Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong

54 reviews

kia_y_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Violence, Cancer, Car accident, Sexual content, Racism, and Death of parent

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

courtneyfalling's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Cancer, and War

hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition

5.0

A prayer after reading Ocean Vuong’s TIME IS A MOTHER:

May the taste of grief be slowly rinsed from our mouths. “What we’ll always have is something we lost,” but may we also always feel the edge of a found dollar bill when we reach into our pockets. May we reach towards a world where those too tired to be happy are still alive; may their rested bodies stretch the length of the earth and may heaven still be for another day. May dead mothers still be alive in dreams. May we dream that we can manipulate time and wake up, still breathing. “I was made to die but I’m here to stay,” and may we always have a reason to stay. May we leave people and places and memories so that we have a reason to stay. May we always wish for more; may we always allow ourselves to wish for more.

May this mediocre body still be enough. May sensation not hurt so much, and when it does, may we realize that a body that feels like this cannot be mediocre. May we continue to feel, and feel, and feel, even when feeling becomes too much. May we still love when we are afraid of love. May we still love when we have been hurt by love. May we still love because this is all the time we have to love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Self harm

arsenic_'s review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

maria_winther's review against another edition

5.0

🫰🏼

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, and War

pey333's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

emmaopaline's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

krys_kilz's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

This collection was incredibly moving and several of the poems brought me to tears, especially the poem Nothing. I liked this collection better than his first, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, but it's similar in the way he plays with language, emotion and form. It's definitely a collection I plan to return to.

My favorite poems in the collection were: The Bull, Dear Peter, Beautiful Short Loser, American Legend, Not Even, Nothing and Ars Poetica as the Maker.

"I'm not sad, he told me once, laughing, I'm just always here."

"I know. I know the room you've been crying in is called America.
I know the door is not invented yet."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and War

Minor: Suicide

cernst09's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Grief