User Profile

i'm not rating this because i couldn't fully grasp the meaning of some of these. the poems are really good, nonetheless; it is one of those collections (for me) to which i'll have to come back in order to sort & form my thoughts. anyway, read some of my faves from the collection.

+ (this lesson you've got, pluck, descending theology: christ human, winter term's end (!!!), metaphysique du mal, pathetic fallacy, disgraceland) 

Absolutely beautiful! I loved this to no end. The depictions of grief and loss are exceptional. I love the stories that revolve around families going through grief, sorrow, and loss together. Fae Myenne Ng's prose was beautiful. It was easy to read. Character portrayal also was an 11/10.

HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend.

"Leon told me once that what we hold in our heart is what matters.
The heart never travels.
I believe in holding still. I believe that the secrets we hold in our hearts are our anchors, that even the unspoken between us is a measure of our every promise to the living and to the dead. And all our promises, like all our hopes, move us through life with the power of an ocean liner pushing through the sea." 

!!!! favourite poems:

Like a summer flower,
fragile as its slender stem,
love wastes me away.
Yet I shall blossom, crimson
under the bright noonday sun.

Agreed, we have
no talent for poetry.
We smile. This love
will last twenty thousand years.
Is that a long time or brief?

Friends, please don’t ask
whatever remains of love.
And don’t preach to me.
Let our poetry endure.
It is the cross we bear.

My shiny black hair
fallen into disarray,
a thousand tangles,
like a thousand tangled thoughts
about my love for you. 

"I will eat the last signs of my weakness
remove the scars of old childhood wars
and dare to enter the forest whistling
like a snake that has fed the chameleon
for changes
I shall be forever.
May I never remember reasons
for my spirit's safety
may I never forget
the warning of my woman's flesh
weeping at the new moon
may I never lose
that terror
that keeps me brave
May I owe nothing
that I cannot repay."
- fragment from Solstice.

no, miss audre lorde DID NOT disappoint

faves from the collection: a litany for survival, touring, chorus, in margaret's garden, hanging fire, from the greenhouse, sister outsider, power, solstice. 

This was good. I am not a huge fan of magical realism but this was a surprise. I am not going to comment on the writing because this is a translation. The story follows 5 women & we follow each of their stories through different chapters. Then, their lives intersect later in the book. They all have their separate endings that weren't really satisfying for me. But, yes, I'd definitely recommend this. Also, I don't know about other translations but this one was approved by Shahrnush Parsipur. 

!!!!! 

LOVED

Very close to nature; love the structure of the poems. 

ADORED this! This comes as a surprise more to me than anyone because the first 50 or so pages of the book weren't really getting to me but that escalated quickly. The narrator, the prose, the setting, the themes, the exploration & information, I loved it all. There were some parts that I think could've been left out which is why this is a 4 star.

I also learnt a lot about Inuit people. Tagaq obviously picks out colonialism, institutionalized religion, predatory male behavior, and climate politics. Also, the writing slaps!

The pain was real. This is where my lesson was learned: pain is to be expected, courage is to be
welcomed. There is no choice but to endure. There is no other way than to renounce self-doubt. It is the time of Dawning in more ways than one. The sun can rise, and so can I. 

I really enjoyed this one, especially the first part, 'in The Pines,' and also the second, 'The Black Trailor.' The collection fell kind of flat for me in the last section 'Hemostatic' which, I would say, was the weakest part of the book. Maybe I am too dumb to understand what Alice Notley is saying in there but I couldn't grasp anything any of the poem conveys. I might have to come back to it sometime because I really wanted to like the entirety of it.

Anyway, my experience of reading 'In The Pines' consisted of vigorously highlighting everything in it. The emotions conveyed are raw, and Notley's writing is full of grief. I loved it.