helterskelliter's review
4.0
“I was loved, always
loved
And then they wounded me
so usefully” (51)
This is a pretty honest collection of poetry exploring the dimly lit spaces in-between recovery and addiction, grief and joy, death and living. It’s a collection that is somehow delicate and painfully blunt at the same time. I feel like I’m the one trying to navigate my way out of this grave I’ve dug myself. This collection is angry and lashing out but also so steadfast in its yearning for a way out.
Definitely recommend!
loved
And then they wounded me
so usefully” (51)
This is a pretty honest collection of poetry exploring the dimly lit spaces in-between recovery and addiction, grief and joy, death and living. It’s a collection that is somehow delicate and painfully blunt at the same time. I feel like I’m the one trying to navigate my way out of this grave I’ve dug myself. This collection is angry and lashing out but also so steadfast in its yearning for a way out.
Definitely recommend!
shanviolinlove's review
2.0
I was actually disappointed in this collection of poems by an artist of Wright's caliber. Having been mesmerized earlier this year by his stunning collection, Walking to Martha's Vineyard, I was expecting something with the same eloquence and achingly beautiful remorse over passing time, aging, death. Martha's Vineyard could convey raw anger and questioning without the adulteration of vulgarities that Wright seems to rely on in The Beforelife. I also found the structure of the poems a bit archaic, with unmemorable line breaks and cliche topics. It is not the worst collection of poetry I have ever encountered, but I was expecting something much more evocative and deeper from Franz Wright than this collection provided.
mattie's review against another edition
3.0
Got this used for $4. The previous owner had dog-eared specific poems throughout the book, which was delightful, like silent marginalia.
If you're going to read one Franz Wright book, though, it should still definitely be [b:Walking to Martha's Vineyard|148155|Walking to Martha's Vineyard|Franz Wright|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327946161s/148155.jpg|142976]. This is the collection he wrote before that and it's rawer, more miserable, bleak and careful. It makes me appreciate Walking even more.
If you're going to read one Franz Wright book, though, it should still definitely be [b:Walking to Martha's Vineyard|148155|Walking to Martha's Vineyard|Franz Wright|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327946161s/148155.jpg|142976]. This is the collection he wrote before that and it's rawer, more miserable, bleak and careful. It makes me appreciate Walking even more.
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