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jazzzzzis's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
This was a really beautiful collection of poetry. My favorites were the last two, Eleven Planets in the Last Andalusian Sky and The Tragedy of Narcissus, the comedy of silver. Darwish’s writing is so beautiful and lyrical and still strong in its ring for freedom. His heartbreak over his exile and loss of home comes through clearly.
leotolstoy's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
mahmoud darwish is definitely a poet whose work i will return to again, this body of work was a great introduction to him and the themes of his poems and it did leave me wanting to explore that further. unfortunately i read it as a library book and had to return it but this is definitely the kind of poetry collection that i'd like to read multiple times and annotate and really immerse into - the themes of exile and the relation to myth was so interesting and i'd love to read the epic of gilgamesh, which is referenced multiple times, and then reread this work, and the same with the other myths darwish draws comparison to.
overall! great poetry, great poet, would love to read more.
favorite lines: "was Andalusia / here or there? On earth, / or only in poems" ; "Kill me slowly, so I can / say I love you more often than I said it / before the great migration." ; "All I want of love is a beginning." ; "O Gilgamesh! / Be my brother, / come with me, / we'll stop by the old well." ; "Land, like language, is inherited."
overall! great poetry, great poet, would love to read more.
favorite lines: "was Andalusia / here or there? On earth, / or only in poems" ; "Kill me slowly, so I can / say I love you more often than I said it / before the great migration." ; "All I want of love is a beginning." ; "O Gilgamesh! / Be my brother, / come with me, / we'll stop by the old well." ; "Land, like language, is inherited."
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