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hnagarne's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
4.0
once again i find myself not fully understanding poetry
libmack's review against another edition
4.0
I love poetry but I would have liked to see a content warning or trigger warning on this collection. Overall, enjoyed!
lancefestivalen's review against another edition
3.0
While reading this, I had to post a question on Reddit, asking for a "poetry for dummies".
I think that says something about my reading experience.
I might not be the most avid reader of poetry, but I'm not the least avid reader either. Usually I can make sense of seemingly random line breaks and other stylistic approaches often used in poetry. But that was not always the case with this book -and I got lost more than once.
This is not to say that the poems were bad. They still had/have beauty - it's just that in some cases, that beauty did/does not represent the poem, but rather the way it presented itself to me, the reader.
I'll probably re-read this in the future. Maybe then I'll be able to write a more reviewing review than this one...
I think that says something about my reading experience.
I might not be the most avid reader of poetry, but I'm not the least avid reader either. Usually I can make sense of seemingly random line breaks and other stylistic approaches often used in poetry. But that was not always the case with this book -and I got lost more than once.
This is not to say that the poems were bad. They still had/have beauty - it's just that in some cases, that beauty did/does not represent the poem, but rather the way it presented itself to me, the reader.
I'll probably re-read this in the future. Maybe then I'll be able to write a more reviewing review than this one...
qingyibenshu's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
The second half is better than the first imo. Some poems are stop and go rhythmically, or are hallmarky in their phrasing. But others are intricately wrought and demanding.
crissybls's review against another edition
reflective
tense
fast-paced
“I begin with love, hoping to end there”
emiliespalding's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
xwaruf's review against another edition
2.0
While I think The Tradition’s
content is important and
captivating toward the end
of the collection (when Brown
talks more about sexuality), something
in the structure of the poetry
was lacking for me. Of the 52
poems, only 3 spoke to
me, and I think it is largely
because of the way Brown uses
enjambments. Rather than enjambing
at the end of natural
phrases, the pieces are enjambed
in what feels to be very awkward
positions. Thus, it became difficult
for me to understand the
poems, so I had to read them as
one would prose.
content is important and
captivating toward the end
of the collection (when Brown
talks more about sexuality), something
in the structure of the poetry
was lacking for me. Of the 52
poems, only 3 spoke to
me, and I think it is largely
because of the way Brown uses
enjambments. Rather than enjambing
at the end of natural
phrases, the pieces are enjambed
in what feels to be very awkward
positions. Thus, it became difficult
for me to understand the
poems, so I had to read them as
one would prose.
curlyfri17's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.75
hi_its_erinnicole's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.25
I started reading this for national poetry month (April)....so you see how long it took me to finish. But that's all me, not Brown. So much of this went over my head, but the poems I understood I really enjoyed. The Duplex style is very cool.
gardenia_gerda's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
My favourites are: Riddle, Dear Whiteness and the Duplex poems