grdsbrg's review against another edition
2.0
This looked very promising at first. Emphasis on ‘at first’. After the first ten or so poems I knew I would hate this. I just did not understand the need to mix such a devastating topic, in what could be a collection of beautiful and heartbreaking poems, with so much useless and unnecessary sexual content. I want to feel the feelings of the victims and the oppressed - not imagine the poor dead boy’s father’s erect penis…
So to sum up in one sentence - I hated this way more than I thought I would. And I stand by what I will preach till the end of time - poetry is good only in Latvian. Yes, I’m biased. I’m giving this two stars, not one, only because I liked the concept and thought the story was interesting enough. The execution, however - a massive letdown.
So to sum up in one sentence - I hated this way more than I thought I would. And I stand by what I will preach till the end of time - poetry is good only in Latvian. Yes, I’m biased. I’m giving this two stars, not one, only because I liked the concept and thought the story was interesting enough. The execution, however - a massive letdown.
maisieme123's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ben_gilbert33's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
hedmunds's review against another edition
1.0
A book that started so strong “we (forgive me) lived happily during the war” turned terrible quickly. Maybe I do not get poetry, or maybe it was just written by a man. Either way, a book about the hardships of war does not need unnecessary sexualization of women. “They are everywhere, Nipples like bullets” “my penis sticking out - for years in your direction.”
Waste of my time and my money.
Waste of my time and my money.
mayatime's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Kaminsky’s experimental formal and stylistic manoeuvres create novel reflections on the nature of language and the psyche as a whole. This poetic political epic turns to sign and gesture as a form of resistance beyond the authoritarian control of the written/spoken word in an occupied military state. I highly recommend Deaf Republic to anyone— even if traditional poetry isn’t your thing.
javorstein's review against another edition
5.0
one of my all-time favorite poetry books. love seeing deaf representation in this way. deafness as political action. felt like a unique kind of jewish × disabled resistance against dominant culturally christian body fascism (neoliberal body-marketing, catholic purity shit, protestant/calvinist self-optimization ideology, etc.). the line about cries to g-d being met with an echo "why did you allow all this?" was the hardest jewish line ive ever read. easy parallels w/ levinas, zoharic kabbalah, genesis, etc. loved this book every jew + deaf person should read it.
annemariewellswriter's review against another edition
5.0
Maybe the best poetry collection I've ever read. I rarely enjoy an entire collection. I usually like individual poems or even individual lines within a poem. Deaf Republic is a masterpiece. If I ever meet Ilya Kaminsky in real life, I might cry.