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lukenotjohn 's review for:
Calling a Wolf a Wolf
by Kaveh Akbar
This is essentially a collection of poems centered around addiction and spirituality. With the former deeply embedded into my upbringing and the latter deeply embedded into my present, this had the makings to be a total hit for me, and in fact I honestly it expected that going in. Unfortunately I just failed to connect with a lot of it. Throughout the reading, I had this sense that the meaning was hovering ever so slightly above me, just barely beyond my grasp. This is preferred to other collections that were so obtuse I felt like I was reading a language I didn't know (cough [b:Testify|9763619|Testify|Joseph Lease|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328752975s/9763619.jpg|14653044] cough) so thankfully I was still able to enjoy reading through it, but always with the sense that I was just seeing the shadows rather than the actual things he was speaking to.
Akbar's style is surreal, offering nightmarish dreamscapes where, just as in dreams, absurdity and even gruesomeness is presented with a nonchalant straightforwardness. The poems are steeped with an compelling combination of vulnerability and pride, and the moments where he breaks through and readers can see him through the shadow and the fog are really stunning. It's just that those moments were way, way too far and few between for my liking. And also, at times, I felt a bit duped: a fine line seemed incredible only because it was an island I could actually understand surrounded by ongoing sea of obscurity.
My favorites were "Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient)," "Rimrock," "Unburnable The Cold is Flooding Our Lives," "Neither Now Nor Never," "An Apology," and "God" and most of the "Portrait of the Alcoholic _____" were resonant as well.
Akbar's style is surreal, offering nightmarish dreamscapes where, just as in dreams, absurdity and even gruesomeness is presented with a nonchalant straightforwardness. The poems are steeped with an compelling combination of vulnerability and pride, and the moments where he breaks through and readers can see him through the shadow and the fog are really stunning. It's just that those moments were way, way too far and few between for my liking. And also, at times, I felt a bit duped: a fine line seemed incredible only because it was an island I could actually understand surrounded by ongoing sea of obscurity.
My favorites were "Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Inpatient)," "Rimrock," "Unburnable The Cold is Flooding Our Lives," "Neither Now Nor Never," "An Apology," and "God" and most of the "Portrait of the Alcoholic _____" were resonant as well.