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A review by bickleyhouse
The Road Not Taken: A Selection of Robert Frost's Poems by Robert Frost
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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
4.0
This isn't an easy book to review. Part of the problem (and, honestly, part of why it's only four stars) is that it is not just poems. I would have enjoyed it more had it been just a book of Frost's poems. But there is an introduction and running commentary by Louis Untermeyer. The introduction was informative, but the way the book is formatted, we have 35 pages of lower-case Roman numerals before we get to page 1. That's a lot. And, when I'm trying to track the number of total pages I've read, this forces me to do math. I never like having to do math.
There is no arguing the greatness of Robert Frost's poetry. I find, as I read this book, that I'm not as familiar with him as I thought. I know two or three of his poems well. The rest, I may have heard snippets of, here and there, along the way, but am largely unfamiliar with them. All of them are beautiful and so well-written. Robert Frost was truly a national treasure.
I find that the commentary kind of got in the way, though. Of course, anytime someone does commentary on something like poetry, the reader is at the mercy of that person's interpretations. And anyone who has ever sat through an English class in school, one which focused a lot on literature, knows how maddening individual interpretations of literature can get. Turns out, none of those books were really about what our English teachers wanted them to be about. In a large number of cases, they were just stories that didn't mean anything other than what was written.
But I digress. I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry of Robert Frost. I will say this, though. A book like this should probably not be read from cover to cover, all at once. A book like this is best savored in smaller bites. Unfortunately, this copy is a library book, so I have to take it back to the library. Someday, I may get some volumes of Frost's poetry to live on my shelves, so that I can pull one down, enjoy a few poems, and put it back until later.
I made note of my favorites as I read. Some of the ones I especially enjoyed were The Witch of Coos, Ghost House, The Vindictives, Wild Grapes, The Fear, Snow, The Housekeeper, The Hill Wife, A Line-Storm Song, Birches, Mending Wall, Brown's Descent, West-Running Brook, A Patch of Old Snow, A Time to Talk, Bereft, The Census-Taker, In A Disused Graveyard, A Serious Step Lightly Taken, Stopping By Woods on a Snow Evening, Departmental, Canis Major, The Hardship of Accounting, A Cloud Shadow, My November Guest, Wind and Window Flower, October, Song of the Wave, On A Tree Fallen Across the Road, A Passing Glimpse, Fire and Ice, A Prayer in Spring, Come In, and, of course, The Road Not Taken.
Some quotes that I found meaningful: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." "It's knowing what to do with things that counts." "We love the things we love for what they are." "Heaven gives its glimpses to those Not in position to look too close."
I especially liked that last one.
I'll probably be looking for some books of Frost's poetry. Without commentary, if at all possible.
There is no arguing the greatness of Robert Frost's poetry. I find, as I read this book, that I'm not as familiar with him as I thought. I know two or three of his poems well. The rest, I may have heard snippets of, here and there, along the way, but am largely unfamiliar with them. All of them are beautiful and so well-written. Robert Frost was truly a national treasure.
I find that the commentary kind of got in the way, though. Of course, anytime someone does commentary on something like poetry, the reader is at the mercy of that person's interpretations. And anyone who has ever sat through an English class in school, one which focused a lot on literature, knows how maddening individual interpretations of literature can get. Turns out, none of those books were really about what our English teachers wanted them to be about. In a large number of cases, they were just stories that didn't mean anything other than what was written.
But I digress. I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry of Robert Frost. I will say this, though. A book like this should probably not be read from cover to cover, all at once. A book like this is best savored in smaller bites. Unfortunately, this copy is a library book, so I have to take it back to the library. Someday, I may get some volumes of Frost's poetry to live on my shelves, so that I can pull one down, enjoy a few poems, and put it back until later.
I made note of my favorites as I read. Some of the ones I especially enjoyed were The Witch of Coos, Ghost House, The Vindictives, Wild Grapes, The Fear, Snow, The Housekeeper, The Hill Wife, A Line-Storm Song, Birches, Mending Wall, Brown's Descent, West-Running Brook, A Patch of Old Snow, A Time to Talk, Bereft, The Census-Taker, In A Disused Graveyard, A Serious Step Lightly Taken, Stopping By Woods on a Snow Evening, Departmental, Canis Major, The Hardship of Accounting, A Cloud Shadow, My November Guest, Wind and Window Flower, October, Song of the Wave, On A Tree Fallen Across the Road, A Passing Glimpse, Fire and Ice, A Prayer in Spring, Come In, and, of course, The Road Not Taken.
Some quotes that I found meaningful: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." "It's knowing what to do with things that counts." "We love the things we love for what they are." "Heaven gives its glimpses to those Not in position to look too close."
I especially liked that last one.
I'll probably be looking for some books of Frost's poetry. Without commentary, if at all possible.