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A review by bashsbooks
Eat the World by Marina Diamandis
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
2.25
This is another entry in my longstanding project of assessing the poetry of songwriters to see if I can figure out the distinctions (if there even are any - I believe there are, but I respect how subjective that take is) between poems and songs. (This is an offshoot of a larger project that centers around what non-poet career produces the best poets.)
Eat The World suggests to me once again that the "supports" of song lift up language differently than the "supports" of poetry - Diamandis is very good at supplimenting her lyrics with her ear-catching croon and a host of well-chosen instrumentals. She is not quite as good at using the space and shapes of poetry to this advantage, however. Like many other songwriters-turned-poets, I find her a little too direct and a little too overwrought. It's like, take away the music and they pour out too much to fit in what they perceive as empty space (which is also why I don't think she's that great at *playing* with poetic space - she seems to see it solely silence).
I will say, though, that Eat The World illuminated a possible confounding variable in my aforementioned projects. I think, regardless of medium, Diamandis was a better writer ten years ago. So I have to wonder, would her poetry have read better to me if she'd released a book like this back then? Perhaps. But of course that's as impossible as a question as if I wondered about liking her music if I first heard it now.
Eat The World suggests to me once again that the "supports" of song lift up language differently than the "supports" of poetry - Diamandis is very good at supplimenting her lyrics with her ear-catching croon and a host of well-chosen instrumentals. She is not quite as good at using the space and shapes of poetry to this advantage, however. Like many other songwriters-turned-poets, I find her a little too direct and a little too overwrought. It's like, take away the music and they pour out too much to fit in what they perceive as empty space (which is also why I don't think she's that great at *playing* with poetic space - she seems to see it solely silence).
I will say, though, that Eat The World illuminated a possible confounding variable in my aforementioned projects. I think, regardless of medium, Diamandis was a better writer ten years ago. So I have to wonder, would her poetry have read better to me if she'd released a book like this back then? Perhaps. But of course that's as impossible as a question as if I wondered about liking her music if I first heard it now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Grief