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Beautiful & Pointless: A Guide To Modern Poetry (2012)

by David Orr(Favorite Author)

3.39 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0061673463 (ISBN13: 9780061673467)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Harper Perennial

review 1: I defy you to read the first chapter and not want to read the entire book. Orr says we approach poetry the wrong way, like we have to understand it all and wring the meaning from it with grim purpose. Instead, he proposes that we approach poetry as though it were Belgium: don't expect to understand everything, realise they do things differently here, but admire the sights and enjoy the occasional glimpse of insight you do get.The rest of the book is a run through the choices poets make, the squabbles they have amongst themselves, and why they matter (or not) for the reader. Orr is opinionated, he's our tour guide through the Europe of Modern Poetry, and he's happy to hustle us past great sights and suggest we notice various features (tiny willy, detail in the eyes, how ... moreheavy it must be to carry that bronze all that way, don't worry nobody else knows what this means either).It's fun but does requires some investment of mental effort. Then again, you've picked up a book subtitled "A Guide to Modern Poetry". Of course you're going to have to think.
review 2: I really liked this book. I've been trying lately (and this is my goal for Poetry month) to get a better understanding of Poetry, especially Modern Poetry. This book doesn't give you all the answers to understanding, which I truly believe is better. What it does give you is a good look into the Modern Poetry world. I think that's something valuable to see. I've been able to get some knowledge of it because my boyfriend is in a Creative Writing program for Poetry right now. So there were some things I understood already, especially about being a poet and trying to fit into the academic world. I really enjoyed the chapter on form, ambition, and the political (and also the personal; Well, the whole first part of the book, I guess). These chapters offer some great tidbits of insight to understanding what a person in the Poetry world thinks about Poetry. I don't think this book is in depth or very challenging, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. I wouldn't say it's a good beginners book either, there are a lot of basics to cover before you get here. I'd like to continue reading about more of the finer and subtler technicalities of Poetry. While also reading more Poetry to be able to spot them for myself. less

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