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keyradiator's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I'm not adept at making sense of postmodern art in general, but Bitsui's poetry is palpable, touching, and impactful. Their word choice is consistently strong and evocative, and it really paints a portrait of feelings without a cohesive narrative which really impressed me. Definitely recommend giving this one a go.
babsduff's review against another edition
5.0
A masterpiece. Imagistic, lyrical, energetic, fueled by the beauty of two languages and by deep exploration of cultural heritage and practice.
jayisreading's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
4.0
The imagery in Bitsui’s poems is incredible, but also difficult to understand due to how surreal they can get. It was interesting to meditate on the abstract approach to nature and culture, these poems presenting a particular spaciousness of the land and living creatures of the land.
I get a sense that there was some kind of play happening with language, but I wasn’t able to pick up on it entirely… maybe because it felt as though I was almost floating through the poems due to the surreal nature of them all.
Read for the Sealey Challenge.
gitli57's review
challenging
reflective
3.5
Extremely concentrated and oblique poetry. Kind of like watching just the dissolves from a quick cut film. I usually need two or three readings just to begin and find a way inside. But he's worth the effort. Especially if you enjoy poetry that is more than "uplifting" platitudes...
hdellabella's review against another edition
4.0
There's no doubt that Bitsui's language and imagery is striking and beautiful, but this book just relies too heavily on his surreal images in my opinion. He gives us so little realism to pin these images to that it makes it difficult to discern substantial meaning.
hannahvwarren's review against another edition
5.0
Bitsui includes some of the most fascinating descriptions and connections among landscapes, cultures, and ideas that I've ever seen. Not only is each word chosen for a perfect fit, but the clamoring of words juxtaposed makes for a beautiful noise. Surprising, wrenching, stunning.
aimiller's review
4.0
This collection was challenging as HELL, but so worth it ultimately. It's one I definitely want to go back to--it was my first venture back into poetry in a long time, and it was really a challenge to parse. Bitsui's poems are so full of images that it is borderline overwhelming and can be hard to follow at times, but it definitely sweeps you along even as it also jars you out of your comfort zone. The last two poems especially are so beautiful and shattering and hopeful and I really loved them. I recommend reading this but giving it a lot of time to sit with.
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