Scan barcode
melinasreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A wonderful second publication from Kaveh Akbar.
This one was challenging — in subject matter, in structure, in any way you put it — but was a very worthwhile read. Like his first collection, Akbar grapples with alcoholism and recovery in poems such as “Seven Years Sober,” as well as his relationship with his family and his religion. Akbar once again did not shy away from talking about political and historical events, including multiple poems about remote warfare perpetuated by Western forces and the Shadian massacre. But in this collection, he goes deeper. He allows himself to say plainly what horrors are happening (such as in “Shadian Incident”), instead of hiding them behind flowery language. I also find the structure intriguing; all of these poems, tied together by the continual “Pilgrim Bells” — are they all one, or do they just share the same name? Does it end, or could they all be strung together and read in series? This, plus the more inventive stylistic choices (forgetting the name, but the one that was a bunch of squares set inside each other is on my mind) made this a more daring release and I do think it paid off.
Some favorites of mine are the closing poem "The Palace," as well as "Forfeiting My Mystique," "How Prayer Works," "Seven Years Sober," and "In the Language of Mammon."
Some favorites of mine are the closing poem "The Palace," as well as "Forfeiting My Mystique," "How Prayer Works," "Seven Years Sober," and "In the Language of Mammon."
Up until the moment I published this, I couldn’t decide on a numerical ranking, or even if I liked this collection more than the first. What ultimately tipped the scale is that I can quote lines from this one unintentionally. I have rolled them over on my tongue for so long they have stuck.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Racism and War
skudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Kaveh Akbar is one of my favorite poets of all time. When starting this collection, I was a bit worried that I was going in with too high of expectations, that I hadn't read one of his new poems in a while and maybe nothing could hold up to the ideal in my head. But wow, regardless of my high expectations, Akbar surpassed them here. Pilgrim Bell is easily one of the best books of poetry I have ever read.
I took notes on nearly every individual poem while reading this book, and I don't know where to begin trying to share them. Some similar words and images running throughout the collection work so well, better than I'm used to things like that feeling in other poetry books. It also didn't take long for me to think "damn, I need to buy this book myself so that I can reread this later."
I was also glad and surprised to see "Forfeiting My Mystique" included here; that is one of my top five favorite poems of all time. It's the first thing I ever read by Kaveh Akbar and I immediately knew I wanted to read everything he would ever write. Several lines of it have stuck in my head for years, and I couldn't forget them if I tried. Interestingly to me, he changed the last stanza from the original piece. His new ending is good of course, and I'm sure he had good reason to do so; but the original ending was so good, and it's one of the parts I never forgot, so I couldn't help being slightly disappointed to see it changed here.
(Seriously though, go read "Forfeiting My Mystique." I know it's long but it's so so so worth it.)
I have no idea what to say about this book. Kaveh Akbar is one of the best poets ever, and the more I read from him the more I am convinced of this. As a poet myself, there's no one I wish I could write like more than him. I would recommend this collection to anyone who likes poetry at all in any way.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Graywolf Press for the chance to review this ARC.
I took notes on nearly every individual poem while reading this book, and I don't know where to begin trying to share them. Some similar words and images running throughout the collection work so well, better than I'm used to things like that feeling in other poetry books. It also didn't take long for me to think "damn, I need to buy this book myself so that I can reread this later."
I was also glad and surprised to see "Forfeiting My Mystique" included here; that is one of my top five favorite poems of all time. It's the first thing I ever read by Kaveh Akbar and I immediately knew I wanted to read everything he would ever write. Several lines of it have stuck in my head for years, and I couldn't forget them if I tried. Interestingly to me, he changed the last stanza from the original piece. His new ending is good of course, and I'm sure he had good reason to do so; but the original ending was so good, and it's one of the parts I never forgot, so I couldn't help being slightly disappointed to see it changed here.
(Seriously though, go read "Forfeiting My Mystique." I know it's long but it's so so so worth it.)
I have no idea what to say about this book. Kaveh Akbar is one of the best poets ever, and the more I read from him the more I am convinced of this. As a poet myself, there's no one I wish I could write like more than him. I would recommend this collection to anyone who likes poetry at all in any way.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Graywolf Press for the chance to review this ARC.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and War