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dinasamimi's review
3.0
Vuong's style is not my favorite here (I haven’t yet read his first collection) but parts of this really shattered me. The standouts were those that were solely focused on his mother and those that had more of a narrative arc to them. Really lovely mastery of language and deeply personal. Some of this definitely went over my head and did not connect.
nicomarlyse's review
3.0
………it makes me very sad to say that I thought these were just OK. I think Vuong is a very talented poet but idk I guess I didn’t really emotionally connect ☹️
michellechien930's review
4.0
I really loved Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" and saw the hardcover physical copy of "Time is a Mother" at a bookstore and caved. It's such a pretty book! I'm not an expert on poetry but I do love the flow and prose of Vuong's writing, very nuanced and poignant language weaved together expertly. Marked down some of my favorite verses:
“Because everyone knows yellow pain, pressed into American letters, turns into gold. Our sorrow Midas touched. Napalm with a rainbow afterglow. Unlike feelings, blood gets realer when you feel it. I'm trying to be real but it costs too much.”
“They say the earth spins and that’s why we fall but everyone knows it’s the music.”
“I’ve
plagiarized my life
to give you the best
of me”
“Because everyone knows yellow pain, pressed into American letters, turns into gold. Our sorrow Midas touched. Napalm with a rainbow afterglow. Unlike feelings, blood gets realer when you feel it. I'm trying to be real but it costs too much.”
“They say the earth spins and that’s why we fall but everyone knows it’s the music.”
“I’ve
plagiarized my life
to give you the best
of me”
markcastaneda's review
5.0
jesus i've never been able to handle poetry in anything other than bite sized chunks (2-3 at a time) but i read this entire collection in one sitting
stellar
stellar