A review by rencordings
H & G by Anna Maria Hong

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed reading H & G, more than most poetry books I have read. I have some attention issues, so I’ve always had trouble with not zoning out after a few poems when I read a collection of poetry (no offense to the talented poets whose books I’ve read). But I actually managed to read carefully every single word in H & G, without skimming through any poem (?), because they are all so diverse in language and form and perspective. Especially perspective. And I think it’s so clever of Anna Maria Hong to play with possibilities the way she did in H & G, because I feel like she’s picking out the characters and the basic plot of Hansel and Gretel and looking at them from different angles and proposing alternative explanations/endings/beginnings, but the essential story is still there, and the fact that Hansel is the glutton and Gretel has to clean up after her brother’s shit is still intact. And I love and admire how Hong can weave fairy tale elements (the Woods, straw bed, ancient setting, the violence, etc.) with modern terminology and concepts (sexist, therapy, etc.) and the narrative is still so seamless. I really, truly enjoy H & G, and felt very inspired after reading it.