sweetleonard's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely love James Tate's world. It's kind, soft, absent-mindedly weird, and it pulsates with the gentlest humour.
thebeardedpoet's review against another edition
Dome of the Hidden Pavilion, James Tate's poetry collection, mystifies me. In "Toy Soldiers" there's a dialogue between the speaker and a toy solider who is annoyed at being removed from the window sill. In "The Battlefield" the speaker gets a call from a friend who has heard from an ant that there is an ant battle going on in the speaker's backyard--and he wants to bet on the outcome. The pieces here seem like flash fiction with an insane point of view rather than poetry. Of course an argument could be made for their status as poems, since this is a form of art made from words. I guess my biggest problem is I'm not clicking with the dream logic of the narratives. There are jumps and leaps from reality based moments to impossibly surreal experiences. Usually I like dream-like and surreal writing, but there's something about the speakers of these poems that doesn't carry me along. Is it that the language is so plain and simple? Is that the flights of fancy seem so extremely bizarre?
rpmirabella's review against another edition
4.0
I've never read anything like these poems by James Tate. I'm really into the absurdity and mystery of many of these, and especially loved the strange communications between the people featured in the poems, always an "I" and some other. This was Tate's last book before his death, so I'm planning on going backwards and visiting with his earlier work, of which there is A TON.
" . . . you have the key to the universe," he said. "It sounds very impressive, but what's it for?" I said. "I'm not sure. Let me read the instructions," he said, putting on his glasses. It was just a little piece of paper, but he read it for quite a long time. "What's it say?" I said finally. "It says, 'Don't forget the pancake mix.'" he said. "What else?" I said. "It says 'Call Charlie,'" he said.
--The Key To the Universe.
" . . . you have the key to the universe," he said. "It sounds very impressive, but what's it for?" I said. "I'm not sure. Let me read the instructions," he said, putting on his glasses. It was just a little piece of paper, but he read it for quite a long time. "What's it say?" I said finally. "It says, 'Don't forget the pancake mix.'" he said. "What else?" I said. "It says 'Call Charlie,'" he said.
--The Key To the Universe.
wandering_not_lost's review against another edition
3.0
Quirky, surreal prose poems that started to feel like a slog toward the end. Part of the problem was the same tone throughout, and not enough variation in topic. Each poem was its own little story, usually full of dialogue and movement, but then once the "scene" was set, some fantastical thing happened, and then either the "story" would resolve to a pseudophilosophical kind of conclusion about the quirks and surreality of life or...there wouldn't really be a conclusion, and the poem would be left feeling like I'm being told a story with no point. One could no doubt analyze these to death, about how this one is a commentary on global warming, that on the environment, that on terrorism and such, but the poems are almost spare, very prose-like approach, rather than poetic, and after I was done with them no analysis could really make them interesting to me for their own sake. One exception: "The Encyclopedia Salesman". This book was worth the time for that one poem, since it had a lovely and poignant theme that actually felt deliberate, but that was the only poem in the collection to really evoked any emotion in me.
b_p's review against another edition
3.0
3 1/2 out of 5 stars
I can say that I truly enjoyed, would recommend and would re-read 41.6% of the poems in this, Tate's final collection, consisting of 108 works. Perhaps too many poems for one collection, but I would much rather have more Tate than less in this world. Some will hit a sweet spot, some will miss, but every poem in here is (obviously) pure James Tate; a commodity that no other poet comes close to delivering. A few favorites from this collection include:
"Mr. Leaves"
"Dome of the Hidden Temple"
"The Oilman"
"The Lost Army"
"Greatness"
"The Aquatic Ape"
"Manual for Self-Improvement"
"The Little Green Man"
I can say that I truly enjoyed, would recommend and would re-read 41.6% of the poems in this, Tate's final collection, consisting of 108 works. Perhaps too many poems for one collection, but I would much rather have more Tate than less in this world. Some will hit a sweet spot, some will miss, but every poem in here is (obviously) pure James Tate; a commodity that no other poet comes close to delivering. A few favorites from this collection include:
"Mr. Leaves"
"Dome of the Hidden Temple"
"The Oilman"
"The Lost Army"
"Greatness"
"The Aquatic Ape"
"Manual for Self-Improvement"
"The Little Green Man"
michaelrohmann's review against another edition
2.0
This collection read more like a collection of flash fiction than of poetry which I did not mind, it just took me a while to get accustomed to Tate's writing style. That being said I disliked the way Tate handled dialogue in the poem, the actual dialogue was fine and felt natural, it was the constant use of I/he/she said after everything that became annoying the further into the collection I got.
debs71d4e's review
1.0
This is the third book of Tate's poetry I've read. Why do I keep reading his poetry when I know I'm not going to enjoy it? What is wrong with me?
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