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195 reviews for:
Sylvia Plath Poems Selected by Ted Hughes. 80th Anniversary Edition.
Sylvia Plath, Sylvia Plath
3.95 AVERAGE
195 reviews for:
Sylvia Plath Poems Selected by Ted Hughes. 80th Anniversary Edition.
Sylvia Plath, Sylvia Plath
3.95 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I love her poems so much, my favourite is Mirror. I’m definitely going to have to get a copy of her complete poems and I can’t wait to pick up the bell jar.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I found this book full of beautiful and enchanting writing. I can understand how this author is highly regarded. Also, I found her writing quite magical and important in some aspects. In some occasions quite sad - felt like she was telling her story in many poems, which that might be true. There were passages that captured my attention, either by their writing itself or a relation to me. It is clear that this author viewed the life a little differently to myself, but that doesn’t negate her experiences. My favourite poem was Mirror because I found it true and quite pungent, especially on the way that it showed.
"Is this love then, this red material
Issuing from the steel needle that flies so blindingly?
It will make little dresses and coats,
It will cover a dynasty."
(from An Appearance)
Issuing from the steel needle that flies so blindingly?
It will make little dresses and coats,
It will cover a dynasty."
(from An Appearance)
#100
I'm not reviewing so much this poetry collection as Plath's poetry as a whole - this is merely the collections that I own. I really, really loved The Bell Jar and was excited to read more of Plath's work. Some of the poems in this collections are absolute masterpieces; I thought 'Suicide off Egg Rock', 'Tulips', 'Insomiac', 'Daddy', and 'Cut' were truly magnificent poems. However, I had to wade through a lot of poems that I did not understand on any level to get to them. Take, 'Maudlin', as an example. The first stanza reads:
I assumed I just didn't understand it or was missing some context, and was shocked to find that the one article that looked at it began, "Because of its apparent difficulty, this poem has received little critical attention or attempted explication." To me, that suggests that nobody knows what the hell this poem is on about! Honestly, the weirdness of some of these poems coupled with the lack of rhyme scheme can give them the feeling that they were generated with a poem-writing AI. The thing is, despite all of the weirdo poems in here, I'm still excited to own this collection and would recommend Plath as a brilliant poet. There's a lot of poems in a collection, so as long as some of them are ground-breaking and send a little shiver down my spine, I'm happy. I mean, the first two lines of 'Cut' alone are enough to convince me that she's a genius:
When I read 'Daddy', I thought it was so brilliant I immediately made my friend read it - it's like it was so good I wanted her to experience it too, just to check it was real. That last line, "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through." is just the absolute perfect ending to a complex, dark, clever poem. I have to admit, I'm sometimes uncomfortable with her comparison of her suffering to the holocaust, and certainly there are poems that would never get published today. But I can hold that part of me separate for a moment while I read 'Mad Girl's Love Song' or 'Lady Lazarus' (neither of which, tragically, is in this collection). Truly, I think 'Lady Lazarus' is her best, and the dark comedy and dark imagery make the rebirth of the final two stanzas all the more powerful.
For poetry that is beautiful, complex, dark and funny, please - I entreat you - read Plath.
I'm not reviewing so much this poetry collection as Plath's poetry as a whole - this is merely the collections that I own. I really, really loved The Bell Jar and was excited to read more of Plath's work. Some of the poems in this collections are absolute masterpieces; I thought 'Suicide off Egg Rock', 'Tulips', 'Insomiac', 'Daddy', and 'Cut' were truly magnificent poems. However, I had to wade through a lot of poems that I did not understand on any level to get to them. Take, 'Maudlin', as an example. The first stanza reads:
Mud-mattressed under the sign of the hag
In a clench of blood, the sleep-talking virgin
Gibbets with her curse the moon's man,
Faggot-bearing Jack in his crackless egg
I assumed I just didn't understand it or was missing some context, and was shocked to find that the one article that looked at it began, "Because of its apparent difficulty, this poem has received little critical attention or attempted explication." To me, that suggests that nobody knows what the hell this poem is on about! Honestly, the weirdness of some of these poems coupled with the lack of rhyme scheme can give them the feeling that they were generated with a poem-writing AI. The thing is, despite all of the weirdo poems in here, I'm still excited to own this collection and would recommend Plath as a brilliant poet. There's a lot of poems in a collection, so as long as some of them are ground-breaking and send a little shiver down my spine, I'm happy. I mean, the first two lines of 'Cut' alone are enough to convince me that she's a genius:
What a thrill -
My thumb instead of an onion.
When I read 'Daddy', I thought it was so brilliant I immediately made my friend read it - it's like it was so good I wanted her to experience it too, just to check it was real. That last line, "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through." is just the absolute perfect ending to a complex, dark, clever poem. I have to admit, I'm sometimes uncomfortable with her comparison of her suffering to the holocaust, and certainly there are poems that would never get published today. But I can hold that part of me separate for a moment while I read 'Mad Girl's Love Song' or 'Lady Lazarus' (neither of which, tragically, is in this collection). Truly, I think 'Lady Lazarus' is her best, and the dark comedy and dark imagery make the rebirth of the final two stanzas all the more powerful.
Herr God, Herr Lucifer
Beware
Beware.
Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.
For poetry that is beautiful, complex, dark and funny, please - I entreat you - read Plath.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
La poesía de Sylvia Plath siempre me resulta avasalladora, tiene una pluma turbulenta, poderosa y profundamente sentida. Su obra entera está atravesada por un tema común, o bien una dolencia perpetua y aún así cada poema consigue ser sorprendentemente único y aunque pueda ser repetitiva la angustia, nunca lo es su forma de expresarla.
Me conmueve, me moviliza, me hace sentir comprendida como si hubiese conseguido capturar una desolación que siempre tuve arraigada en mí pero que nunca conseguí articular y que nunca vi tan claramente reflejada como cuando la leí. Por esto me será, por siempre, admirada y querida.
Mis poemas favoritos de esta colección: a birthday gift y daddy.
Me conmueve, me moviliza, me hace sentir comprendida como si hubiese conseguido capturar una desolación que siempre tuve arraigada en mí pero que nunca conseguí articular y que nunca vi tan claramente reflejada como cuando la leí. Por esto me será, por siempre, admirada y querida.
Mis poemas favoritos de esta colección: a birthday gift y daddy.
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A