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richardwells's review against another edition
5.0
An easy 5 stars. This is a book I could carry around for a few months. It's certainly not going on my actual shelves any time soon. Two old poets hold forth in short spurts. If you like like haiku, or asian verse, and if you'd like to know how the American idiom can comfortably extend the forms this is the book for you. If you'd like a master class in writing but hate the how-to books, this is for you.
Here's what: this book can teach you how to see, and it can teach you how to think about what you've seen, and it can teach you how to write about both. That's big stuff, but not only that, there's at least one gem on every page. Here are a few, at random:
The old hen scratches
then looks, scratches then looks.
My life.
In my garden
the late sun glows
through a rabbit's ears.
How can it be
that everyone my age
is older than I?
A nephew rubs the sore feet
of his aunt,
and the rope that lifts us all toward grace
creaks in the pulley.
Like I said, big stuff.
Here's what: this book can teach you how to see, and it can teach you how to think about what you've seen, and it can teach you how to write about both. That's big stuff, but not only that, there's at least one gem on every page. Here are a few, at random:
The old hen scratches
then looks, scratches then looks.
My life.
In my garden
the late sun glows
through a rabbit's ears.
How can it be
that everyone my age
is older than I?
A nephew rubs the sore feet
of his aunt,
and the rope that lifts us all toward grace
creaks in the pulley.
Like I said, big stuff.
danchibnall's review against another edition
5.0
Some of the finest poetry I have read in years. Harrison and Kooser combine forces for perfect stanzas.
dmturner's review against another edition
3.0
A correspondence in short poems between the authors. Lovely and very discouraging, because it makes me feel old and terribly mortal.
autumn_dannay's review against another edition
5.0
So, so good. Old men chuckling over women they have loved, the roads they have walked, and lives they have led. Smells like old leaves, aftershave, and reams of paper.
erichealdwebb's review against another edition
3.0
There is a playfulness in the dialogue between these two poets that is very enjoyable. This is not a diabolically philosophical book, nor is it post-modern nonsensical. These are snippets of poetry set in indirect communication with each other.
The result, I think, is a field--in the way physicists think of the term--which conveys a sort of philosophy overall. Emotion is transmitted without being discussed. The atmosphere is both forlorn and satisfied, quietly comic and wistful.
This can be a one-sitting book, given an hour or two.
The result, I think, is a field--in the way physicists think of the term--which conveys a sort of philosophy overall. Emotion is transmitted without being discussed. The atmosphere is both forlorn and satisfied, quietly comic and wistful.
This can be a one-sitting book, given an hour or two.
thirdcoast's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a little on the fence with this book. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's an enjoyable quick read. Looked at in terms of something that will make you want to write, it does a fine job. It reminds you that poetry is everywhere and is not all that hard or difficult but can be a few lines scribbled between friends. My favorite mini poem in here was about topographic maps being fingerprints of God.
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