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visionsoforchids's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
rebekahvldz's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
Definitely not my favorite from Mary Oliver. Felt like she never really got inside this form of writing the way she could poetry. Seemingly random collection of essays and reviews of authors with the uniting theme being transcendentalism.
I skipped a lot of the first section as I was put off by her narrowing in on sexual aspects in and with nature.
The fourth section was the most enjoyable- I particularly loved "Bird" and "Ropes" which leads me to believe that Oliver is at her best when she is sentimental and humanizing herself. I also loved the sparse insights about the changing landscape of Provincetown and found myself wishing for more of that.
I'm still not sure what to make of section three. The way she wrote about her favorite authors was so detached and formal that it felt out of place for someone so passionate and prosaic, especially amongst essays adoring and admiring nature. You can even note the difference between her tone in "My Friend Whitman" from section one to "Some Thoughts on Whitman" in section three. The former was one of my favorites from this collection and had she employed that storytelling voice instead of conducting an academic-sounding survey, I would have believed her and enjoyed the book much more.
In short, I am just a little confused at this collection and a lot underwhelmed.
I skipped a lot of the first section as I was put off by her narrowing in on sexual aspects in and with nature.
The fourth section was the most enjoyable- I particularly loved "Bird" and "Ropes" which leads me to believe that Oliver is at her best when she is sentimental and humanizing herself. I also loved the sparse insights about the changing landscape of Provincetown and found myself wishing for more of that.
I'm still not sure what to make of section three. The way she wrote about her favorite authors was so detached and formal that it felt out of place for someone so passionate and prosaic, especially amongst essays adoring and admiring nature. You can even note the difference between her tone in "My Friend Whitman" from section one to "Some Thoughts on Whitman" in section three. The former was one of my favorites from this collection and had she employed that storytelling voice instead of conducting an academic-sounding survey, I would have believed her and enjoyed the book much more.
In short, I am just a little confused at this collection and a lot underwhelmed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
pastelkerstin's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Spidersarsenic_'s review against another edition
2.5
While I have grown to love Oliver's poetry, there were moments in this book that I could not overlook. I found it hard to believe her posture of reverence towards nature could co-exist with the ways that she interacted with many of the animals she wrote about. This book was hard to get through for me, and left me with a bit of a distaste for Oliver's approach to animals, literary history, and politics. I think I will stick to reading her nature poetry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
nagev's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
libbyhb's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
I kind of struggled to get through this one, especially in the first half or so. But I think that's a me problem, rather than speaking to the quality of the writing. I did really enjoy the section with the essays about Emerson/Poe/etc - especially the Poe one. I will definitely read from Oliver again, especially her poetry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
e_reader's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.0
I love Mary Oliver’s poetry, and the way she focuses on nature, so I went into this expecting maybe more than I should have. She is a great prose writer, but I think her strengths still lie in poetry.
My biggest complaint of the book is that it felt meandering, and at times disconnected. It’s a collection of selected essays, so it’s less cohesive than it could be. And at times, it felt like my eyes would glaze over. Some essays were just glorified nature imagery. And this book took me about four months to finish despite being so short, due to the slow pace.
All that said, I still enjoyed the book. My favorite essays were “Staying Alive”, “Sister Turtle”, “The Bright Eyes of Eleonora”, “Provincetown”, “Two Short Ones”, and especially “Bird”. I think I will be thinking about “Bird” for the rest of my life. Overall, not a must read, but perhaps a good book for any fan of Mary Oliver.
My biggest complaint of the book is that it felt meandering, and at times disconnected. It’s a collection of selected essays, so it’s less cohesive than it could be. And at times, it felt like my eyes would glaze over. Some essays were just glorified nature imagery. And this book took me about four months to finish despite being so short, due to the slow pace.
All that said, I still enjoyed the book. My favorite essays were “Staying Alive”, “Sister Turtle”, “The Bright Eyes of Eleonora”, “Provincetown”, “Two Short Ones”, and especially “Bird”. I think I will be thinking about “Bird” for the rest of my life. Overall, not a must read, but perhaps a good book for any fan of Mary Oliver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
savvylit's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
"I could not be a poet without the natural world. Someone else could. But not me. For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple."
I consider myself a huge fan of Mary Oliver's poetry, so I was interested to read an essay collection of hers. The verdict? Oliver is just as talented an essayist as she is a poet. It was delightful to read more about her writing process, her deep connection to the natural world, and her appreciation for her hometown.
I absolutely loved each of the nature essays in this collection. Those alone would rate 5 stars from me. However, there is a short section of literary criticism in the middle of this book. In those essays, Oliver highlights several authors that she loved and found deeply influential. I do appreciate knowing how much inspiration and joy she took from these authors. Unfortunately, though, this section felt mostly disjointed from the rest of the nature-focused personal essays.
I consider myself a huge fan of Mary Oliver's poetry, so I was interested to read an essay collection of hers. The verdict? Oliver is just as talented an essayist as she is a poet. It was delightful to read more about her writing process, her deep connection to the natural world, and her appreciation for her hometown.
I absolutely loved each of the nature essays in this collection. Those alone would rate 5 stars from me. However, there is a short section of literary criticism in the middle of this book. In those essays, Oliver highlights several authors that she loved and found deeply influential. I do appreciate knowing how much inspiration and joy she took from these authors. Unfortunately, though, this section felt mostly disjointed from the rest of the nature-focused personal essays.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
calliereece's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
A lot of things going on but it was so lovley
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death