<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Most Enchanting Contemporary Female Poet
Review: Even though I've read Olena Kalytiak Davis' book several times, I am still amazed by the musicality of the poems, her keen observations, and the quiet ferocity of her voice. She is so eloquent, I lose the desire to write. Why bother when she says everything so perfectly? I've given the book to friends and they love it. I hope Davis will write more soon!
Rating:
Summary: among my top 10
Review: I've been reading this book since I got it three years ago. It is always on top of my stack of what I'm currently reading; I never tire of it. Out of all the poetry I've purchased in the last few years, (and, I've spent my money on plenty of it!) this is among the rare books that I won't lend to my friends in fear that it should not return to me. Davis has a way of pinpointing heartache with such precision that I stand in awe. One of my favorite poems, "Should One Prefer Purity To Intensity of the Soul," puts it like this:While you are gone, I keep the house
quiet. Did I ever tell you, I once heard a woman speak of her loneliness
as if it were a small bird. Imagine: her sorrow had a wingspan! . . . This book is a gift to its reader. Thanks to Davis for writing it.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning and unique
Review: I've never read a poet who writes like Olena Kalytiak Davis. I suppose if some crazy geneticist managed to meld the minds of Poe, Longfellow, Ogden Nash, Dylan Thomas, Gwendolyn Brooks, Stevie Smith, and Sylvia Plath, then a writer similar to Davis might appear, but that's about what it would take. She uses language unlike anyone else -- as a playground, a laboratory, a room with rubber walls. Her imagery is idiosyncratic, but always powerful, always somehow just right. Her rhythms pull her words to and fro, clattering and clashing together, bouncing off each other, bounding and rebounding across landscapes of dreams and portents. With any other poet, I'd quote some lines, but that wouldn't do Davis justice, for her poems need elbow room and time for their wonders to accumulate. With any other poet, I'd tell you, If you like X, you'll like this one -- but for Davis there is no X. She is her own equation, sui generis. Few collections of poetry have so much to offer, so much depth and substance, so much sustenance for the reader ready to listen.
Rating: 
Summary: Doggerel
Review: in my opinion, olena kalytiak davis is the strongest young poet writing today. her poems seem wild and new yet steeped in a grand tradition. in a climate that seems to be veering toward simplicity, workaday speech, and mundanity, davis is fearlessly poetic.
Rating:
Summary: klcovey is an idiot
Review: Just go to his/her review and count the # of cliches. He/she needs to state all his/her credentials in how much he/she KNOWS THE ART OF POETRY. And since when is "doggerel" a big word? Davis is a hack- you can just read the few lines quoted in the reviewer above- "sorrow" & "Loneliness" etc-. And notice all the positive reviewers are SO overpraising that they are all prob Davis's pals because no real person in his right mind could say this crap is any good. And klcovey, too, states NO SUPPORT as to WHY this crap is any good- just a bunch of touchy-feely gunk that means nothing. And of course, views any negative reviews calling this garbage what it really is, as an "attack" on the poet, personally.
Rating:
Summary: klcovey is an idiot
Review: This is one of the most strikingly, achingly beautiful books I've read in a long time. My credentials as a reviewer consist of nothing more than that I read a lot of poetry and i've since recovered from the narrow visions of grad school, which seem to breed arrogance and a need to attack. I'm not a sentimentalist nor a hack devoted to rhyme or juvenile renditions of emotion masquerading as poetry. But I know enough to know when I read someone GOOD and talented, and this poet earns that distinction. In regard to the first reviewer's cruel, ignorant, and UNSUPPORTED assessment, I would suggest that readers trust Rita Dove over the poor wretch who was likely searching for a place to use "doggerel." Some people love to show off their new vocabulary (esp. would-be poets). BUY IT.
Rating:
Summary: This is a beautiful book--The first reviewer is an idiot
Review: This is one of the most strikingly, achingly beautiful books I've read in a long time. My credentials as a reviewer consist of nothing more than that I read a lot of poetry and i've since recovered from the narrow visions of grad school, which seem to breed arrogance and a need to attack. I'm not a sentimentalist nor a hack devoted to rhyme or juvenile renditions of emotion masquerading as poetry. But I know enough to know when I read someone GOOD and talented, and this poet earns that distinction. In regard to the first reviewer's cruel, ignorant, and UNSUPPORTED assessment, I would suggest that readers trust Rita Dove over the poor wretch who was likely searching for a place to use "doggerel." Some people love to show off their new vocabulary (esp. would-be poets). BUY IT.
<< 1 >>
| 
