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casparb's review against another edition
shaz's first ! way back over forty year & it got me thinking about how these come around. Was published when she was thirty seven , relatively late as they go & mostly it seems because she had the hugest battles with the most intensely misogynist establishment, no surprise unready for sharon olds poems. a well that's all over huh
amazing to see how much is immediately here at that super recognisable formal level. it gets more intense / obvious (no pejorative) later, but ! still clear. The final poem, Prayer, almost feels like Sharon Olds discovering how to write like sharon olds, all viscera. many others to enjoy - Five Year Old Boy, Infinite Bliss - tho it feels like she's yet to quite capture the organisation of content. probably make sense! first book, too many stories to tell . zhizn!
amazing to see how much is immediately here at that super recognisable formal level. it gets more intense / obvious (no pejorative) later, but ! still clear. The final poem, Prayer, almost feels like Sharon Olds discovering how to write like sharon olds, all viscera. many others to enjoy - Five Year Old Boy, Infinite Bliss - tho it feels like she's yet to quite capture the organisation of content. probably make sense! first book, too many stories to tell . zhizn!
paul_viaf's review against another edition
4.0
A piece with varying tones but one main theme, the female form. The complex arrangements of femininity. From the outset the language is most clever though the mindscape from which it echoes is a wasteland. It lay in ruins, almost barren, except for the atrocities germinating, littering the terrifying place. I do not know the authors background though she writes as if traumatized. A dysfunction between her & her parents often resurfaces throughout. It seems passed on as though through the pangs of breast milk. Though at times quite solemn, it is a wonderful premier. It packs great depth. The poet pulls no punches. Some poems are blood stained & some are as subtle as the residue of warfare smoke. It houses a diabolical sensuality which is not for the faint at heart. It is an unblinking nudity which dares the voyeur to a game of chicken, & she is an uncompromising opponent. At first glance who does not appreciate a good nude, but can you bare to see every grotesque imperfection once put under a microscope. For what she describes lends the piece to a fearlessness impacted by a coarse life which has stolen away any fiber of apprehensiveness. She describes in great detail the sensual intricacies of being a woman. Immersed in her organs, I am baptized in menstrual blood. It is very raw & intimate interaction. It is an invitation to witness the exorcism of demons under a Bacchic spell. A chronicling of the various stages of womanhood through the eyes of a wounded being which greets with the combination of self-inflicted wounds, & perhaps, damning injuries only by which the proximity & intimacy of family can incur. She disrobes bearing the unflinching nudity, she then sheds this flesh, revealing her organs including the reproductive ones. She extrapolates those as if to give wings to a burden which is both blessing & curse. She strips herself of the totality of this anatomy to reveal a quivering soul with the multidimensional diadem of a psyche with all the complexity & cloudiness of such an adornment. As she rids herself of these layers she douses the reader in her flesh, in her organs, in her burdens, curses, confessions, hysterical cackles & melancholy notes. It is sewn to me & I view this world as both a victim & a victor. It is a wash to whom the spoils reside with. It is a wonderful intimacy shared. It is a costume for which I am blessed to have dawned. It is a view I will always feel blessed to cherish.
spacecadebt's review against another edition
4.0
This is a bloodthirsty and grotesquely honest poetry book about life as a child, a woman, and a mother. Full of rage, locked-in, locked out, all of it. And it's Olds' FIRST book!
Read this book if you like the Kristin Chang quote, "Godhood is just like girlhood: a begging to be believed."
And ESPECIALLY read this book if you like the Bobbie Burstow quote, "Often father and daughter look down on mother (woman) together. They will exchange meaningful glances when she misses a point. They agree that she is not as bright as they are, cannot reason as they do. This collusion does not save the daughter from the mother's fate."
Read this book if you like the Kristin Chang quote, "Godhood is just like girlhood: a begging to be believed."
And ESPECIALLY read this book if you like the Bobbie Burstow quote, "Often father and daughter look down on mother (woman) together. They will exchange meaningful glances when she misses a point. They agree that she is not as bright as they are, cannot reason as they do. This collusion does not save the daughter from the mother's fate."
ekg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
realistamagica's review against another edition
4.0
It is hard to find a first book like this one. Sharon Olds is not for everyone because some people are uncomfortable with themes related to sex, but the softness, beauty and tenderness that Olds shows is incredible. Sharon speaks to us as a daughter, as a mother and above all as a woman, and she does not forget her relationship with the son/man /father.
¡Bravo!
¡Bravo!
lucytaylor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
1.0
There were only two good poems in this book…Satan Says and Late…the rest were basically the same sorta thing.