Reviews with content warning for Racism - Time Is a Mother

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

54 reviews

kajasversion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

4.25

Vuong has such a masterful way with words and it’s beautiful to read. I will admit some poems did fall flat for me but I admired and loved the majority of them.

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growintogardens's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

2.75

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emory's review against another edition

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reflective sad

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ejanephillips's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

2.0

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kia_y_k's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.75

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courtneyfalling's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

It feels strange and sad to rate this collection noticeably lower than I rated Night Sky With Exit Wounds years ago or On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous earlier this year, mostly because I can't stop thinking about the interviews with Ocean Vuong where he calls this his proudest book, the one that feels most like him. I'm glad that's true, procedurally and theoretically I love that, but this feels a lot more narrative and plainly descriptive than what I usually love in his other writing, which is his capacity for unusual, imaginative metaphor that totally upends how I think of something and guts into the emotional heart of it. A lot of the poems fell really flat and ultimately felt unmemorable, here, to me.

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artemisg's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad

4.0

My attempt to become a poetry girly continues, and I think I'm starting to get it. This was a deeply emotional collection of poems, and I felt a little overwhelmed by the intimate and evocative nature of the writing. This collection primarily surrounds grief, and it is not a hopeful collection; it dwells on the sadness of someone dying before you could tell them everything you want them to know and not having that person around for the rest of your life. There is a lot of sadness here, but all of it is beautifully written.

Anyway, here are some of my favourite lines because I don't know how to correctly review poetry (and I'm not sure that poetry this intimate should be reviewed by Me):

That I recall every follicle in the failure the way they'll remember god after religion: alone, impossible & good.

Because everyone knows yellow pain, pressed into American letters, turns to gold.

I am starting to root for him, on his way to dust.

Strange, what a face can do
to a face.

I reached into my pocket
but the gun was gone.