Reviews

Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey

kellkie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Native Guard as a whole is layered with structure that is so expertly crafted you might miss it if you weren't looking closely. The individual poems are raw and unforgiving, an exercise in context and memory. Just brilliant.

sbelasco40's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely perfect, completely unforgiving.

maenad_wordsmith's review against another edition

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reread for work

drchavez08's review against another edition

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5.0

"In my dream, the ghost of history lies down beside me"

Wow! This was a wonderful little collection of poems. I liked how there was different levels of meaning within each poem, and I really enjoyed the different "themes" Trethewey chose to focus on. Overall, just an extremely enjoyable read, I like books that make me think, and this was definitely one of them!

purplepaperback's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

shaunireads1's review against another edition

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5.0

After hearing Natasha Trethewey on the Diane Rehm Show a couple of years ago, I kept hoping that the local library would get a copy of this collection of poems, or that I'd find a used version, but had no luck. I'm not an avid poetry reader, nor do I usually spend money on books (unless you count overdue fines at the library), but I finally gave in and purchased the Kindle/audio version. It was $8.54 well spent! Many of the poems form a narrative of Tretheway's experience as a mixed-race child in the South, and others tell the stories of African-American soldiers in the Civil War. I'm sure I will read these poems over and over again.

blakehalsey's review against another edition

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5.0

2007's Pulitzer prize winner for poetry, Natasha Trethewey writes of her experiences growing up in Mississippi with a white father and a black mother and of the haunting history surrounding the Civil War. It's a brilliant mingling of personal and national history. Moving, unique in form, this is a great collection of poems.

megumihiroki2's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

soitently's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow…. This collection hits me so hard. It addresses some really important and relevant issues, and is just stunning. I loved it.