|
Rating:  - Solid Advice Within
My title says it all. I found this small book filled with solid advice. Mary Oliver knows of what she writes and writes it well. I rank this with Richard Hugo's "The Triggering Town" as a must have resource for poets and poetry lovers. It is full of insights that can be appreciated by all writers.
Do yourself a favor and buy it.
Rating:  - Like the Title--A Poetry Handbook
Mary Oliver has put together a book that, in some ways, reads like a poem.
She has a very simple and direct style to describe diction, sound, and imagery, some of the foundations of poetry. She also, however, drops in some of the mystery of being a poet, the silky threads of what the experience is like to create.
This is a quick and beneficial read for a new poet and has some great reminders (and great poems) for those who have been in the craft longer. I don't think this would be of great use to someone wanting to learn about the craft of poetry or to teach it to non-poets, but if you wanted to see into the mind of a poet this would be a good choice.
This is a good resource I am sure I will use more.
Rating: - A Poetry Handbook
A very good reference book, useful for all poets and for those who read poetry. Demystifys some of the more arcane bits of poetic lore. Well written and laid out. The section on various metric feet alone worth the price of the book.
Rating: - Aspire to inspire? This book will help.
The book is beautifully written. It explains in simple terms some of the concepts, like iambic pentameter, that I first heard about but never really understood, 54 years ago in an English grammar school.
For me, the book was worth every penny. Excellent!
Rating:  - Worth a read, but not crucial.
I find, if I really need inspiration and great ideas on writing, art and life in general, I get more from Brenda Ueland's, "If You Want To Write". But Ms. Oliver's Handbook offered some good suggestions for the working poet, and I very much liked her chapters on rhyme, meter, alliteration, and other poetic tools and structures. It gave me a nice refresher course, for someone who's been long out of school and away from the basics.
|
