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strewnsunlight's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death
library_of_al's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
I found so many parts of my self in this book and I enjoyed most of it. I felt more connected to nature and the thoughts and traits of myself that I’ve tried to suppress. I read this book at the “right” time in my life and I hope I can revisit it and annotate the copy I have seeing how I’ve changed in a year or so the next time I plan to read it. So if you feel stuck or lost this book might help or comfort.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
ericispublius's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
A beautiful collection of works that is grounding and makes you cherish a sunrise; best read outdoors on a rock and under a tree.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide
prynne31's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
So interesting to see such a great representation of an author's ouvre. A bit exhausting too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Animal death
Minor: Suicide
voidboi's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Maybe not the best way to start reading Mary Oliver- this is a large book, with a very tight focus on nature and spiritual subjects. I think it was a great collection, and I appreciated the way it spanned her career of writing, but I think a single volume instead of selections from all of her volumes would have held my attention more. The choice to go backwards chronologically was interesting, but I found that I preferred her later work, and I think it should have been reversed.
That said, Mary Oliver was an amazing poet. I loved viewing the world through her attentive eye, being touched and surprised by the connections she weaves, and feeling her deep love for nature and humanity.
That said, Mary Oliver was an amazing poet. I loved viewing the world through her attentive eye, being touched and surprised by the connections she weaves, and feeling her deep love for nature and humanity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death
laurenleigh's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
Finally finished all the poems in this anthology! Oliver herself chose which poems to feature from her decades-long career, and I found it interesting that she decided to move backwards—starting with her more recent work. I put sticky note flags on the poems that struck me, which will be fun to revisit at some point. I realized a poem’s skill or beauty was only a partial factor in when I marked it. So much of it is whether it found me at the right moment. There are certainly times where the poems felt boring or repetitive. When I’m not in the right headspace, I’m like “Okay Mary, we get it, nature is cool.” But when I am in a place ready to receive, I found a lot of joy in the non-dualistic nature of Oliver’s work. One of the biggest messages I kept encountering is that we are not separate from nature, though our egos and modern culture like to think otherwise. I am no different from or better than a bird, a pond, a blade of grass. The poems that spoke to this most were the ones most often noted down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Animal death
dizzyindecision's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death
maria_s's review
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Animal cruelty and Death
for_esme_with_love's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Mary Oliver reminds me that this mysterious, tragic, joyful life is worth living. "Benjamin, Who Came From Who Knows Where" might be my all-time favorite poem.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Death
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