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Poems That Make Grown Men Cry: 100 Men on the Words That Move Them by Anthony Holden, Ben Holden
gabieowleyess's review against another edition
3.0
I found a few poems that I ABSOLUTELY LOVED. However, I also skimmed through a few of the longer ones.
norrin2's review against another edition
3.0
I found a couple of poems that I love and know will stick with me forever, but too many of these poems are about war and patriotism and suchlike that interest me not in the slightest.
woolfardis's review against another edition
3.0
This is an anthology of poetry created alongside Amnesty International, presumably with the intention to shatter the stereotype that men do not cry. Whilst it feels rather like a gimmick, and just another way for men to showcase other men's work, it was a lovely way for me to find more poems and explore a medium of writing that I've never previously had time for and am very new to loving.
I'm not sure if I love poetry yet, but there are certainly some poems that I love. One of my absolutely favourites is included in this collection (C.P. Cavafy's Ithaka) though it certainly doesn't make me cry. None of the poems made me cry, though there was a theme of melancholy and loss running throughout. There are 100 poems with 100 men telling us why, when and how their chosen poems make them cry. Some are extremely personal which, whilst aren't going to make me shed a tear just because they make some masculine-type cry, do give a lovely insight to how other people enjoy poetry, which is something I'm quite interested in.
It's a good collection of poetry, from modern contemporaries to the romantics of the 18th Century; from English to Indian and all over the rest of the globe, with a good selection of celebrities who aren't all heart-throbs or muscular, Real Men who are the obvious candidates to never cry. Whilst I can't get behind the naming and execution of the collection, I think it's great these prominent men are sharing their feelings and adding to the belief that it's okay for everyone to cry, not just women and children, but men, too. It's a lovely collection to delve in and out of, to read aloud and see if these can spark some kind of emotion like they did with those who have chosen them.
Notice how none of them analyse too deeply. That's the mistake we make with poetry: you should feel them with your heart, they should reach deep down in to your metaphorical soul and tug at it-or, at least, the ones you enjoy should. If they don't do that they are not worth your time.
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I'm not sure if I love poetry yet, but there are certainly some poems that I love. One of my absolutely favourites is included in this collection (C.P. Cavafy's Ithaka) though it certainly doesn't make me cry. None of the poems made me cry, though there was a theme of melancholy and loss running throughout. There are 100 poems with 100 men telling us why, when and how their chosen poems make them cry. Some are extremely personal which, whilst aren't going to make me shed a tear just because they make some masculine-type cry, do give a lovely insight to how other people enjoy poetry, which is something I'm quite interested in.
It's a good collection of poetry, from modern contemporaries to the romantics of the 18th Century; from English to Indian and all over the rest of the globe, with a good selection of celebrities who aren't all heart-throbs or muscular, Real Men who are the obvious candidates to never cry. Whilst I can't get behind the naming and execution of the collection, I think it's great these prominent men are sharing their feelings and adding to the belief that it's okay for everyone to cry, not just women and children, but men, too. It's a lovely collection to delve in and out of, to read aloud and see if these can spark some kind of emotion like they did with those who have chosen them.
Notice how none of them analyse too deeply. That's the mistake we make with poetry: you should feel them with your heart, they should reach deep down in to your metaphorical soul and tug at it-or, at least, the ones you enjoy should. If they don't do that they are not worth your time.
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tonnguyen's review against another edition
3.0
Poems That Make Grown Men Cry is a nice anthology that allows the reader to discover more poetry. The addition of commentary (by a different person each time) and brief information on the writers makes it a bit more interesting, but in the end felt a bit gimmicky so ultimately I only read the poems themselves.
schwarzer_elch's review against another edition
4.0
Un gran libro.
Es cierto que no llegué a conectar con todos los poemas citados, pero sí he descubierto a muchos autores nuevos y, sobre todo, me ha servido para reconectarme con la poesía, el género literario que me resulta menos afín.
Creo que la participación de los “grown men” es fundamental, no solo porque se trata de personalidades destacadas en sus áreas de trabajo (lo cual siempre es un plus a nivel marketing), sino porque contextualizan, de forma bastante personal en muchos casos, los textos que han elegido como aquellos que los hicieron “llorar”. La experiencia de leer un poema sobre la muerte de un hijo o la independencia de una nación, solo por poner algunos casos concretos, es completamente diferente cuando se hace de manera aislada a cuando se leen conociendo el significado que tienen para una persona que ha vivido aquello que el texto evoca.
