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A review by stephe
Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Mary Oliver’s poetry has a way of just about always bringing me into the present, and this collection of essays is much the same. Even though I don’t think I’ll ever inhabit the outside world with the same fervor or expansiveness, she’s able to bring me along in such a vivid, mindful way that it often feels like I’ve spent my hours wandering the woods or sitting with birds. And her sensitivity to the inner lives of animals as beings in their own right is wondrous.
There are a few essays here about classic poets and writers (Thoreau, Poe, Wordsworth), but—and I say this as someone who’s spent a few years studying these folks and others—these were the essays that didn’t land as much for me. The one exception would be her essay on Whitman, but on the whole, the ones where the animals are the subjects are my favorites.
There are a few essays here about classic poets and writers (Thoreau, Poe, Wordsworth), but—and I say this as someone who’s spent a few years studying these folks and others—these were the essays that didn’t land as much for me. The one exception would be her essay on Whitman, but on the whole, the ones where the animals are the subjects are my favorites.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death