Rate this book

Versed (2009)

by Rae Armantrout(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0819568791 (ISBN13: 9780819568793)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Wesleyan University Press

review 1: I was surprised by how little I enjoyed this book, as I very much expected to be pleased by it. I did not find it difficult, which is apparently the common complaint, but in reading Armantrout's poetry I did not feel inspired, contemplative, or intrigued; I did not relish in the language, or in the poet's wit; in short, I got nothing from the collection. The poem I most enjoyed was "Around," which I did find clever, disconcerting and witty; it, alone in the collection, made me think about the world as the poet represented it, forcing me to contemplate matters from a new and exciting perspective.For the rest of the volume, however, I mainly contemplated how long it would take me to get through it--and which volume of poetry I'd choose to read next to make up for my disappoi... morentment.
review 2: Armantrout won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2010 and in this book of poems she explores both human consciousness and the unseen matter that accounts for mass in our universe, two technically difficult subjects to grasp in any capacity. Her poems are sparse and abstract, her focus clearly more on language than on perception. She compares in style to that of painter Mark Rothko, her workings at first appear bare and unknowable, though upon lingering a deeper meaning emerges. Armantrout is definitely not for the casual reader of poetry but rather for a reader who is willing to work at discovering the meaning behind her discerning use of words. less

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