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alyssapusateri's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
mostlymetaphors's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
windspice's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death and Homophobia
yoursam's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
some truly beautiful parts and some not so interesting ones
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
witchboyofboston's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
honeyvoiced's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
This collection of essays, which I bought half for the author and half for the cover let's be honest, stems from Mary Oliver's deep-rooted love for the natural world. She casts a wonder-filled gaze around here and notices the minutiae of animal & vegetal life with a delight that is quite communicative, and interlaces her observations with thoughts on creativity in general and writing in particular. Some essays are dedicated to writers she admires (Emerson, Poe, Wordsworth, Whitman), blending the factual with her personal reading of their works. I think Mary Oliver could write about almost anything and make it an enjoyable experience, but I did have a hard time with her descriptions of animal pain & death and her reverence for a writer who married his 13-year-old cousin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Minor: Child abuse
mamoru_94's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
sxndaze's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
I think it just wasn’t for me or I wasn’t in the mood. I’m a bit bummed by that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
stephe's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Mary Oliver’s poetry has a way of just about always bringing me into the present, and this collection of essays is much the same. Even though I don’t think I’ll ever inhabit the outside world with the same fervor or expansiveness, she’s able to bring me along in such a vivid, mindful way that it often feels like I’ve spent my hours wandering the woods or sitting with birds. And her sensitivity to the inner lives of animals as beings in their own right is wondrous.
There are a few essays here about classic poets and writers (Thoreau, Poe, Wordsworth), but—and I say this as someone who’s spent a few years studying these folks and others—these were the essays that didn’t land as much for me. The one exception would be her essay on Whitman, but on the whole, the ones where the animals are the subjects are my favorites.
There are a few essays here about classic poets and writers (Thoreau, Poe, Wordsworth), but—and I say this as someone who’s spent a few years studying these folks and others—these were the essays that didn’t land as much for me. The one exception would be her essay on Whitman, but on the whole, the ones where the animals are the subjects are my favorites.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death