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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
I only read the new poems, as I've read the selected poems in their original volumes. As always, Collins' wit and cantankerous-ness is in full spirit. Insightful and full of wonder, even if that wonder is slathered with a layer of (faux?) begrudging-ness.
I had never read any of his poetry before last week when I picked his book off the library shelf, but now Billy Collins has to be my favorite poet. The way he can take the most ordinary things and moments and turn them into something extraordinary blew me away page after page. Someday I would love to write the way he does.
I think Billy Collins is up there with Mary Oliver, at least for me.
I love this poet...his ruminations in the everyday are beautiful, relatable, and thought-provoking.
What a wonderful way to begin my Thanksgiving Day celebration: savoring the last poems in Collins' new collection, Aimless Love. I have been reading his work for over a decade, have heard him read on NPR, and reveled in his appearances at the Dodge Festival and other live appearances. Over the past year I had forgotten how important poetry is in my life and this collection is a sharply-pointed reminder. I am grateful to Random House and LibraryThing for inviting me to review the Advanced Reader Copy of this volume in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed the journey through the last 10+ years of Collins' work and the strength of the story that they wove together for me. Keen reminders that "it pays to lift the eyes" (Rome in June) and to have a sense of humor, as in "why, that dude's older than Cheerios," (Cheerios). How much life is enriched by observing the birds and listening to Schubert or jazz or trying to hear the music of the spheres or naming those who have left us. How close attention to language enriches the experience of a poem that looks so simple on the surface.
I will not say that I loved all of the poems in this book. I would not expect to, knowing that Collins is connecting with different ideas and possibly different readers with each foray of the pen to which he often refers. But I did love the journey of time and space and culture enclosed within these covers. The inclusion of selected poems added to the story of new work created an arc that brings new layers of meaning to the individual poems included.
I enjoyed the journey through the last 10+ years of Collins' work and the strength of the story that they wove together for me. Keen reminders that "it pays to lift the eyes" (Rome in June) and to have a sense of humor, as in "why, that dude's older than Cheerios," (Cheerios). How much life is enriched by observing the birds and listening to Schubert or jazz or trying to hear the music of the spheres or naming those who have left us. How close attention to language enriches the experience of a poem that looks so simple on the surface.
I will not say that I loved all of the poems in this book. I would not expect to, knowing that Collins is connecting with different ideas and possibly different readers with each foray of the pen to which he often refers. But I did love the journey of time and space and culture enclosed within these covers. The inclusion of selected poems added to the story of new work created an arc that brings new layers of meaning to the individual poems included.
Still not much for poetry, but at least that's one more reading challenge book down.
Oh, Billy Collins...once our nation’s Poet Laureate AND New York’s? Now you’re just showing off. No matter. Who can blame you when you made me laugh, sigh, and wince many times over throughout your divine collection of new and old artistry? Ours is an Aimless Love, indeed, and we, your readers/admirers, are so much the better for it.
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Favorite poems: Greek and Roman Statuary, Table Talk, Velocity, The Trouble With Poetry, Hangover.