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book_chat_girl 's review for:
Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems
by Billy Collins
What a wonderful way to begin my Thanksgiving Day celebration: savoring the last poems in Collins' new collection, Aimless Love. I have been reading his work for over a decade, have heard him read on NPR, and reveled in his appearances at the Dodge Festival and other live appearances. Over the past year I had forgotten how important poetry is in my life and this collection is a sharply-pointed reminder. I am grateful to Random House and LibraryThing for inviting me to review the Advanced Reader Copy of this volume in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed the journey through the last 10+ years of Collins' work and the strength of the story that they wove together for me. Keen reminders that "it pays to lift the eyes" (Rome in June) and to have a sense of humor, as in "why, that dude's older than Cheerios," (Cheerios). How much life is enriched by observing the birds and listening to Schubert or jazz or trying to hear the music of the spheres or naming those who have left us. How close attention to language enriches the experience of a poem that looks so simple on the surface.
I will not say that I loved all of the poems in this book. I would not expect to, knowing that Collins is connecting with different ideas and possibly different readers with each foray of the pen to which he often refers. But I did love the journey of time and space and culture enclosed within these covers. The inclusion of selected poems added to the story of new work created an arc that brings new layers of meaning to the individual poems included.
I enjoyed the journey through the last 10+ years of Collins' work and the strength of the story that they wove together for me. Keen reminders that "it pays to lift the eyes" (Rome in June) and to have a sense of humor, as in "why, that dude's older than Cheerios," (Cheerios). How much life is enriched by observing the birds and listening to Schubert or jazz or trying to hear the music of the spheres or naming those who have left us. How close attention to language enriches the experience of a poem that looks so simple on the surface.
I will not say that I loved all of the poems in this book. I would not expect to, knowing that Collins is connecting with different ideas and possibly different readers with each foray of the pen to which he often refers. But I did love the journey of time and space and culture enclosed within these covers. The inclusion of selected poems added to the story of new work created an arc that brings new layers of meaning to the individual poems included.