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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver
14 reviews
strewnsunlight's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death
lovelymisanthrope's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
4.0
I picked this up after hearing great things about Mary Oliver's poetry.
"Devotions" is a diverse collection of Mary Oliver's work throughout the duration of her career. The book is divided into chapters, and each chapter is a collection of work from a specific poetry collection from Mary Oliver. The chapters are not necessarily sequential in regard to publication order, but they are assembled to flow together seamlessly if you read the "Devotions" collection front to back.
This collection took me a LONG time to read. I originally started this collection in September, and I did not finish it until December. This is uncommon for me, especially with poetry. This collection reads better when you read a few poems a day rather than trying to devour all of the poems at once. Every time I attempted to read a large amount of the poems in one sitting, I kept becoming distracted. I also think this collection would have been better read in the spring when I could better appreciate nature where I live.
Mary Oliver's writing reminded me greatly of the romantic era of poetry. She writes about loving the natural world around her and appreciating the beauty in nature. I really enjoyed this, and it was a beautiful reminder to appreciate the world around me.
I really enjoyed how this collection is organized, and I really loved that my first taste of Mary Oliver was a collection with a little bit of everything. I felt like I got a great overview of her work, and I have a better idea of what poetry collections I might gravitate towards in the future.
I overall enjoyed this poetry collection, and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to read about the world around them.
"Devotions" is a diverse collection of Mary Oliver's work throughout the duration of her career. The book is divided into chapters, and each chapter is a collection of work from a specific poetry collection from Mary Oliver. The chapters are not necessarily sequential in regard to publication order, but they are assembled to flow together seamlessly if you read the "Devotions" collection front to back.
This collection took me a LONG time to read. I originally started this collection in September, and I did not finish it until December. This is uncommon for me, especially with poetry. This collection reads better when you read a few poems a day rather than trying to devour all of the poems at once. Every time I attempted to read a large amount of the poems in one sitting, I kept becoming distracted. I also think this collection would have been better read in the spring when I could better appreciate nature where I live.
Mary Oliver's writing reminded me greatly of the romantic era of poetry. She writes about loving the natural world around her and appreciating the beauty in nature. I really enjoyed this, and it was a beautiful reminder to appreciate the world around me.
I really enjoyed how this collection is organized, and I really loved that my first taste of Mary Oliver was a collection with a little bit of everything. I felt like I got a great overview of her work, and I have a better idea of what poetry collections I might gravitate towards in the future.
I overall enjoyed this poetry collection, and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to read about the world around them.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
seventhswan's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
In a 400-page book of poetry it would be impossible for every poem to resonate perfectly with me but this was a very strong collection, rooted in the natural world and specifically through a religious lens in many places. Also, swans. Also, lesbianism.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal 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
_meganno's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
thecozyrogue's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
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
kuromium's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
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
calaveritas's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death