Scan barcode
tinky8888's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
cinder_rain's review against another edition
interesting collection. part I was incredible, each poem approached the subject of grief in a new, differently blistering way. part II was also fantastic, though I didn't find it as engaging as the first. I'm sorry to say that most of the rest of the collection lost me, save for a select few poems towards the very end.
it's undeniable that holland-batt is extremely technically skilled - not a single poem wasn't brimming with quicksilver lines. but somewhere along the way they stopped feeling worthwhile. i really struggled to place them within the bigger picture - and perhaps my own expectations were overly bloated after the outstanding first twenty-odd poems.
either way, i'm glad i read it.
it's undeniable that holland-batt is extremely technically skilled - not a single poem wasn't brimming with quicksilver lines. but somewhere along the way they stopped feeling worthwhile. i really struggled to place them within the bigger picture - and perhaps my own expectations were overly bloated after the outstanding first twenty-odd poems.
either way, i'm glad i read it.
toniclark's review against another edition
5.0
The Jaguar, a poetry collection, chronicles Sarah Holland-Batt’s relationship with her late father, his struggles with Parkinson’s disease, and his death. It’s brilliant, gorgeous writing, poetry that will take your breath away, that you (or at least, I) will read over and over.
“Opening and closing with startling elegies set in the charged moments before and after a death, and fearlessly probing the body’s animal endurance, appetites and metamorphoses, The Jaguar is marked by Holland-Batt’s lyric intensity and linguistic mastery, along with a stark new clarity of voice.” - University of Queensland Press
“‘Considering Sarah Holland-Batt’s technical nuance (her unpredictable harmonics, intense wordplay, neologisms, synesthetic sensual registries, double analogies), her book’s resonant emotional force, and its insistent internationality, what is there to say about The Jaguar that doesn’t begin with “Extraordinary!"’
“ — Forrest Gander
The Jaguar is the winner of the 2023 $60,000 Stella Prize, an annual Australian literary award for writing by Australian women in all genres.
I listened to the audiobook, read by Holland-Batt, and just marvelous!
“Opening and closing with startling elegies set in the charged moments before and after a death, and fearlessly probing the body’s animal endurance, appetites and metamorphoses, The Jaguar is marked by Holland-Batt’s lyric intensity and linguistic mastery, along with a stark new clarity of voice.” - University of Queensland Press
“‘Considering Sarah Holland-Batt’s technical nuance (her unpredictable harmonics, intense wordplay, neologisms, synesthetic sensual registries, double analogies), her book’s resonant emotional force, and its insistent internationality, what is there to say about The Jaguar that doesn’t begin with “Extraordinary!"’
“ — Forrest Gander
The Jaguar is the winner of the 2023 $60,000 Stella Prize, an annual Australian literary award for writing by Australian women in all genres.
I listened to the audiobook, read by Holland-Batt, and just marvelous!
loriciawrites_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
4.75
essjay1's review against another edition
5.0
Compelling, heartfelt, and kind of pacy in a way that poetry often isn’t. A really beautiful collection.