Scan barcode
ivyninareads's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like my rating definitely doesn’t do Ocean Vuong’s poetry justice, but I kind of rushed through this collection (which is my fault) and because of that, I don’t think I had time to properly comprehend the writing. I find that often I speed through poetry collections because the writing is not dense and the pages are few. I have this mindset of wanting to ‘get through it’ when really poetry usually does and to an extent SHOULD, require more time and attention of the reader.
I could see Vuong employing a number of interesting techniques in his writing. The use of enjambment to offer double entendres was quite artful. I also enjoyed the use of the ‘&’ symbols. Vuong’s poem we’re riddled with concise imagery and palpable tone.
I wish I had given this collection more time. I’m sure with a re-read I will rate this collection higher. But for now, I’m keeping it at a solid three stars with LOTS of potential room to go up.
I could see Vuong employing a number of interesting techniques in his writing. The use of enjambment to offer double entendres was quite artful. I also enjoyed the use of the ‘&’ symbols. Vuong’s poem we’re riddled with concise imagery and palpable tone.
I wish I had given this collection more time. I’m sure with a re-read I will rate this collection higher. But for now, I’m keeping it at a solid three stars with LOTS of potential room to go up.
goldentortoisebeetle's review
I understand why he has so many awards and accolades. I really appreciated this work; I appreciate his style. He's a fantastic poet.
fran_something's review against another edition
4.0
Tra le poesie contenute in questa raccolta le mie preferite sono certamente "Seventh Circle of Earth", "Untitled (Blue, Green, and Brown): oil on canvas: Mark Rothko: 1952", "Torso of Air", "To My Father/To My Future Son" e "Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong". Avendo letto prima di tutto il suo romanzo di debutto "Brevemente risplendiamo sulla terra (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous)", questo mi ha aiutato maggiormente a comprendere i suoi componimenti.
ranwans's review
3.0
Ode to masturbation and Prayer for the Newly Damned were my favorite. I can tell a lot of these poems are clearly personal regarding Vuong's life, but as a reader, especially in part 1, I found myself lost and dissecting the meanings of his poems. The context of a majority of his poems were vague, leaving me feeling like a lot of the lines could mean anything, which would be fine if it were a fiction-based poetry book, but even now finishing Night Sky with Exit wounds, I still feel like I truly don't understand what I read and not because I don't have a deep understanding of poetry literary devices, but because a lot of his writing felt overly poetic to the point where most lines don't tell a story, but rather tried to make itself look pretty for the sake of poetry. Overall, I'd give this a 3.5
mai_books27's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This is a work that sticks to you like honey. Ocean's prose and the story told is as gutwrenching as it is goregeous. Read this fucking book.