Un libro que resulta de una idea que, desde mi opinión, es sumamente interesante y acertada y que, a la vez, llevará al lector a un viaje tan especial como conmovedor.
Es cierto que no llegué a conectar con todos los poemas citados, pero sí he descubierto a muchos autores nuevos y, sobre todo, me ha servido para reconectarme con la poesía, el género literario que me resulta menos afín.
Creo que la participación de los “grown men” es fundamental, no solo porque se trata de personalidades destacadas en sus áreas de trabajo (lo cual siempre es un plus a nivel marketing), sino porque contextualizan, de forma bastante personal en muchos casos, los textos que han elegido como aquellos que los hicieron “llorar”. La experiencia de leer un poema sobre la muerte de un hijo o la independencia de una nación, solo por poner algunos casos concretos, es completamente diferente cuando se hace de manera aislada a cuando se leen conociendo el significado que tienen para una persona que ha vivido aquello que el texto evoca.
Un libro que resulta de una idea que, desde mi opinión, es sumamente interesante y acertada y que, a la vez, llevará al lector a un viaje tan especial como conmovedor.
ahmedhossam's review against another edition
2.0
The traditional lyrical poems were truly a heart-felt storm of emotions, I was often left in tears.
The modern ones, however, were pure sh*t, only akin to poetry the same way modernist paintings are akin to a Da Vinci or a Rembrandt. They wouldn't even pass as mediocre prose for God's sake. But somehow once they're divided into short lines they gets mystified as a moving work!
And let me tell you it takes a serious amount of bullsh*t to claim that they are moving (or even intelligible for that matter).
The idea for this anthology was original, but it just didn't bear the fruit I was hoping for.
The modern ones, however, were pure sh*t, only akin to poetry the same way modernist paintings are akin to a Da Vinci or a Rembrandt. They wouldn't even pass as mediocre prose for God's sake. But somehow once they're divided into short lines they gets mystified as a moving work!
And let me tell you it takes a serious amount of bullsh*t to claim that they are moving (or even intelligible for that matter).
The idea for this anthology was original, but it just didn't bear the fruit I was hoping for.
david_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
"I believe life ends with death, and that is all.
You haven't both gone shopping; just the same,
in my new black leather phone book there's your name
and the disconnected number I still call."
from "Long Distance II" by Tony Harrison (1937-)
chosen by Daniel Radcliffe
100 men chose the poem that makes them cry. They submitted about a page of explanation for their choice. The poem then follows. And the accolades of the men who submitted their entry are quickly detailed. The list of men includes writers, film, theater, and opera directors, artists, actors, publishers, professors, playwrights, and others of highest caliber. It is really an incredible list of people that Anthony and Ben Holden got to make submissions.
Many of the chosen poems speak of death or dying. Reading just one of these can make you feel like shedding a tear. Reading multiple of these made me feel quite melancholy, to say the least. I appreciated that many of the men that chose these poems admitted that you really had to read the poem out loud for the full impact. I found myself trying to read most of these poems out loud to amplify the effect - which it did.
I liked the poems that were more about inspiration or the life of a child. I wish more of the poems had been on these topics. It would have helped my reading, and my rating.
The book is arranged by date of poem/poet. The oldest ones had some interest to me, but I found most of my post-it notes going to the middle and later part of the book.
My Favorites:
"Hokku" by Fukuda Chiyo-Ni (1703-1775)
chosen by Boris Akunin
this poem written when her little son died.
Dragonfly catcher,
Where today
have you gone?
"Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances" by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
chosen by Stephen Fry
...May-be the things I perceive, the animals, plants, men,
hills, shining and flowing waters,
The skies of day and night, colors, densities, forms,
Maybe these are (as doubtless they are) only
apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known;
...
When he whom I love travels with me or sits a long
while holding me by the hand,
...
Then I am charged with untold and untellable wisdom
...
He ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me.
