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casparb's review against another edition
really very good !! I like her very much it's one of those much-lauded (winner of the TSE) which doesn't seem to be widely read, so far as poetry goes. Perhaps that's partly down to the author's lack of online presence? I hope that's not the reason anyway Bhanu Kapil did a fantastic job here it's incredibly sparse and the form she's using I'd have to describe as fragile though she works in ways to be witty with it. Would read moreit's a collection hitting buttons and numbers. immigration here along a similar vein, surprisingly, to Selima Hill's Bunny - the lodger/host threat inverted. Just an avenue I'm thinking of
penofpossibilities's review
fast-paced
4.75
"I don't want to beautify our collective trauma.
Your sexual brilliance resided, I sometimes thought,
In your ability to say,
No matter the external circumstances:
I am here."
"How do you live when the link
Between creativity
And survival
Can't easily
Be discerned?
The answer to this question
Brought me here."
"I want to wake up
In the arms of the person
I love
And drink coffee with them
On a balcony
That opens up to a forest
Where the moss
Glows green
In the pouring rain.
We are both
Poets
Or one of us is."
Your sexual brilliance resided, I sometimes thought,
In your ability to say,
No matter the external circumstances:
I am here."
"How do you live when the link
Between creativity
And survival
Can't easily
Be discerned?
The answer to this question
Brought me here."
"I want to wake up
In the arms of the person
I love
And drink coffee with them
On a balcony
That opens up to a forest
Where the moss
Glows green
In the pouring rain.
We are both
Poets
Or one of us is."
anagha_sreevals's review against another edition
4.0
(4.5 stars) This was shorter since it's a poetry book, but even so, I was invested enough to get through it in one sitting! I haven't read poetry in a LONG time so it was definitely different and I had to reread many parts to really understand certain lines. I think I still missed a lot of hidden meanings and symbolism but I really enjoyed reading this and would recommend!
The ending wasn't unpredictable but it's realistic and drives a lot of emotion in you. I also have very different experiences with immigration compared to the "guest" in this book. However, I can still understand some of the nuances of the immigrant guest and a citizen host, as it's relevant and similar to being in an immigrant in a Western country (at least regarding my experience). The feelings of pain, anger, not belonging etc.
Favorite part (or at least most emotion-evoking part for me):
"How to wash a heart:
Remove it then pack it
In ice.
Remove it then paint it"
The ending wasn't unpredictable but it's realistic and drives a lot of emotion in you. I also have very different experiences with immigration compared to the "guest" in this book. However, I can still understand some of the nuances of the immigrant guest and a citizen host, as it's relevant and similar to being in an immigrant in a Western country (at least regarding my experience). The feelings of pain, anger, not belonging etc.
Favorite part (or at least most emotion-evoking part for me):
"How to wash a heart:
Remove it then pack it
In ice.
Remove it then paint it"
helenaibr's review against another edition
3.0
"This shit's not manageable
I wrote
On the fourth night,
Something you underlined
And questioned
When you found my Diary
And read from it
Aloud.
Was this the moment
I became
An alien form?"
What an amazing take on the exploration of immigrant-related hospitality. Kapil captures the nuances between the seemingly welcoming attitude of Western inhabitants, unmasking the essence of the migrant-host relationship: exotism and pride. There's no point in receiving someone in our homes, if we're about to strangle them in their own cultural heritage. Because feeling welcome is not just about having a roof above one's head, and since migration waves are far from coming to an end, this is an important read and, I believe, an even more important reread.
I wrote
On the fourth night,
Something you underlined
And questioned
When you found my Diary
And read from it
Aloud.
Was this the moment
I became
An alien form?"
What an amazing take on the exploration of immigrant-related hospitality. Kapil captures the nuances between the seemingly welcoming attitude of Western inhabitants, unmasking the essence of the migrant-host relationship: exotism and pride. There's no point in receiving someone in our homes, if we're about to strangle them in their own cultural heritage. Because feeling welcome is not just about having a roof above one's head, and since migration waves are far from coming to an end, this is an important read and, I believe, an even more important reread.