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Rating: 
Summary: The Sound of Immortality
Review: Having to read the seminal poetry of Sexton--in my view a giant in the world of poetry (regarding just her talent for words alone, never mind her being a woman, etc., etc.)--and having to have fallen so deeply and intimately in love with the work--without ever having the opportunity to HEAR and LISTEN to her recite these masterpieces; well, that would be somewhat akin to having been given the gallies of all of Bob Dylan's lyrics, and never getting the chance to hear him sing[ing] them.Listening to her reading these words which I had known and admired for so long, and never knowing what her voice was like; finally hearing her speak the lines was like being in the room with a ghost who could make you hear her voice. Strangely, I felt throughout that I had known the voice all along...
Rating:
Summary: Anne's poetry swims back to me
Review: How absolutely superb to be read to by Anne Sexton...That husky, sexy, deep cigarette voice-- reads her own poetry so beautifully, that nobody else could have done it justice, except Anne herself. I love her poetry...."Music Swims Back To Me" is deliciously devine!!!!!! Wait Mister. Which way is home?
They turned the light out
and the dark is moving in the corner.
There are no sign posts in this room,
four ladies, over eighty,
in diapers every one of them.
La la la, Oh music swims back to me
and I can feel the tune they played
the night they left me
in this private institution on a hill.... Anne Sexton Get the audio! Get in a hot-bath and let Anne read to you!
You won't be disappointed!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly haunting
Review: I had read so much about Sexton's dramatic readings and her absolute captivation of an audience through her reading. This tape, though, does not re-create that for me. It is infused with the drama characteristic of her performances, to be sure, but it is not the voice I expected from her and this somehow makes it disconcerting for me. She sounds (due to her habit of chain smoking much of her life) like an old woman, even though she was quite young. It's ok, but just not all that I expected.
Rating:
Summary: Certainly haunting
Review: I had read so much about Sexton's dramatic readings and her absolute captivation of an audience through her reading. This tape, though, does not re-create that for me. It is infused with the drama characteristic of her performances, to be sure, but it is not the voice I expected from her and this somehow makes it disconcerting for me. She sounds (due to her habit of chain smoking much of her life) like an old woman, even though she was quite young. It's ok, but just not all that I expected.
Rating:
Summary: Harrowingly Beautiful
Review: This recording, made a few short months before Sexton's death, is a remarkable document for anyone interested in Sexton, confessional poetry, or American literature in general. The selection of poems is at once characteristic of Sexton's work without becoming overly monotonous in tone or subject, but it is really the sound of the author's own voice that makes the poetry come alive. Sexton's dark voice adds an element of authenticity to these poems that is perhaps lost when they are read silently. Her convincing reading is truly a testament to her own tortured yet beautifully rendered artistic vision.
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