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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Diane Seuss makes me feel more equipped to both succumb to and rage against the numbness of life as experience piles and emotion simmers into something less than it once was. I took forever to read this because of ennui and severe anguish and haven't been able to keep myself focused on a page of text. Poetry has been the only thing really accessible to me. And starting this collection over and going through it over the past couple days has been such a joy. So much of the gesturing toward Romantic poetry through her play with the macabre and grotesque feels so true to contemporary life. So much toying with bygone modes without falling prey to pastiche or cheap mimicry. It's not better than frank: sonnets, but I really don't give a damn. It's an amazing thing to become conscious of the ecstacy of poems that click for you as they come together line by line, like being able to peer at all the micro details of a painting and then, finally, taking those steps back and witnessing the whole. Diane Seuss' vision encompasses the whole and beyond.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This voice is funny, sad, and painfully honest about its cynicism, and this combination is present in nearly every poem collected here. This is the kind of work only an established and celebrated poet can get away with. I mean, you only dedicate a book to "my reader" if you're certain this person exists and you've already dedicated all other books to relevant family members and friends. So Seuss is making a power move here.
The other power move is in the ambitious title, which is carried out thematically as the poems explore moves and ideas in various forms of poetry, reflecting on the feelings of learning these forms and the limitations of how they were taught in a male-dominated canon. The poems take autobiographical bends too--many poems dropping the name "Diane," ghazal-like toward the ending lines. We see threads of a failed marriage to another artist, scenes of a relationship to an adult son, and sharp childhood memories of losing a father. Several poems feel like essays trying to come to terms with things.
The poems cohere, and each one feels like it belongs. In fact, I'm not sure if I would like these poems as much individually. The collection feels like quite an achievement in that sense. For the part of each poem, I highlighted lines in pretty much every single one--zingers that bite as hard as Plath's and feel lived if not completely true. And, really, I think that's what every poet is striving for--something like 3 unforgettable lines to leave behind. There are more than 3 in this book alone.
The other power move is in the ambitious title, which is carried out thematically as the poems explore moves and ideas in various forms of poetry, reflecting on the feelings of learning these forms and the limitations of how they were taught in a male-dominated canon. The poems take autobiographical bends too--many poems dropping the name "Diane," ghazal-like toward the ending lines. We see threads of a failed marriage to another artist, scenes of a relationship to an adult son, and sharp childhood memories of losing a father. Several poems feel like essays trying to come to terms with things.
The poems cohere, and each one feels like it belongs. In fact, I'm not sure if I would like these poems as much individually. The collection feels like quite an achievement in that sense. For the part of each poem, I highlighted lines in pretty much every single one--zingers that bite as hard as Plath's and feel lived if not completely true. And, really, I think that's what every poet is striving for--something like 3 unforgettable lines to leave behind. There are more than 3 in this book alone.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To never be touched again. That line
has a sound. Hear it?
I don’t want to bring a story
to it. Not even an image.
It has a sound. Listen.
has a sound. Hear it?
I don’t want to bring a story
to it. Not even an image.
It has a sound. Listen.
To never be touched. Oh, a nurse,
a doctor, but never to be touched in that way.
You know what way. Listen.
Hear it. Let’s not tag it with a feeling.
Give me a break. What possible song
a doctor, but never to be touched in that way.
You know what way. Listen.
Hear it. Let’s not tag it with a feeling.
Give me a break. What possible song
would you play when you toss my ashes,
someone once asked me.
There is no song, he said. Don’t
narrativize, Diane. Don’t narrativize Diane.
See what a comma can do?
someone once asked me.
There is no song, he said. Don’t
narrativize, Diane. Don’t narrativize Diane.
See what a comma can do?
challenging
funny
reflective
tense