fayepullman 's review for:

The Coral Sea by Patti Smith

5.0

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the coral sea is an elegy. but it’s also an ode, an unsent love letter almost, to patti smith’s long time friend and once lover, robert mapplethorpe. this book broke me, stitched me back up, only to break me again. i was completely enamoured by the story of their lifetime together in just kids. from the moment they met, to their time together, to mapplethorpe’s death, smith recollect those precious moments into a somewhat fictionalised elegy that is woven with intense grief and yet there is something absolutely beautiful in between that existing darkness. they’re forever platonic soulmates and truly, to have such people in your life is truly a gift that is a once in a lifetime thing. you’ll never encounter someone quite like them once they’re gone and the grief that’ll settle in is unlike any other. i can only imagine the state that patti was in, to be there for robert until his last breath. their bond is unbreakable from the beginning to the end and that is what i simply adore of them. patti smith never fails to mix the art of literature with life and as always, i’d read anything this woman write in a heartbeat.