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iina's review against another edition
3.0
Really enjoyed some parts (the beginning), a bit confused towards the end… Would be curious to read more from Collins!
madalcna's review against another edition
2.0
Who is Mary Sue?
The character that everyone despises and greatly fears: the woman who fights back so she’s too bitchy; the quiet woman away from the centre of the party who would rather stay at home reading, so she must be a hipster; the mother who has lost all identity to that one, single identifying trade; the hard-working woman with plain features who wears no make-up; the high-end, upper east side wife who wears too much; the writer who writes about herself, so she must be self-centered; the poet who questions, so she must be entitled. Mary Sue is, thus, every woman: every real woman who is quickly dismissed based on a few traits, a few decisions, who can’t, shouldn’t defy her but still, at the eye of the beholder, do. The beholder being, most often than not, men.
And Who is Mary Sue’s Sophie Collins? It is hard to say. I think collections like this are the reason why people (myself included) find poetry so daunting. Most of the poems just flew right through me, leaving no lasting impact, leaving me speechless only because I had nothing to say. Poetry is, in my understanding, such an intimate and personal journey, you either connect to it, or you don’t -- which is also why I find collections that focus on self-identifying traits such as race, identity and other universal senses of human longing so much easier to read and enjoy. It is essential, to me, that I identify with whatever the poet is trying to convey.
And while I knew Sophie Collins wasn’t going to tackle the aforementioned themes (at least not directly, or not as the central theme), what she set out to do was just, if not more, interesting to me: it had the potential to be a powerful, riveting and funny collection that looked at feminism through a very common pop culture lense; and it did, sometimes. Every now and then, in some of the poems, I saw the light, but it quickly fizzled away when compared to the rest of the poems, that felt completely out of place (funnily enough, the ones I enjoyed the most were the ones I thought didn’t belong). Alas, as I finished the last poem and closed the book, I didn’t feel it accomplished what it was trying to do.
All in all, this is an interesting collection that might need a second (or third) re-read in order to fully gasp and identify all the themes and nods it portrays to women writers (some which I was happily able to identify).
The character that everyone despises and greatly fears: the woman who fights back so she’s too bitchy; the quiet woman away from the centre of the party who would rather stay at home reading, so she must be a hipster; the mother who has lost all identity to that one, single identifying trade; the hard-working woman with plain features who wears no make-up; the high-end, upper east side wife who wears too much; the writer who writes about herself, so she must be self-centered; the poet who questions, so she must be entitled. Mary Sue is, thus, every woman: every real woman who is quickly dismissed based on a few traits, a few decisions, who can’t, shouldn’t defy her but still, at the eye of the beholder, do. The beholder being, most often than not, men.
And Who is Mary Sue’s Sophie Collins? It is hard to say. I think collections like this are the reason why people (myself included) find poetry so daunting. Most of the poems just flew right through me, leaving no lasting impact, leaving me speechless only because I had nothing to say. Poetry is, in my understanding, such an intimate and personal journey, you either connect to it, or you don’t -- which is also why I find collections that focus on self-identifying traits such as race, identity and other universal senses of human longing so much easier to read and enjoy. It is essential, to me, that I identify with whatever the poet is trying to convey.
And while I knew Sophie Collins wasn’t going to tackle the aforementioned themes (at least not directly, or not as the central theme), what she set out to do was just, if not more, interesting to me: it had the potential to be a powerful, riveting and funny collection that looked at feminism through a very common pop culture lense; and it did, sometimes. Every now and then, in some of the poems, I saw the light, but it quickly fizzled away when compared to the rest of the poems, that felt completely out of place (funnily enough, the ones I enjoyed the most were the ones I thought didn’t belong). Alas, as I finished the last poem and closed the book, I didn’t feel it accomplished what it was trying to do.
All in all, this is an interesting collection that might need a second (or third) re-read in order to fully gasp and identify all the themes and nods it portrays to women writers (some which I was happily able to identify).
annabellebinnerts's review against another edition
3.0
Een aantal heel heel mooie dingen, maar ook veel wat een beetje langs me heen ging.
Als absolute favoriet:
Untitled
The village is always on fire.
Men stay away from the kitchens,
take up in outhouses with concrete floors,
while the women — soot in their hair —
initiate the flames into their small routines.
Als absolute favoriet:
Untitled
The village is always on fire.
Men stay away from the kitchens,
take up in outhouses with concrete floors,
while the women — soot in their hair —
initiate the flames into their small routines.
musingintrovert's review against another edition
3.0
Book 3 of BookTubeAThon 2018.
Definitely one for a reread and further analysis, but as a first read it was interesting and thought-provoking.
Definitely one for a reread and further analysis, but as a first read it was interesting and thought-provoking.
vcods's review against another edition
5.0
Sophie Collins artfully weaves words of writing women to comment on the disparagement/marginalization of women's writing. There are some moments of true eye-opening brilliance about the relationship of a writer, her texts and protagonists which have caused me to re-engage with things I have read and the possibly all too simple interpretations I have made.
Will definitely have to read multiple times to grasp everything that is going on.
Will definitely have to read multiple times to grasp everything that is going on.
luensiisolen's review against another edition
2.0
While I really enjoyed the title poem and the whole discussion of female writers, the rest of the collection just went right over my head and I didn't really get anything out of it. Maybe I'd enjoy this more on a second read and get more out of it, but for now I want to move onto other collections of poetry.
anothergreatetc's review against another edition
I adored the title poem and a few bits here and there, but unfortunately, quite a lot went over my head. I think I liked where she went with this? This might have to be a reread in a few years' time.