in this collection, but that nothing really spoke to me or elevated my thinking. I found it a chore to get through the last fifty or so pages, but it had a pretty strong start. Ryan may just be the victim of a biased selection, but I am not incentivized to check out any more of her work from what I've seen here.
abetterbradley's review against another edition
4.0
I love poetry. I think more people should read poetry. If you're looking for more poetry you could start with Kay Ryan and this Pulitzer Prize winning collection.