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jarrigy's review against another edition
3.5
Best poems: 18 Rugby Street, Drawing, 55 Eltisley, 9 Willow Street, Stubbing Wharfe, Robbing Myself
A kind of wild place to begin with the Hughes/Plath legacy, but inconsistent as the collection may be at points, the best poems here have a good habit of invoking deep psychological shock and sadness.
A kind of wild place to begin with the Hughes/Plath legacy, but inconsistent as the collection may be at points, the best poems here have a good habit of invoking deep psychological shock and sadness.
johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
Birthday Letters is Hughes’ literary response to his relationship with Sylvia Plath. Is he trying to set the record straight? There’s certainly some score-settling. (His “Rabbit Catcher” responds to hers.) There’s plenty of looking back in regret too. In “Fulbright Scholars,” he first glimpses Plath’s Cambridge photo. In “The Shot,” he’s defensive about her suicide, deflecting blame to her father. “The Tender Place” recalls her shock therapy, “Dreamers,” his future mistress. Saddest, “Life After Death” imagines their children moving on. Of the two poets, Hughes is more literal & more fun. But he can’t match Plath’s white hot brilliance.
fionacummings64's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
racheladventure's review against another edition
5.0
A brilliant poet. I love his stile, his images, everything-but most especially what he finally says about this failed relationship. I do not know why I am so fascinated by his broken marriage and Sylvia Plath's tragic ending, but I loved getting this side of the story. "Your Paris" and "Daffodils" were my favorites.
zoebasson's review against another edition
3.0
at this point i think ted hughes is more obsessed with his wife’s dead father than she ever was - why is he in every single poem??
ambi_dexter_writes's review against another edition
3.0
Ok this book quite disturbing ah Ted Hughes frames himself as a victim of his wife's disoriented and catastrophic life? Oof what a read.
rachelevolve's review against another edition
4.0
In this collection of poems by Ted Hughes, one only gathers glimpses of what his relationship with Sylvia Plath was like. Each poem is slightly obscure yet enjoyable. In these writings one gets the sense that Plath was unstable and emotionally unpredictable. I'm sure she was, given the nature in which she died, but you can also sense Hugh's egoism, superior-lism and control. There is a sense of deflected responsibility on his part in blaming Plath's instability on the death of her father. Ted martyrizes himself to the reader.
The poems are effortless and smooth. "woody" feels like a right word to use to describe them.
The poems are effortless and smooth. "woody" feels like a right word to use to describe them.
mtesterman's review against another edition
5.0
I've read this four or five times now, and chose it as a book club book.
I quite like the film adaptation, "Sylvia."
I quite like the film adaptation, "Sylvia."
megann__'s review against another edition
2.0
*uni read
this man plays the victim in quite literally all of his poems and then has the audacity to distance himself not only from his wives suicide but also his children by calling them 'yours' instead of 'ours' or 'mine'.
the minotaur is such a sinister poem when compared to his other pieces it kinda comes out of nowhere and it's full of hatred and anger, and then of course it goes back to him trying to garner pity from the reader.
this is just a glorified memoir about ted hughes rewriting the narrative around him and his wives relationship, and then forcing the reader to pity him through his victim mentality.
i will give him points for his pieces being very easy to read, but they don't really carry any depth to them. so i guess it's kinda the only slight positive for both this collection and this man.
this man plays the victim in quite literally all of his poems and then has the audacity to distance himself not only from his wives suicide but also his children by calling them 'yours' instead of 'ours' or 'mine'.
the minotaur is such a sinister poem when compared to his other pieces it kinda comes out of nowhere and it's full of hatred and anger, and then of course it goes back to him trying to garner pity from the reader.
this is just a glorified memoir about ted hughes rewriting the narrative around him and his wives relationship, and then forcing the reader to pity him through his victim mentality.
i will give him points for his pieces being very easy to read, but they don't really carry any depth to them. so i guess it's kinda the only slight positive for both this collection and this man.