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A review by kierscrivener
Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth: New Poems by Alice Walker
2.0
"I could not have written these poems in a bright sunny room where there were no shadows"
I feel so mixed on reviewing this as the preface blew me away, I had pages of notes on her words, and then the collection began and I was sure it was just beginning with a few that were duds for me. As poetry is highly subjective, there is never really a collection without a few misfires for every reader. Then in the midst of it, I would find a few lines or rewrite them without spaces and like them, but the style with no more then three words per line was distracting and halted rhythm (for me).
I was over a third of the way through when my roommate arrived home and I passed the collection to her and she reported the same struggle. When she was reading aloud I was able to better to hear the words, not distracted by the form. But she too found it difficult to focus, skipping lines and for me at least it was a little headachy.
I was once pretty unread when it came to poetry, but I like to think I am moderately read now especially more modern poetry with plenty of line breaks and short lines. And there were oftentimes profound lines, but every time the style cut it.
This could be a me issue, because rating something that was a nightmare in execution but profound in meaning is difficult. But I cannot discount style, especially in poetry, where form is an essential part of the makeup. Not only of enjoyment but in effectiveness.
If the preface is any indication of her writing I eagerly look forward to reading her novels, but after searching up her wider poetry, it might not be for me.
I feel so mixed on reviewing this as the preface blew me away, I had pages of notes on her words, and then the collection began and I was sure it was just beginning with a few that were duds for me. As poetry is highly subjective, there is never really a collection without a few misfires for every reader. Then in the midst of it, I would find a few lines or rewrite them without spaces and like them, but the style with no more then three words per line was distracting and halted rhythm (for me).
I was over a third of the way through when my roommate arrived home and I passed the collection to her and she reported the same struggle. When she was reading aloud I was able to better to hear the words, not distracted by the form. But she too found it difficult to focus, skipping lines and for me at least it was a little headachy.
I was once pretty unread when it came to poetry, but I like to think I am moderately read now especially more modern poetry with plenty of line breaks and short lines. And there were oftentimes profound lines, but every time the style cut it.
This could be a me issue, because rating something that was a nightmare in execution but profound in meaning is difficult. But I cannot discount style, especially in poetry, where form is an essential part of the makeup. Not only of enjoyment but in effectiveness.
If the preface is any indication of her writing I eagerly look forward to reading her novels, but after searching up her wider poetry, it might not be for me.