"Ithaka" by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933)
chosen by Walter Salles
the whole poem leads you to the conclusion that Walter stated in his short preface before the poem begins:
"Don't ask the way of those who know it, you might not get lost."
(My favorite line in the book just spoken by Walter :)
"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke (1908-63)
chosen by Stanley Tucci
as father comes home late, and child follows his hero off to bedtime
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small by dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
...
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt."
"The Book Burnings" by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)
chosen by Jack Mapanje
...when harmful knowledgeable books were ordered to be burned and a certain poet's were not chosen...'
Don't do this to me! Don't pass me over! Have I not always told
The truth in my books? And now
I am treated by you a a liar!
I order you:
Burn me!
"Liberte" by Paul Eluard (1895-1952)
chosen by Joe Wright
this poem was written on leaflets during WWII and the RAF dropped them over occupied France
On my notebooks from school
On my desk and the trees
On the sand on the snow
I write your name
...
By the power of the word
I regain my life
I was born to know you
And to name you
LIBERTY
"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell (1914-65)
chosen by Paul Muldoon
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
"The Meaning of Africa" by Abioseh Nicol (1924-94)
chosen by James Earl Jones
...
I am content and happy.
I am fulfilled, within,
Without and roundabout
I have gained the little longings
Of my hands, my loins, my heart
And the soul that follows in my shadow."
I know now that is what your are, Africa:
Happiness, contentment, and fulfilment,
And a small bird singing on a mango tree.
"Bedecked" by Victoria Redel (1959-)
chosen by Billy Collins
Tell me it’s wrong the scarlet nails my son sports or the toy store rings
he clusters four jewels to each finger.
He’s bedecked. I see the other mothers looking at the star choker,
the rhinestone strand he fastens over a sock.
Sometimes I help him find sparkle clip-ons when he says sticker earrings
look too fake.
Tell me I should teach him it’s wrong to love the glitter that a boy’s only
a boy who’d love a truck with a remote that revs,
battery slamming into corners or Hot Wheels loop-de-looping off tracks
into the tub.
Then tell me it’s fine—really—maybe even a good thing—a boy who’s
got some girl to him,
and I’m right for the days he wears a pink shirt on the seesaw in the park.
Tell me what you need to tell me but keep far away from my son who
still loves a beautiful thing not for what it means—
this way or that—but for the way facets set off prisms and prisms spin up
everywhere
and from his own jeweled body he’s cast rainbows—made every shining
true color.
Now try to tell me—man or woman—your heart was ever once that brave.
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins (1941-)
Chosen by J.J. Abrams
all the child has to give his Mom is the lanyard he made, to repay for all she has given
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard..
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
...
"Keys to the Doors" by Robin Robertson (1955-)
chosen by Mohsin Hamid
I loved your age of wonder: your third and fourth
and fifth years spent astonished, widening your eyes
at each new trick of the world - and me standing there,
solemnly explaining how it was done. The moon and stars,
rainbows, photographs, gravity, the birds in the air,
the difference between blood and water.
In true life? you would say, looking up...
You haven't both gone shopping; just the same,
in my new black leather phone book there's your name
and the disconnected number I still call."
from "Long Distance II" by Tony Harrison (1937-)
chosen by Daniel Radcliffe
100 men chose the poem that makes them cry. They submitted about a page of explanation for their choice. The poem then follows. And the accolades of the men who submitted their entry are quickly detailed. The list of men includes writers, film, theater, and opera directors, artists, actors, publishers, professors, playwrights, and others of highest caliber. It is really an incredible list of people that Anthony and Ben Holden got to make submissions.
Many of the chosen poems speak of death or dying. Reading just one of these can make you feel like shedding a tear. Reading multiple of these made me feel quite melancholy, to say the least. I appreciated that many of the men that chose these poems admitted that you really had to read the poem out loud for the full impact. I found myself trying to read most of these poems out loud to amplify the effect - which it did.
I liked the poems that were more about inspiration or the life of a child. I wish more of the poems had been on these topics. It would have helped my reading, and my rating.
The book is arranged by date of poem/poet. The oldest ones had some interest to me, but I found most of my post-it notes going to the middle and later part of the book.
