The Country Without a Post Office: Poems (Agha Shahid Ali)

Rating:
Summary: only the intense need apply
Review: i stumbled upon this by accident and will never forget it. without a doubt, my all-time favorite book of poetry.

Rating:
Summary: Sensitive
Review: This is a rather touching book about Kashmir.I feel it is very good and srtongly recommend it as something to read occaisonaly when you are feeling liberal

Rating:
Summary: Strong, Beautiful Poetry
Review: When I began reading this collection, it failed to take me in. I believe this was largely my own failing as a reader, because I was hesitant to give myself over to the language, because in places the English doesn't sound, well, "English," or "American." And there is a very good reason for this: the author, Agha Shahid Ali, is from Kashmir. But this linguistic "duality of tone" on the poet's part does not diminish the language and its power, in any way. In fact, it strengthens it. As I read along, I found myself wholly absorbed in the poetry, and I went back and read the first few poems again, once I had "gotten the various tones, and come to expect the unexpected ...," and I found I was then taken into these poems ...

These are poems about the author's homeland, Kashmir, and its state of insurgent devastation after (and during) struggles for power in that land.

Ali uses forms with spellbinding effect. "The Floating Post Office" may be the most powerful sestina I have ever read. It is a tribute to the soul's insistence upon itself and its own power, even in the face of devastation and ruin ...

Ali also has a few ghazals (an ancient middle eastern form) in this book, which are very powerful as well. He also employs rhyme to great effect, in many kinds of poems. He uses terza rima to fine effect, and also has an excellent villanelle in this collection.

In the end, though, it is not Ali's deft touch with forms that brings the reader back to these poems. It is the passion which is conveyed through the poetry itself, from the page, to the reader.

This is probably not the best book to recommend to someone who is not familiar with American poetry, but it is an excellent, powerful, passionate book of poetry, and I recommend it very highly.