it is kind of crazy how much I can relate to Chuuya through his poetry. he is renowned for his beautiful, haunting imagery and song-like flow, and though this edition had to sacrifice flow, it very much made up for it by preserving the imagery. there were very few poems which didn’t resonate; in fact most had at least one line that truly struck me. how was he so good at putting into words the big and terrifying emotions I have never been able to describe? this may be the collection that reignites my adoration for poetry.
my best friend annotated this book and gifted it to me for my birthday, so most of my enjoyment came from reading her snarky little comments in the margins. that said, it was very entertaining, and nowhere near as cliche as i feared it might be.
the impact that this book has had honestly far outweighs the actual content in it. considering that this is the memoir of a literal neurosurgeon... it's incredibly fanciful. much of it reads like a sci-fi novel; the rest of it is so heavily focused on how Doty ~just believed in himself and everything turned out okay~ that it was sickening. disappointing tbh