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sephranix's review against another edition
3.0
Still not much for poetry, but at least that's one more reading challenge book down.
alysona's review
4.0
I listened to the audiobook of these poems - and ended up listening twice. I NEVER read poetry, but maybe I should more often.
especiallybooks's review
4.0
I decided to experiment and try poetry being something I have never tried before. This collection is amazing but the reader is intensely rewarded with the final poem in the book. It was, by far, my favorite in a sea of other good ones. I really love the power of language in this book. Check it out!
kellyann_'s review
5.0
While I am still currently reading this book, I feel the need to review it here and now. I have never been the biggest reader of poetry, I enjoy it from time to time but I never actively seek it. Until, one day at work, I pick up this gem of a gem. I truly and absolutely love Billy Collins, his voice leaps off of the page and you can hear him as if he's in the room next to you. READ IT LOVE IT ENJOY IT.
EDIT: Just finished. I love Billy Collins so SO much.
EDIT: Just finished. I love Billy Collins so SO much.
wickedplutoswickedreading's review
5.0
Second read through, loved it
Beautiful, thoughtful, and at times, hilarious.
Beautiful, thoughtful, and at times, hilarious.
literarystrawberry's review
4.0
Actual rating: 3.5, maybe 3.7. Like all collections of poetry, there were some hits and misses, but for the most part, I enjoyed it. I really like his style: straightforward, conversational, often ironic, but managing some really gorgeous phrases and imagery at the same time. Poetry without all the fluff. I wouldn't mind trying to emulate him to some extent.
And just for the heck of it, here are a couple examples. These aren't necessarily the best out of them all; I just love the imagery in Christmas Sparrow, and Hangover made me laugh.
Christmas Sparrow
The first thing I heard this morning
was a rapid flapping sound, soft, insistent--
wings against glass as it turned out
downstairs when I saw the small bird
rioting in the frame of a high window,
trying to hurl itself through
the enigma of glass into the spacious light.
Then a noise in the throat of the cat
who was hunkered on the rug
told me how the bird had gotten inside,
carried in the cold night
through the flap of a basement door,
and later released from the soft grip of teeth.
On a chair, I trapped its pulsations
in a shirt and got it to the door,
so weightless it seemed
to have vanished into the nest of cloth.
But outside, when I uncupped my hands,
it burst into its element,
dipping over the dormant garden
in a spasm of wingbeats
then disappeared over a row of tall hemlocks.
For the rest of the day,
I could feel its wild thrumming
against my palms as I wondered about
the hours it must have spent
pent in the shadows of that room,
hidden in the spiky branches
of our decorated tree, breathing there
among the metallic angels, ceramic apples, stars of yarn,
its eyes open, like mine as I lie in bed tonight
picturing this rare, lucky sparrow
tucked into a holly bush now,
a light snow tumbling through the windless dark.
Hangover
If I were crowned emperor this morning,
every child who is playing Marco Polo
in the swimming pool of this motel,
shouting the name Marco Polo back and forth
Marco Polo Marco Polo
would be required to read a biography
of Marco Polo--a long one with fine print--
as well as a history of China and of Venice,
the birthplace of the venerated explorer
Marco Polo Marco Polo
after which each child would be quizzed
by me and then executed by drowning
regardless of how much they managed
to retain about the glorious life and times of
Marco Polo Marco Polo
And just for the heck of it, here are a couple examples. These aren't necessarily the best out of them all; I just love the imagery in Christmas Sparrow, and Hangover made me laugh.
Christmas Sparrow
The first thing I heard this morning
was a rapid flapping sound, soft, insistent--
wings against glass as it turned out
downstairs when I saw the small bird
rioting in the frame of a high window,
trying to hurl itself through
the enigma of glass into the spacious light.
Then a noise in the throat of the cat
who was hunkered on the rug
told me how the bird had gotten inside,
carried in the cold night
through the flap of a basement door,
and later released from the soft grip of teeth.
On a chair, I trapped its pulsations
in a shirt and got it to the door,
so weightless it seemed
to have vanished into the nest of cloth.
But outside, when I uncupped my hands,
it burst into its element,
dipping over the dormant garden
in a spasm of wingbeats
then disappeared over a row of tall hemlocks.
For the rest of the day,
I could feel its wild thrumming
against my palms as I wondered about
the hours it must have spent
pent in the shadows of that room,
hidden in the spiky branches
of our decorated tree, breathing there
among the metallic angels, ceramic apples, stars of yarn,
its eyes open, like mine as I lie in bed tonight
picturing this rare, lucky sparrow
tucked into a holly bush now,
a light snow tumbling through the windless dark.
Hangover
If I were crowned emperor this morning,
every child who is playing Marco Polo
in the swimming pool of this motel,
shouting the name Marco Polo back and forth
Marco Polo Marco Polo
would be required to read a biography
of Marco Polo--a long one with fine print--
as well as a history of China and of Venice,
the birthplace of the venerated explorer
Marco Polo Marco Polo
after which each child would be quizzed
by me and then executed by drowning
regardless of how much they managed
to retain about the glorious life and times of
Marco Polo Marco Polo
margaret_j_c's review
Collins remains very accessible and not a bit less valuable for it.
sdawson's review against another edition
3.0
I bought this after picking it up in the store and randomly opening it to "The Revenant" which I immediately fell in love with. Unfortunately that was the best poem in the book for me. I really did find most of the other poems pretty good, however there weren't many that will stick with me, or that really made a powerful impact upon my initial reading of them. I can easily see why his work is so popular to dissect and read, I did enjoy the writing style, even if I didn't necessarily connect to all of it.