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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
sad
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
What more can I tell you about a book that has already won the Pulitzer Prize? I sat down and read this one straight through because I couldn't get enough of the poet's spellbinding way of describing the heartbreak and tragedy of the dissolution of a thirty year marriage. Sometimes painfully sad, other times incredibly moving, always inspiring- this collection of poems reaffirms my faith in modern verse. Highly recommended.
This may be the bible on divorce. I liked the structure of the sections; I loved the form of the poems and the reflective nature of all of them. An excellent easy reflection that 30 years is not a lifetime.
What would it be like to be married to someone who uses both your lives in her writing. What would it be like if when you married the poet, she wasn't a poet at all and then she made her life into poems? I don't know if that was exactly how the story goes for Sharon Olds and her husband, but I can't quite imagine having the world know about your life through your lover's poetry.
Olds has always used her life and those in it as part of her poetry. Charles Bainbridge in The Guardian in 2006 said, "She has always confronted the personal details of her life with remarkable directness and honesty...". So the fact that Olds writes about what happens when her husband leaves her is not a surprise.
If I were Olds' ex-husband, the publication of Stag's Leap would have made me uncomfortable. Olds did not put the collection of poems together until 15 years after the fact, but I am not sure that would have helped me. On top of that, how does it feel to have your ex win major awards for her view of the end of your marriage?
These poems are beautiful. They seem honest and are about love as much (or more) than about anger and hurt. I have not been in Olds' place, but she seems to have defined this period of her life well. Olds is able to show the reader a part of life that all should know about. I read several of these poems over and over, especially "Material Ode", "Bruise Ghazal" and "Poem of Thanks". I don't think I have read many of Olds poems before and I hope to read more.
Recommended to all poetry readers and to those who want to know more about how life affects others through Old's amazing images.
Olds has always used her life and those in it as part of her poetry. Charles Bainbridge in The Guardian in 2006 said, "She has always confronted the personal details of her life with remarkable directness and honesty...". So the fact that Olds writes about what happens when her husband leaves her is not a surprise.
If I were Olds' ex-husband, the publication of Stag's Leap would have made me uncomfortable. Olds did not put the collection of poems together until 15 years after the fact, but I am not sure that would have helped me. On top of that, how does it feel to have your ex win major awards for her view of the end of your marriage?
These poems are beautiful. They seem honest and are about love as much (or more) than about anger and hurt. I have not been in Olds' place, but she seems to have defined this period of her life well. Olds is able to show the reader a part of life that all should know about. I read several of these poems over and over, especially "Material Ode", "Bruise Ghazal" and "Poem of Thanks". I don't think I have read many of Olds poems before and I hope to read more.
Recommended to all poetry readers and to those who want to know more about how life affects others through Old's amazing images.
Always been a fan of Olds' work and this collection doesn't disappoint.
sobbed through most of this book. obviously a poetry collection can be moving without being Good—but this is both. maybe i’m just a sucker for a divorce narrative.
emotional
sad
slow-paced