My Favorites:
"Hokku" by Fukuda Chiyo-Ni (1703-1775)
chosen by Boris Akunin
this poem written when her little son died.
Dragonfly catcher,
Where today
have you gone?
"Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances" by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
chosen by Stephen Fry
...May-be the things I perceive, the animals, plants, men,
hills, shining and flowing waters,
The skies of day and night, colors, densities, forms,
Maybe these are (as doubtless they are) only
apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known;
...
When he whom I love travels with me or sits a long
while holding me by the hand,
...
Then I am charged with untold and untellable wisdom
...
He ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me.
"Ithaka" by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933)
chosen by Walter Salles
the whole poem leads you to the conclusion that Walter stated in his short preface before the poem begins:
"Don't ask the way of those who know it, you might not get lost."
(My favorite line in the book just spoken by Walter :)
"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke (1908-63)
chosen by Stanley Tucci
as father comes home late, and child follows his hero off to bedtime
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small by dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
...
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt."
"The Book Burnings" by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)
chosen by Jack Mapanje
...when harmful knowledgeable books were ordered to be burned and a certain poet's were not chosen...'
Don't do this to me! Don't pass me over! Have I not always told
The truth in my books? And now
I am treated by you a a liar!
I order you:
Burn me!
"Liberte" by Paul Eluard (1895-1952)
chosen by Joe Wright
this poem was written on leaflets during WWII and the RAF dropped them over occupied France
On my notebooks from school
On my desk and the trees
On the sand on the snow
I write your name
...
By the power of the word
I regain my life
I was born to know you
And to name you
LIBERTY
"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell (1914-65)
chosen by Paul Muldoon
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
"The Meaning of Africa" by Abioseh Nicol (1924-94)
chosen by James Earl Jones
...
I am content and happy.
I am fulfilled, within,
Without and roundabout
I have gained the little longings
Of my hands, my loins, my heart
And the soul that follows in my shadow."
I know now that is what your are, Africa:
Happiness, contentment, and fulfilment,
And a small bird singing on a mango tree.
"Bedecked" by Victoria Redel (1959-)
chosen by Billy Collins
Tell me it’s wrong the scarlet nails my son sports or the toy store rings
he clusters four jewels to each finger.
He’s bedecked. I see the other mothers looking at the star choker,
the rhinestone strand he fastens over a sock.
Sometimes I help him find sparkle clip-ons when he says sticker earrings
look too fake.
Tell me I should teach him it’s wrong to love the glitter that a boy’s only
a boy who’d love a truck with a remote that revs,
battery slamming into corners or Hot Wheels loop-de-looping off tracks
into the tub.
Then tell me it’s fine—really—maybe even a good thing—a boy who’s
got some girl to him,
and I’m right for the days he wears a pink shirt on the seesaw in the park.
Tell me what you need to tell me but keep far away from my son who
still loves a beautiful thing not for what it means—
this way or that—but for the way facets set off prisms and prisms spin up
everywhere
and from his own jeweled body he’s cast rainbows—made every shining
true color.
Now try to tell me—man or woman—your heart was ever once that brave.
"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins (1941-)
Chosen by J.J. Abrams
all the child has to give his Mom is the lanyard he made, to repay for all she has given
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard..
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
...
"Keys to the Doors" by Robin Robertson (1955-)
chosen by Mohsin Hamid
I loved your age of wonder: your third and fourth
and fifth years spent astonished, widening your eyes
at each new trick of the world - and me standing there,
solemnly explaining how it was done. The moon and stars,
rainbows, photographs, gravity, the birds in the air,
the difference between blood and water.
In true life? you would say, looking up...
lauraeliza's review
5.0
I'm not sure there has even been a book so compelling or real. It was honest, fun, and intelligent. Poetry has always been one of those things that people either love or hate. I go between the two frequently, but usually find myself in the camp that says "poetry is no big deal." However, these poems were a big deal. The rationale behind the selection, the candid honesty from the lives of a stranger, the ability to admit that grown men cry all made this collection of poems unlike any other I've come across. This is a book that will follow me for quite some time.
teaandbooklover's review
2.0
Did nothing for me. I also expected more poems and less meandering introductions to each poem. Not what I expected and am disappointed. Not a great selection of poems here.