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boldeststroke's reviews
71 reviews
Dog Songs by Mary Oliver
what a sweet collection of poetry. i've never had the pleasure of having a dog as a companion, but it's abundantly clear to me that it's a relationship that can change your life if you find the right ones. the illustrations of oliver's dogs was maybe the most delightful part of reading this apart from the simple yet earnest words in each piece. i felt like a kid flipping through a picture book, appreciation for the wise words accompanying them growing with each sketch i saw.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
Finally,
the slick mountains of love break
over us.
what a sweet collection of poetry. i've never had the pleasure of having a dog as a companion, but it's abundantly clear to me that it's a relationship that can change your life if you find the right ones. the illustrations of oliver's dogs was maybe the most delightful part of reading this apart from the simple yet earnest words in each piece. i felt like a kid flipping through a picture book, appreciation for the wise words accompanying them growing with each sketch i saw.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
4.0
i watched the film adaptation of this with my mom years ago. it was about a month after her mom had died. it was probably a bad idea in hindsight, but it was maybe one of the most emotional viewings of my life, so i don't regret it. (especially since, if memory serves correct, she suggested it in the first place.) those feelings from that time resurfaced when i read a pair of tickets. my grandmother passed away while my mom was on a plane back to the philippines, so i know what it is, to see someone get to a loved one too late from the outside. june really connects for me as a character that way.
it's really interesting to see how these stories commingle, not only across the obvious mother and daughter lines, but among the mothers and the daughters themselves. an-mei and lindo's friendship, june and waverly's rivalry. that makes it clear to me that each story is meant to stand alone in time and place while still interacting with the other pieces, so seeing that done without the usual narrative thrust is fascinating. i love this collection a lot, even though it has aged somewhat. without it, i don't think i'd feel more seen.
it's really interesting to see how these stories commingle, not only across the obvious mother and daughter lines, but among the mothers and the daughters themselves. an-mei and lindo's friendship, june and waverly's rivalry. that makes it clear to me that each story is meant to stand alone in time and place while still interacting with the other pieces, so seeing that done without the usual narrative thrust is fascinating. i love this collection a lot, even though it has aged somewhat. without it, i don't think i'd feel more seen.
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
i'm definitely revisiting night sky with exit wounds to have a more accurate point of comparison, but this unfortunately fell short for me! i think there are definitely some strong standalone poems: "american legend" had incredible forward momentum with its imagery and was probably my favorite piece, "amazon history of a former nail salon worker" used a simple yet effective concept that i think speaks the most accurately to the title of the collection itself, while "künstlerroman" contained an intricate narrative device that i want to try out myself. but the writing as a whole was really weak to me. there was a superficial consistency to the metaphor of language and punctuation as actions and images that felt less like a fixture that connected everything and more like a struggle to be deep. i can handle poetry with relatively no punctuation and unexpected line breaks as long as it has a natural rhythm, but i could never find it when i reached those beats. i really wished this had worked for me.
3.0
Sometimes, when I can't sleep, I imagine Van Gogh singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" into his cut ear & feeling peace.
i'm definitely revisiting night sky with exit wounds to have a more accurate point of comparison, but this unfortunately fell short for me! i think there are definitely some strong standalone poems: "american legend" had incredible forward momentum with its imagery and was probably my favorite piece, "amazon history of a former nail salon worker" used a simple yet effective concept that i think speaks the most accurately to the title of the collection itself, while "künstlerroman" contained an intricate narrative device that i want to try out myself. but the writing as a whole was really weak to me. there was a superficial consistency to the metaphor of language and punctuation as actions and images that felt less like a fixture that connected everything and more like a struggle to be deep. i can handle poetry with relatively no punctuation and unexpected line breaks as long as it has a natural rhythm, but i could never find it when i reached those beats. i really wished this had worked for me.
Brute: Poems by Emily Skaja
i always love to read work that's written by someone i've learned from. so many of these pieces circle around pain that lingers, like the cracked bones of a corpse rotten away skin-first, and they paint such visceral images that you can't help but swoop toward in the hopes of tearing some final flesh. i think that's why my favorite poem is "four hawks" because i can't imagine the gravity of the situation in the relationship being described without that central feeling.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I can’t stop dreaming I’m hiding
my own prints in the snow, convinced
my mouth is a metal trap, a part of it, apart
from you, & when you pull me awake
it’s because I’m lining my body with burrs,
because I’m antlers & talons & I know
the smell of cedar is home, is a ring of sky
I love, but I can’t take it when
you say Only deer, only hawks.
i always love to read work that's written by someone i've learned from. so many of these pieces circle around pain that lingers, like the cracked bones of a corpse rotten away skin-first, and they paint such visceral images that you can't help but swoop toward in the hopes of tearing some final flesh. i think that's why my favorite poem is "four hawks" because i can't imagine the gravity of the situation in the relationship being described without that central feeling.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
really grateful i was finally able to work up the courage to read this after having bought the novel so many years ago. i lost count of the amount of times i had to put it down and take a break from it to pace around my room. vuong toes the line between reality and reverie (because fantasy seems like the wrong word in his case) in a way that i would envy were it not for how devastating it is. to be the kind of person that can write this, especially knowing that the recipient can never read it, takes a willingness that i hardly think i have the guts to do. that sort of bravery is something i can only read about.
dark
reflective
sad
5.0
When does a war end? When can I say your name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?
really grateful i was finally able to work up the courage to read this after having bought the novel so many years ago. i lost count of the amount of times i had to put it down and take a break from it to pace around my room. vuong toes the line between reality and reverie (because fantasy seems like the wrong word in his case) in a way that i would envy were it not for how devastating it is. to be the kind of person that can write this, especially knowing that the recipient can never read it, takes a willingness that i hardly think i have the guts to do. that sort of bravery is something i can only read about.
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
4.0
I am trying, I think, to forgive myself
for something I don’t know what.
But what I do know is that I love the moment when the poet says
I am trying to do this
or I am trying to do that.
I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times by Taylor Byas
the jeopardy poem in this fucking rocked like i gotta try my hand at one of those at some point. byas's ability to use form in general is so admirable because you sometimes don't even notice that she's employing one until you're halfway down the page, and then you're like, wait a second, is this a VILLANELLE? so sick. i feel like she really elevates them by challenging herself further from the base of whatever original form she employs. i also have to watch the wiz now because it was fascinating to read a collection of poetry based on it without much prior knowledge on the movie, let alone the musical.
medium-paced
4.5
And I’m not above
crying over long-lost things, but this is where it gets embarrassing. Your
name starts to bring tears to my eyes in grocery store aisles. And when I hear certain
songs, I miss something I’ve forgotten the name of. What a special kind of ache.
the jeopardy poem in this fucking rocked like i gotta try my hand at one of those at some point. byas's ability to use form in general is so admirable because you sometimes don't even notice that she's employing one until you're halfway down the page, and then you're like, wait a second, is this a VILLANELLE? so sick. i feel like she really elevates them by challenging herself further from the base of whatever original form she employs. i also have to watch the wiz now because it was fascinating to read a collection of poetry based on it without much prior knowledge on the movie, let alone the musical.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
sorry to say it but i got a special place in my heart for this book so of course it is getting a high rating. lara jean song covey you will always be famous.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.5
If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcisms.
sorry to say it but i got a special place in my heart for this book so of course it is getting a high rating. lara jean song covey you will always be famous.
Alphabet by Inger Christensen
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
I write like childlike
summer like thunder
over domed treetops
whitegold of ripening
lightning and wheat