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nichecase's review against another edition
1.0
i seem to be in the minority that i wasn't an incredible fan of this. some of the poems were absolutely gorgeous ('ugly' is a particular stand-out), but a lot of it felt padded. it's not a particular insult--of course there is padding in the chapbook of a young poet, but it brought down the quality of the book for me.
what stood out, though, stood out. shire polishes her poetry, as if it were a pearl that needs to be refined, and creates experiences of herself to a reader who, most likely, has never met her (a poem--or at least, the poetry currently in vogue, the confessional, rather than the narrative--is, more than any other literature, a glimpse into the author).
shire's verse is surprisingly sparse: it neither experiments nor uses the lush description that has been explored since imagery. in some ways, this is a relief, but in other ways, it highlights the conservatism of the chapbook--it bores, much of the time. it is almost a chore to get through, to get to what is good. it is almost worth it, but it is the almost that holds it back.
regardless, i'll almost certainly buy her full-length collection: shire is obviously a talent, and it is just as much my fault as hers (if not more) that i failed to construct meaning in "teaching my mother..." where so many others did.
what stood out, though, stood out. shire polishes her poetry, as if it were a pearl that needs to be refined, and creates experiences of herself to a reader who, most likely, has never met her (a poem--or at least, the poetry currently in vogue, the confessional, rather than the narrative--is, more than any other literature, a glimpse into the author).
shire's verse is surprisingly sparse: it neither experiments nor uses the lush description that has been explored since imagery. in some ways, this is a relief, but in other ways, it highlights the conservatism of the chapbook--it bores, much of the time. it is almost a chore to get through, to get to what is good. it is almost worth it, but it is the almost that holds it back.
regardless, i'll almost certainly buy her full-length collection: shire is obviously a talent, and it is just as much my fault as hers (if not more) that i failed to construct meaning in "teaching my mother..." where so many others did.
dinasamimi's review against another edition
4.0
Intimate. I gravitate towards sparse, powerful language in verse. Shire lends voice to painful truths -- she's sitting beside you whispering things, and there's almost a violence to her words.
soforlorn's review against another edition
4.0
“ To my daughter I will say,
‘when the men come, set yourself on fire’. ”
im sick to my stomach
‘when the men come, set yourself on fire’. ”
im sick to my stomach
readingpisces's review against another edition
4.0
Let me start of by saying that my relationship with poetry is kind of complicated, I love it when it isn’t too much relying on portraying of emotions but rather guiding the reader through a reading journey that inflicts emotions. That is exactly what it does. It’s a powerful collection of poetry on life in a war driven country and feminism. In my opinion everyone should read this. I loved it and I’m not saying this lightly as it is the first collection that inflicted auch emotions in me.
lbarsk's review against another edition
3.0
Despite my rating, I would actually strongly recommend this work -- Shire's poems are beautiful and so, so powerful. The issue is more the fact that I definitely wasn't in the right headspace or time of my life to read them. I'll have to revisit these poems in the future and find more of Shire's work.
The one poem that's really stuck with me in the 24 hours since reading this is the one whose title was had to do with a deportation facility / immigration office and which had five stanzas. That was like a sucker punch. I think the other ones are like that, too, but I just couldn't emotionally connect with them because of where I'm at right now.
The one poem that's really stuck with me in the 24 hours since reading this is the one whose title was had to do with a deportation facility / immigration office and which had five stanzas. That was like a sucker punch. I think the other ones are like that, too, but I just couldn't emotionally connect with them because of where I'm at right now.
imissyou's review against another edition
5.0
"Visit him on a Tuesday and he will describethe body of every woman he could not save.He’ll say she looked like your motherand you will feel a storm in your stomach."
OMFGGGGG
OMFGGGGG