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raulbime's review
This is the urgency: Live!
and have your blooming in the noise of the whirlwind.
Not my favourite Gwendolyn Brooks collection of poetry, but that quoted poem!
and have your blooming in the noise of the whirlwind.
Not my favourite Gwendolyn Brooks collection of poetry, but that quoted poem!
caracabe's review
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
5.0
I knew from the start this book was going to be an experience. The opening pages made me feel, in Emily Dickinson’s words, “as if the top of my head were taken off.” (The Mecca is an apartment building.)
… Mrs. Sallie
hies home to Mecca, hies to marvelous rest;
ascends the sick and influential stair.
The eye unrinsed, the mouth absurd
with the last sourings of the master’s Feast.
All the poems in this collection are difficult, but in different ways: some intellectually challenging, most emotionally challenging.
jazzy_cat's review
4.0
I read this book as background for understanding an artwork called Prairie by Victor Burgin. He references Gwendolyn Brooks and her 'In the Mecca' poem whilst talking about the old Mecca apartment building which was demolished and the modernist building S.R.Crown Hall now in its place. After doing a bit of research I found not only could I understand artwork but also the references in the poem. There is an incredible amount to unpack from this poem. Even if you don't look at the history before reading it is a brilliant and provides snapshots into the lives of people living in a building that slowly deteriorated into slums.
teelight's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I very much appreciate Gwendolyn Brooks' use of language. It's very direct and to the point. It feels like listening to some one in the American heartland/midwest.
The first poem took a couple of tries for me to start to understand. If this was a short story collection I probably would have given up on the book if the first story was confusing, but at least for me I usually have a harder time catching on to poetry in the first go. I usually have to read it a few times. So I'm not sure if that's going to necessarily be the case for other readers. Once I started to get what is happening in the poem it felt like a gut punch. The other poems in this collection are great too, but In the Mecca is definitely the star of the show. At least in my eyes.
I would recommend this to pretty much anyone. For some reason I had a hard time finding Brooks' work in print and when I did the only copies for sale were from libraries. Brooks' was the poet laureate of Illinois for over 30 years, she is well worth the effort to read. I don't know if anyone else will have trouble finding her works, but this may be a case where walking down the public library may be the best option.
The first poem took a couple of tries for me to start to understand. If this was a short story collection I probably would have given up on the book if the first story was confusing, but at least for me I usually have a harder time catching on to poetry in the first go. I usually have to read it a few times. So I'm not sure if that's going to necessarily be the case for other readers. Once I started to get what is happening in the poem it felt like a gut punch. The other poems in this collection are great too, but In the Mecca is definitely the star of the show. At least in my eyes.
I would recommend this to pretty much anyone. For some reason I had a hard time finding Brooks' work in print and when I did the only copies for sale were from libraries. Brooks' was the poet laureate of Illinois for over 30 years, she is well worth the effort to read. I don't know if anyone else will have trouble finding her works, but this may be a case where walking down the public library may be the best option.
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