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lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
The initial poems were rather electrifying — the turns of phrase! — but once the metaphysics started I quickly lost interest. The racism, etc. is increasingly apparent. Skipped the letters because they tried too hard to be precious.
3.5
3.5
nihilisk's review against another edition
I am conflicted. Many of the early poems inspired me very much, but once Murray moved from scene-painting to metaphysics, I found her difficult to endure. Her metaphysics are a stilted hodgepodge of gaudy nonsense, to put it bluntly. As she writes herself in a letter, “Very nice too that the hobgoblins of the earth, the toads and toadies, may exude their own morsel of expert abstract metaphysics.”
Overall, some worthwhile pieces in here, but I would not recommend this collection. Had Murray reined in her language and focused more on her sublime impressions of the everyday, her work would have been more palatable, and the metaphysics would have sorted themselves out. Instead, she reads like a precocious youngster who wants to race to the finish line.
Overall, some worthwhile pieces in here, but I would not recommend this collection. Had Murray reined in her language and focused more on her sublime impressions of the everyday, her work would have been more palatable, and the metaphysics would have sorted themselves out. Instead, she reads like a precocious youngster who wants to race to the finish line.
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