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A review by aneumann
Guillotine: Poems by Eduardo C. Corral
2.0
This one is really challenging for me to rate. I really didn’t like most of the first part of the collection because it’s a style of poetry I despise—flowery purple prose that just rambles in metaphors and stream of consciousness. Essentially words that don’t say anything or whose meaning is entirely indecipherable.
I really like some of the poems, especially those that incorporated a bit of Spanish. Poems where the author is discussing his own body or image were clear and frank and I enjoyed them.
Overall though, I think this collection suffers from a problem I see often in male poets—an inability to say what they mean. There’s an attempt to paint an elaborate picture or scene and poets get so caught up in doing that, what they write feels like looking at an emotion through some opaque glass.
Basically, I enjoy poetry where the author shares what they’re feeling and doesn’t just dump horror and sadness on a reader and expect them to parse it all without the filter of the author’s emotions. That’s why this didn’t work for me.
I really like some of the poems, especially those that incorporated a bit of Spanish. Poems where the author is discussing his own body or image were clear and frank and I enjoyed them.
Overall though, I think this collection suffers from a problem I see often in male poets—an inability to say what they mean. There’s an attempt to paint an elaborate picture or scene and poets get so caught up in doing that, what they write feels like looking at an emotion through some opaque glass.
Basically, I enjoy poetry where the author shares what they’re feeling and doesn’t just dump horror and sadness on a reader and expect them to parse it all without the filter of the author’s emotions. That’s why this didn’t work for me.