jada223's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not the hugest fan of poetry, but I'm taking a poetry class and this was one of the collections we're reading. I read through it in about twenty minutes, mostly because the author is from around where I live and I wanted to see what he wrote about. That said, I actually liked it. I'm not the best at deciphering what is being said in poetry, but this collection was pretty easy to breeze through and I didn't have too much difficulty with it. I found several of the poems to be quite beautiful. All in all, it was an enjoyable read.
heypretty52's review against another edition
3.0
I was not particularly moved or inspired by this collection.
nick_jenkins's review against another edition
5.0
One of the great books of American poetry. I don't know why it took me so long to make my way to James Wright, but don't make my mistake--read him today!
Wright is, not inaccurately, categorized as a pastoral poet, but what delighted me about so many of the poems in The Branch Will Not Break was the easy confluence of industrial, agricultural, and bucolic scenes and images. It provides an accurate and stirring vision of the way these different modes intertwine in the lives of Midwesterners, but it has been difficult for poets or novelists (and very difficult for historians) to capture.
Wright is, not inaccurately, categorized as a pastoral poet, but what delighted me about so many of the poems in The Branch Will Not Break was the easy confluence of industrial, agricultural, and bucolic scenes and images. It provides an accurate and stirring vision of the way these different modes intertwine in the lives of Midwesterners, but it has been difficult for poets or novelists (and very difficult for historians) to capture.
caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't get it.
I've had this on my TBR for two or more years, having added it in a fit of "I should read more poetry" and then, of course not reading it because... poetry (an also because it took an academic library to have a copy of it for me to peruse.)
Put this on the pile of poetry I don't understand the big deal about. There were a few great phrases here and there but altogether it fell flat for me. IDK, I'm not a poetry critic or anything. Anyway, YMMV but for me it just sort of existed.
I've had this on my TBR for two or more years, having added it in a fit of "I should read more poetry" and then, of course not reading it because... poetry (an also because it took an academic library to have a copy of it for me to peruse.)
Put this on the pile of poetry I don't understand the big deal about. There were a few great phrases here and there but altogether it fell flat for me. IDK, I'm not a poetry critic or anything. Anyway, YMMV but for me it just sort of existed.
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