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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Olds always has a very clear way of looking at things; when she turns the lens on her divorce, well, some beautiful stuff comes out of it (and I liked how she admits that she stole her husband's secrets too and put them in her poems. Very honest.).
I’ve only read the odd bit of Sharon Olds before, and I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy reading a whole book of hers. I did enjoy it.
There’s something interesting in the way a whole book of poems about a woman dealing with the end of her marriage seems quite different to a novel doing the same thing. But I haven’t really thought it through yet.
There’s something interesting in the way a whole book of poems about a woman dealing with the end of her marriage seems quite different to a novel doing the same thing. But I haven’t really thought it through yet.
I was sick with grief while reading this collection. I wanted to rage in a way that Olds did not. I cried for her loss, for the life and love she thought she was living and which was pulled from under her.
I who had no other
gift to give the world but to hold what I
thought was love's mirror up to us –
ah now, no puff of mist on it.
After that life is the singing dream,
I wake, and feared he felt he was the human
sleeper, and I the glittering panther
holding him down, and screaming.
None of the poems in this collection feel unnecessary, Olds manages to find a new perspective or insight in each one. I was most impressed by her depiction of language and storytelling's ability to simultaneously obfuscate and elucidate; she repeatedly implies that it is her constant speaking that is at the heart of her incompatibility with her husband whilst positing her poetry as a product of her family life. Olds resists the temptation to oversimplify without, for the most part, falling victim of excessive abstraction, a difficult task with such a personal subject.
Olds' command of metaphor and distinct voice make this a compelling read.
Not the best book to read right after the emotional rending of "The Art of Asking", yet somehow the perfect book to read right after. Heartbreaking and masterfully written. I need to go home and hug my husband immediately.
Incredibly sad and controlled, with moments of humor to keep it afloat. Easy to read cover to cover, very revealing and honest.