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jeffhall's review
2.0
This was my introduction to the poetry of Thom Gunn, and I was a little disappointed based on his reputation. Even the memorial poems in the latter half of this volume are mostly lifeless, with the exception of "The J Car", which manages to evoke some real feeling as it remembers a friend in his last days of succumbing to HIV/AIDS.
I do admire Gunn's use of more formal metrical structures in some of these poems, but in the end the words just don't manage to connect with me as a reader, even though some of the subjects that Gunn tackles do intersect with my own experiences and relationships. Perhaps if I revisit this volume at a later stage of life it might have more of an impact.
I do admire Gunn's use of more formal metrical structures in some of these poems, but in the end the words just don't manage to connect with me as a reader, even though some of the subjects that Gunn tackles do intersect with my own experiences and relationships. Perhaps if I revisit this volume at a later stage of life it might have more of an impact.
trendingline221's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hslk0111's review against another edition
3.0
I believe this collection is the last Gunn wrote. It focuses mainly upon the AIDS crisis. Quite depressing, though well written. I think perhaps I am best suited to his earlier work.
tedney's review
4.0
Mixed bag with some truly harrowing poetry and some which feels a little immature earlier on in the collection. Definitely worth a read for a first-hand perspective on the AIDS crisis.
sofie_cristobal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
ladymirtazapine's review
4.0
Content notes: hospitals, terminal illness, HIV/Aids, death, bereavement
3.5 stars. A very mixed bag. The collection is divided into sections. The first third is mostly fine, the next third is better, and the final section is mostly about death. Some of those poems are incredible.
3.5 stars. A very mixed bag. The collection is divided into sections. The first third is mostly fine, the next third is better, and the final section is mostly about death. Some of those poems are incredible.
clari's review against another edition
5.0
Some of these poems made me weep which is a very unusual reaction for me to poetry, a beautiful collection about death, illness, love, sensuality and friendship documenting the death of many of Gunn's friends in the 1980s AIDS crisis.
collyofthewobbles's review against another edition
4.0
I find it hard to review poetry, as I think it's always for each reader to take away the meaning that they need.
But Gunns poetry is meaningful and strong.
But Gunns poetry is meaningful and strong.
pturnbull's review against another edition
5.0
Thom Gunn's excellent verses in The Man with Night Sweats qualify him as the Poet Laureate for the AIDS crisis. This would be an unwanted honor for the poet, but the need for these brilliant poems is great, as they ensure that the events of that sorrowful era will remain accessible to students of history and literature into the future. There are other themes and subjects in these multi-layered poems; some of my favorites are, 'The Hug,' 'To Isherwood Dying,' 'The Stealer,' and 'All Do Not All Things Well." But the fourth and final section of poems contains closely and personally observed descriptions of the suffering of AIDS patients. 'Words for Some Ash,' is a powerful poem about the transformation of a man into ash that is absorbed by soil and then washes into the sea. There is a sad, understated awareness of what is lost in 'The J Car,' about one of Gunn's graduate students, Charles Hinckle: He knew he would not write the much-conceived / much-hoped-for work now, nor yet help create / A love he might in full reciprocate. In another poem, 'Memory Unsettled,' we hear what a dying friend wants most of all: When near your death a friend / Asked you what he could do, / ‘Remember me,’ you said. / We will remember you.
Gunn's use of poetry's formal mechanics is an effective partner to the emotional control he exhibits. The result is a devastating sequence of poems in which the sense of loss and waste is impossible to overlook.
Gunn's use of poetry's formal mechanics is an effective partner to the emotional control he exhibits. The result is a devastating sequence of poems in which the sense of loss and waste is impossible to overlook.
jessiewonka's review against another edition
3.0
Snow blows out toward them, till their seat
Filling with flakes becomes instead
Snow-bank, snow-landscape, and in that
They find themselves with all the dead
Filling with flakes becomes instead
Snow-bank, snow-landscape, and in that
They find themselves with all the dead
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