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fouroffivewits's review against another edition
2.0
For every 25 poems I read, only one would really stir me. My 2 stars aren't a reflection of his poetry but my ability to enjoy. For the most part his kind of poetry is not the kind I wish to read.
sloatsj's review against another edition
5.0
Accept no substitutes.
One of the few poetry books we had in my house when I was growing up, and one of my most dear.
One of the few poetry books we had in my house when I was growing up, and one of my most dear.
readingoverbreathing's review
4.0
"if you like my poems let them
walk in the evening,a litle behind you"
I've always been fond of E.E. Cummings I think if for nothing else his use of lowercase letters in a way that the old Tumblr/Instagram poetry aesthetic has only ever aspired to. I admire his creativity, his willingness to produce poems that at the end of the day have probably only ever made sense to him and him alone. All of that is certainly a style of poetry I could get behind.
Here, as I'm sure other readers and even scholars can understand, most of what I read went over my head. A lot of these seemed only possible to comprehend when read aloud, and most of the time I did not bother to do that. I'm sure within the proper academic context and the time to take apart each poem I could have gotten much more out of my reading experience here. But that's true of any poetry collection, or any work of written word, really, if you think about it.
I'd like to know a lot more about the context Cummings wrote within, apart from the obvious political stuff like the First World War and the rise of European communism. I'd like to know how truly unique his work is, whom his influences were, et cetera. I wish I'd had a better understanding of his career before I'd embarked upon this book; usually I like to first come to an author's work fresh, without having any conception of their life apart from it, but I think with poetry I made have to start making an exception. It's a tricky balance analyzing both a singular person's reality as well as their written recapitulations of it, but one, as academia has surely proved, truly worthwhile and, in my opinion, profoundly interesting.
jjena13's review against another edition
5.0
This will always hold a treasured spot on my bookshelf.
shannen_m's review
4.0
I got this massive brick of a collection purely off the strength of "I carry your heart with me" which is one of my favourite poems - ever, out of anything, and I'm tempted to rate at 5 stars based off the strength of it too. It's just so outstandingly beautiful to me.
But overall; the very experimental page space/punctuation poems were a hit or a miss for me, in that very "poetry is subjective [shrug]" sort of way, and it was funny over the 1000 or so pages to see the patterns in his favoured words (my dude loves "illimitable" and "april" among others). But colour is so present, and there are so many sweet collections of words that, even if they don't make a literal sense, are grouped so evocatively. It took a minute to get used to, but there's something very magical about letting a lot of his work wash over you in images. They feel unfinished in the most positive sense - they're ongoing. They're not *created*, they're *creative*. So many imaginative jumping off points. I'll definitely be revisiting all my scattered highlights.
But overall; the very experimental page space/punctuation poems were a hit or a miss for me, in that very "poetry is subjective [shrug]" sort of way, and it was funny over the 1000 or so pages to see the patterns in his favoured words (my dude loves "illimitable" and "april" among others). But colour is so present, and there are so many sweet collections of words that, even if they don't make a literal sense, are grouped so evocatively. It took a minute to get used to, but there's something very magical about letting a lot of his work wash over you in images. They feel unfinished in the most positive sense - they're ongoing. They're not *created*, they're *creative*. So many imaginative jumping off points. I'll definitely be revisiting all my scattered highlights.
library_bookwyrm's review against another edition
5.0
e.e. cummings is my all-time favorite poet, and I read this book pretty often. I chose to reread it in April for National Poetry Month.
inthecommonhours's review against another edition
5.0
I remember casually mentioning to my husband that I'd like a book of ee cummings' poems. I imagined a thin, somewhat romantic volume. Instead I received this tome. But I'm grateful. Cummings is even better than I thought---I think his play with visuals only detracts from his power with language.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
i carry this book in my heart(i carry it in my heart)