Stag’s Leap by Sharon Olds

This poetry collection really affected me, and I found it hard to read. It’s so raw and open that at times I had to stop and run away from it. As someone who has been happily married for two years, reading about someone divorcing after twenty years of marriage scared and upset me. Her confusion, deep hurt and longing was so painful at times I couldn’t bear it.

            I think this is probably the most powerful poetry collection I’ve ever read. With Rebecca Goss’ Her Birth it was powerful, but I’m not a mother yet and couldn’t relate to the agony and terror of losing a child. This collection is more relatable; the idea of losing such a foundation, a love you always thought would be there.

            It’s a beautiful, painful collection, yet it holds hope and forgiveness too. I can’t bring myself to read it again, because it rattled me so much, bringing out insecurities I didn’t realise were so big for me. However, I do think its an amazing collection of poetry.

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

In some ways I really liked this book, and in others I really struggled with it. I loved the poem, but found Kinbote a very irritating character in the foreword and commentary. Despite that I was intrigued by his identity, and whether he was the king. Personally part of me wants to think he is, but my real theory is he’s lying, and that the man who came to ‘kill the king’ but killed Shade by accident, was actually hired or in league with Kinbote, who wanted Shade’s poem for himself. I’m not sure if this theory would hold up, but part of me does want to reread the book to see if there’s any clues that help prove or disprove it.

            I do think the way this book is written is very clever. When I first read the blurb I had to confirm Shade and Kinbote were fictional characters and not the book’s author. Kinbote’s character was well written and the fact the book doesn’t give an obvious answer to its story and meaning is amazing. I will keep it to try reread it again, and hopefully read the index section, which I ended up skipping.

Dart/Memorial by Alice Oswald

I found it hard at first to get into Dart, but then I stopped and went back to read the acknowledgement at the front. It explained the indications in the margins are to show the change in voice. Knowing this, I understood the poem better and started to enjoy it. Hearing the different point of views of those who work/live/enjoy the dart was interesting, and it made me appreciate the work and research Oswald did to write this poem. It makes me want to try something similar with St. Nectan’s Glen in Cornwall, my favourite place in the world.

            I was really excited about the subject/topic of Memorial, loving myths and fairy tales. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Dart. The idea was interesting, and learning about all the deaths was educational, but I personally found the repetition effect jarring. I realise it was meant to be an echo but I found myself skipping them, not wanting to reread the same lines again.

            Overall I do find the topics Oswald writes about interesting, but don’t always enjoy her writing style.

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