Review: Complete Poems, 1904-1962 by E.E. Cummings

Title: Complete Poems, 1904-1962
Author: E.E. Cummings
Published: 1992
Source: Purchased
Genre: Poetry
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Caution: May contain spoilers

At the time of his death in 1962, E. E. Cummings was, next to Robert Frost, the most widely read poet in America. Combining Thoreau's controlled belligerence with the brash abandon of an uninhibited bohemian, Cummings, together with Pound, Eliot, and William Carlos Williams, helped bring about the twentieth-century revolution in literary expression. He is recognized on the one hand as the author of some of the most beautiful lyric poems written in the English language, and on the other as one of the most inventive American poets of his time in the worlds of Richard Kostelanetz, "the major American poet of the middle-twentieth-century."

My Thoughts:

This is kind of a book review, but not completely a book review. This is more along the lines of a couple paragraphs of me going off on the experience of reading every poem by the wonderful E.E. Cummings over all of 2012. That’s right. I read every E.E. Cummings poem in a year. I am quite proud of this.

I had read a few handfuls of E.E. Cummings poems before buying this book but I knew I was going to love it. And I wasn’t wrong. I was completely right. I LOVED THESE POEMS. I started marking the page every time I found a poem I wanted to reread again and again. I ended up marking 52 altogether. There’s just something about his poetry that draws me in and captivates me.

It’s hard to explain completely how much you can take away from poetry when you read it. I can see how certain poems or poets can be hard to read, but when you find one that is enjoyable it is truly a great experience. E.E. Cummings is that poet to me.

My Rating:

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Title: The Bell Jar
Author: Sylvia Plath
Published: 1963
Source: Purchased
Genre: Classic Fiction
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Caution: May contain spoilers

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational--as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, "The Bell Jar" is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

~synopsis from Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I have been curious about Sylvia Plath for awhile. I’m a lover of poetry and knew that she wrote not only poems but also this book. It has been said that the book told a lot about her personally, including the struggles she went through dealing with depression. I knew this was the one I wanted to read and review for Banned Books Week this year.

In the beginning, I found it absorbing the way she would bring up these little tidbits from the past, things from her childhood. There was something from the present that triggered a memory and it was such a seemingly insignificant piece of information, but it made the book seem more realistic. Sometimes I didn’t know whether she was talking about the present or the past, but in either case, I was still intrigued enough by whatever story was being discussed that it didn’t matter.

As the story progressed, it became a little darker and more depressing. I found myself feeling sad and disheartened reading Esther’s inner dialogue. I know a little bit about depression and suicidal tendencies, but reading this made it all the more clear how deep-seated those emotions ran inside a person. You may think you can (as a person who isn’t clinically depressed but has had moments in life where depression has struck) understand, yet I never fully understood until now.

The Bell Jar is not a story for the weak to read. It can be upsetting to read about someone who is going through a severe mental illness. Sylvia Plath really put her everything into writing this novel. She doesn’t mince words and she expresses feelings in a way I’ve never seen. I did enjoy it for the most part, even though the atmosphere of the story brought me down.

My Rating:

Very Good: Stay up late

I Love Poetry! (my very late mini Poetry Month post)

taken by me, edited on Photobucket

This is something I promised I'd be doing and yet I never got myself around to getting it together early on in the month. As I say in the title, I love poetry. I started writing poetry when I was 14 and haven't stopped since. To date, I have about 300 poems written. One of the very first ones I wrote was put in one of those poetry anthologies that you have to pay to read your poem in. Looking back on it, I seemed to be a really disturbed teenager. But, we all go through angst and moments of depression in adolescence. Here it is:

~*~

"Past In Mind"

Nothing comes out, not in words
Those are things I know, I've heard
I know it's inside but it won't come out
For fear of spreading throughout
I feel pathetic, weak, and frail
Yet I must, I need, to prevail
The shock of life smacks me in the face
I know that I'm a disgrace
It's not easy to tell you know
About things in the past
Just won't even pass
They stay with you day and night
The things I know, they are a fright
To cease and desist, that's what I wish
But I can't hide from feelings inside
Of my passions and destiny for life
It thrills me at once, and then I dull
There's when I remember it all

~*~

I haven't read too much in the way of poetry, as a fan of poetry should anyway. When I was reading through one of my friends poetry compilations, The Random House Treasury Of Favorite Love Poems, I discovered E.E. Cummings.

