sarah1984's review
19/7 - I won this in a GR giveaway. I have no idea what possessed me to enter a giveaway for a poetry anthology. I hate poetry. I hate that while reading it I feel like I have to analyse the writing to eek some meaning out of it. In general, I want the words I'm reading to be abundantly clear. I'm not in school anymore, I don't want reading to feel like dreaded homework. So, while I will do all I can to remain impartial and fair to this book, I wouldn't expect a rave review. To be continued...
13 pages later - My first piece of incomprehensibility:
He wanted to leave it all
behind, to break the habits
of breaking, but even now
he knows the hearts of those
he loves like glass
from the second poem called Breakings. What do those last two lines mean? He knows the hearts of those he loves like glass? What does it mean to love someone like glass? See what I mean about having to analyse this stuff? It's just not me. To be continued...
Leaning through Darkness to see the Stars - I have no idea what that title has to do with the content of the poem, which is about the best way to kill the birds destroying the cornfields, slingshot, B-B gun, or shotgun. My first thought after reading that one was "Well, that's cheery!"
Later - Okay, I've read up to page 35, where the title poem is situated (hoping that the poem the book is named after might re-enliven poetry, and this book, for me) and have realised that this book is not for me. At the end of each poem I shake my head and wonder what the hell it was about, or how it was connected to the title, or why the hell the author wrote it. It's not becoming clearer the more I read, in fact the more I read the less I understand what I was thinking when I put my name down to read this. I don't like poetry, I'm never going to like poetry and I'm sorry that a copy of the book ended up in such unenthusiastic hands. Hopefully a short spell at the library's used book sale will see it going to someone who will appreciate it better.
13 pages later - My first piece of incomprehensibility:
He wanted to leave it all
behind, to break the habits
of breaking, but even now
he knows the hearts of those
he loves like glass
from the second poem called Breakings. What do those last two lines mean? He knows the hearts of those he loves like glass? What does it mean to love someone like glass? See what I mean about having to analyse this stuff? It's just not me. To be continued...
Leaning through Darkness to see the Stars - I have no idea what that title has to do with the content of the poem, which is about the best way to kill the birds destroying the cornfields, slingshot, B-B gun, or shotgun. My first thought after reading that one was "Well, that's cheery!"
Later - Okay, I've read up to page 35, where the title poem is situated (hoping that the poem the book is named after might re-enliven poetry, and this book, for me) and have realised that this book is not for me. At the end of each poem I shake my head and wonder what the hell it was about, or how it was connected to the title, or why the hell the author wrote it. It's not becoming clearer the more I read, in fact the more I read the less I understand what I was thinking when I put my name down to read this. I don't like poetry, I'm never going to like poetry and I'm sorry that a copy of the book ended up in such unenthusiastic hands. Hopefully a short spell at the library's used book sale will see it going to someone who will appreciate it better.
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