blakehalsey's review against another edition
5.0
2007's Pulitzer prize winner for poetry, Natasha Trethewey writes of her experiences growing up in Mississippi with a white father and a black mother and of the haunting history surrounding the Civil War. It's a brilliant mingling of personal and national history. Moving, unique in form, this is a great collection of poems.
soitently's review against another edition
5.0
Wow…. This collection hits me so hard. It addresses some really important and relevant issues, and is just stunning. I loved it.
docpacey's review against another edition
1.0
Not my cup of tea. To me it reads like prose reformatted to look like verse. Maybe i'm not the target audience, but these poems had no impact on me, neither by form nor by content.
Q; 1
E: 1
I: 1
qxe + I = 2
Q; 1
E: 1
I: 1
qxe + I = 2
scarlettpeterson's review against another edition
5.0
Her writing is stunning, and though this was assigned reading, I feel certain that I’ll pick up more of her work in the future. Her ability to tie her mother into poems about nearly any topic was both profoundly beautiful and heart-wrenching. The loss of a loved one is a common subject, especially for creative writers or poets, yet her poetry was organic and unique. The most compelling elements of her work being her ability to turn ordinary things like a misspelled word into a well-crafted, meaningful poem.
Themes of movement and change, death, religion, and race/racial tension combine to create a collection that is varied despite an overarching theme of loss.
In Section II Tretheway focuses on Mississippi with a historical lens, often referencing race through the lens of a slave at war time. As a daughter of a mixed-race couple, race is of course a pertinent subject for Tretheway, and she writes beautifully on the topic. Her mother was from Mississippi, and Tretheway was raised there in her home town, which ties into the dedication and overarching theme at hand.
The third section Tretheway depicts her mother’s history, starting with her illegal marriage and pregnancy, going on into her own childhood. This section deals with race in the South during Tretheway’s lifetime and immediately prior to her conception, a more modern look at race. This section also jumps back to the present towards the end.
A few of my favorites were; “Genus Narcissus,” “Graveyard Blues,” “What is Evidence,” “Southern History,” (probably my favorite, and so immensely valuable), “Incident,” and “Elegy for Native Guards.” Overall there were few, if any, poems that I distinctly disliked.
Themes of movement and change, death, religion, and race/racial tension combine to create a collection that is varied despite an overarching theme of loss.
In Section II Tretheway focuses on Mississippi with a historical lens, often referencing race through the lens of a slave at war time. As a daughter of a mixed-race couple, race is of course a pertinent subject for Tretheway, and she writes beautifully on the topic. Her mother was from Mississippi, and Tretheway was raised there in her home town, which ties into the dedication and overarching theme at hand.
The third section Tretheway depicts her mother’s history, starting with her illegal marriage and pregnancy, going on into her own childhood. This section deals with race in the South during Tretheway’s lifetime and immediately prior to her conception, a more modern look at race. This section also jumps back to the present towards the end.
A few of my favorites were; “Genus Narcissus,” “Graveyard Blues,” “What is Evidence,” “Southern History,” (probably my favorite, and so immensely valuable), “Incident,” and “Elegy for Native Guards.” Overall there were few, if any, poems that I distinctly disliked.
raloveridge's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my gosh, is this ever brilliant. I feel like this is going to be TREMENDOUSLY important to my comprehensive exams because the work she's doing with form to resurrect all of the complications, elations, and historical tragedies of Trethewey's Mississippi is right up my alley. Amazing book, amazing poet. Broke my heart.
"Even now,
the mound is a blister on my heart,
a red and humming swarm."
"Even now,
the mound is a blister on my heart,
a red and humming swarm."
miranda_is_currently_reading's review against another edition
5.0
This is without a doubt the most beautiful collection of poetry I have ever read. I can't wait to read more of her work.
allieelizbart's review against another edition
5.0
I was supposed to read this poetry collection in a class during the worst semester of my life, and I didn't get around to it because I didn't get around to any of my work. It's been sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be cracked open, since 2017. But, honestly, I'm glad I waited to enjoy it until I was in the right headspace. Natasha Trethewey's third collection is dark and doesn't skimp on the macabre. It explores and intertwines her mother's brutal death, her ancestors' legacy, and the violence and trauma experienced in her childhood. If you've read any of my other mini-reviews or kept up with what I read (anyone out there?), you know I'm a sucker for themes like memory, identity, and death, and this hit all 3 of those. Trethewey's collection is accessible, nothing pretentious about it at all. She closely controls the presented narratives and refuses to water down the most uncomfortable parts. Favorite poems: "Graveyard Blues," "Myth," "Pilgrimage," "Southern History," "Blond," "Southern Gothic," and "South."