His poetry is known for its variations in capitalization and punctuation to create the message. It's what drew me to his poems, I thought it was so inspirational and different. It's not the same conventional style or ABAB-like patterns, it stood on its own. They're... surreal. The first poem of his that I read was "If Everything Happens That Can't Be Done" and you can read it HERE (since I'm not sure if I can quote it in my blog or not).

I started to read the compilation of all his poems, Complete Poems, 1904-1962, and still adore his work. I have periodically posted certain lines on Twitter that I've enjoyed as I go. Here's some of my favorites:

~*~

much i cannot)
tear up the world & toss
it away; or
cause one causeless cloud to purely grow

but, never
doubt my weakness
makes more than most
strength

~*~

(his autumn's winter being summer's spring
who moved by standing in november's may)

 ~*~

(aiming for hugely the
ignorant most precise essential flame
never which waked)& perfectingly We

dive

      out of tinying time
                                (into supreme

Now:

~*~

How about you? Do you love poetry?
What poets do you enjoy?

~Jessica

Review: Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology by Larissa Hinton

Title: Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology
Author: Larissa Hinton
Source: Copy given by author for honest review
Genre: Young Adult/Poetry
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Caution: May contain spoilers

.
An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.

Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts. It changes.

From the author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, she now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to even romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed, you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.

~synopsis from Goodreads.
.

My Thoughts:

Being the fan of poetry I am, I had to at least take a look at this anthology. It has an out of the ordinary approach (poetry to short story back to poetry) that can easily throw one off. Particularly the beginning might make the reader question what the author is getting at considering how simple the writing appears. When the story progresses, however, the childishness of the start makes perfect sense. This is a story of growth, after all.

The poetry in between short stories set the mood right. It consisted of numerous one word lines that culminated into one poem. The minimalism might cause a reader may mistakenly think it’s too effortless to be poetry. When you look at the whole poem, how the words tie into each other, everything comes full circle to the beginning. I really liked that. The short stories were appealing, but I didn’t get as much out of them as I did out of the poetry. There were elements of a paranormal nature threaded in and out that made them interesting though.

I have to say, I am glad I read Everblossom. Larissa Hinton’s voice combines her words into poems that convey the human emotion. It is a short read but it has a fascinating charm that makes you appreciate life in a new way.

My Rating:

Pretty Good: Stay up until your bedtime

Review: What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

Title: What My Mother Doesn't Know
Author: Sonya Sones
Published: February 1st 2001
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult
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Caution: May contain spoilers

~*~

Now I’m not sure if it was after loving this book that got me into reading books in verse (stories told in poetry form), or if it was after reading Burned by Ellen Hopkins that I searched for more and found Sonya Sones. In any case, I simply adore books in verse. I love almost every one I come across. All of the books by Sonya Sones are superb.

The following is from the back cover:

“My name is Sophie.
This book is about me.
It tells
the heart-stoppingly riveting story
of my first love.
And also my second.
And, okay, my third love too.

It’s not that I’m boy crazy.
It’s just that even though
I’m almost fifteen
it’s like
my mind
and my body
and my heart
just don’t seem to be able to agree
on anything.”

The story follows Sophie and what she encounters and discovers in her adolescence. We hear about her boys and boyfriends, her best friends, her family, and her views on everything. Sones touches the deepest of subjects to the lighthearted moments of growing up. The word pictures used paint vivid details that often spark memories for those of us who aren’t teenagers anymore.

Sophie’s take on the world is thoroughly funny and true to life. Her ability to balance maturity and silliness epitomizes being in the middle teens. The whole falling in love aspect--the questioning of what one doesn’t know, how much it tears us up trying to get and answer, and those moments of truth when you know what it is--just great. Sophie contends with several issues: parental arguing, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends and potential boyfriends, and her own personal fears and feelings. The weird thing is, there doesn’t even seem to be any sort of plot. Yet when you finish it, you see how it all ties together beginning to end in more ways than one.

All in all, a very worthwhile read. Being written in poems makes it even better, and a very quick read as well. Sones gets you to feel the experience yourself through the descriptive wording.

My Rating:

Exceptional: Stay up until at least 1 AM