longliveallthemagicwemade's review
5.0
i don‘t think i‘ve ever been this devastated by a book before.
hamstringy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Jesus Christ. Kaminsky is a brutal writer.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, War, Child death, Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Pregnancy
elorant50's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
hereistheend's review against another edition
5.0
Short review:
A stranger gave this to me, because he loved it so much. Many small, sweet things occurred while I read this. It's perhaps brilliant. Good for both fiction and poetry readers.
Long review:
I've been writing my thoughts on this book for over a week, trying to express what I think Deaf Republic is about. How it fits into our lives.
And then the news notification start rolling down my screen:
On the 15th of March, 2019, a man entered two New Zealand mosques and killed fifty people. Immediately, and weeks later, New Zealand women who are not muslim donned head scarves in solidarity, from the Prime Minister to reporters reporting on more recent harassments targeting women in headscarves. One such reporter, Samantha Hayes said, ““I’m wearing a headscarf today for her, and for the families and friends of those killed in Christchurch a week ago."
We remember Joe Biden isn't just a pure man nursing a bromance with Obama.
People stuffed on concrete beneath an overpass, held in by barbed wire, like feedlot cattle, because of their pursuit of the American dream.
And so on.
I want to give you an eloquent thoughts connecting today to Deaf Republic.
But at this point, I think it'd do Kaminsky, and you, a disservice.
So read something.
Try Deaf Republic, an epic poem. Good for both fiction and poetry readers.
You won't regret it, but you'll feel it.
Deaf Republic does that thing.
You know, that ~thing~ New Yorker and Buzzfeed writers keep trying to say when they talk about poetry making a "resurgence in uncertain times."
That thing that leaves you with more questions and images and feelings about the world than when you came to it, slowing cracking the spine.
“You will find me, God / like a dumb pigeon’s beak, I am / pecking / every which way at astonishment”
“silence moves us to speak…
soaping together
is sacred to us.
Washing each other’s shoulders.
You can fuck
anyone-- but with whom can you sit
in water?”
"Bless each thing on earth until it sickens,
until each ungovernable heart admits: I confused myself
and yet I loved-- and what I loved
I forgot, what I forgot brought glory to my travels,
to you I traveled as close as I dared, Lord.”
"silence?
it is a stick I beat you with, I beat you with a stick, voice, beat you
until you speak, until you
speak right.”
“Body, they blame you for all the things and they
seek in the body what does not live in the body”
A stranger gave this to me, because he loved it so much. Many small, sweet things occurred while I read this. It's perhaps brilliant. Good for both fiction and poetry readers.
Long review:
I've been writing my thoughts on this book for over a week, trying to express what I think Deaf Republic is about. How it fits into our lives.
And then the news notification start rolling down my screen:
On the 15th of March, 2019, a man entered two New Zealand mosques and killed fifty people. Immediately, and weeks later, New Zealand women who are not muslim donned head scarves in solidarity, from the Prime Minister to reporters reporting on more recent harassments targeting women in headscarves. One such reporter, Samantha Hayes said, ““I’m wearing a headscarf today for her, and for the families and friends of those killed in Christchurch a week ago."
We remember Joe Biden isn't just a pure man nursing a bromance with Obama.
People stuffed on concrete beneath an overpass, held in by barbed wire, like feedlot cattle, because of their pursuit of the American dream.
And so on.
I want to give you an eloquent thoughts connecting today to Deaf Republic.
But at this point, I think it'd do Kaminsky, and you, a disservice.
So read something.
Try Deaf Republic, an epic poem. Good for both fiction and poetry readers.
You won't regret it, but you'll feel it.
Deaf Republic does that thing.
You know, that ~thing~ New Yorker and Buzzfeed writers keep trying to say when they talk about poetry making a "resurgence in uncertain times."
That thing that leaves you with more questions and images and feelings about the world than when you came to it, slowing cracking the spine.
“You will find me, God / like a dumb pigeon’s beak, I am / pecking / every which way at astonishment”
“silence moves us to speak…
soaping together
is sacred to us.
Washing each other’s shoulders.
You can fuck
anyone-- but with whom can you sit
in water?”
"Bless each thing on earth until it sickens,
until each ungovernable heart admits: I confused myself
and yet I loved-- and what I loved
I forgot, what I forgot brought glory to my travels,
to you I traveled as close as I dared, Lord.”
"silence?
it is a stick I beat you with, I beat you with a stick, voice, beat you
until you speak, until you
speak right.”
“Body, they blame you for all the things and they
seek in the body what does not live in the body”
parawatch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I don't think there's a right way to rate this. I don't read poems but this is probably my favorite. I'm just glad I got it.
caramels's review against another edition
5.0
it somehow has come to happen that this is the only book that exists.
“I am your boy
drowning in this country, who doesn’t know
the word for drowning
and yells
I am diving for the last time!”
“I am your boy
drowning in this country, who doesn’t know
the word for drowning
and yells
I am diving for the last time!”
maryamshahid's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
zahraaakz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
shea_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5