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Rin

evenstar@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 9 months ago

tsundoku tsundere. also a writer and all that.

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Machi Tawara: Salad anniversary (1989, Kodansha International, Distributed in U.S. by Kodansha International/USA)

Quiet beauty

On the blurb on the back of this book it states, "Before Rupi Kaur and Amanda Lovelace, there was Machi Tawara", which would have put me off entirely if I had come into this book completely blind, given that both Kaur and Lovelace are, imho, sub-par enter-hitting Instapoets. (YMMV, natch.)

Tawara-sensei is an actual POET, who deals in strict metre, an ancient form, and the weaving of beautiful phrases, and her work oftentimes, for me, reflects yuugen -- a "profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe… and the sad beauty of human suffering." How she does this by telling sweet, simple tales of modern life and personal emotions, I don't know, but I'll consider myself a good poet if I ever manage to capture even one ounce of that magic.

Amanda Lovelace, ladybookmad: shine your icy crown (Paperback, 2021, Andrews McMeel Publishing)

Review of 'shine your icy crown' on 'Goodreads'

I just. I just. I mean. Insert frustrated flailing right here.

I remember reading "The Princess Saves Herself in This One" and thinking "oh god, that was really awful. But I'm sure she'll grow as a poet, right?" And then I read "The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One" and was pleasantly surprised -- there were signs that Lovelace had honed her craft and I found it reasonably enjoyable. There was still plenty of room for her to improve, but in a way, I found that sort of appealing; what's more fun than watching a poet grow from mediocre to awesome? I don't know if that's naive or simply foolish, but, y'know. I hoped.

Then I read "The Mermaid..." and each of the releases that followed, and here I am. This is the last Amanda Lovelace book I'm going to read.

Bluntly? Her schtick is old and tired and cringey. …