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nancyboy's review against another edition
read it in honour of richard siken being active on twitter
nancyboy56's review against another edition
read it in honour of richard siken being active on twitter
shimmery's review against another edition
5.0
I remember how blown away I was when I first came across Richard Siken’s poetry — the poem I read was ‘Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out’, and after reading it once I had to read it 5 more times immediately after. I think my laptop probably still has the web page I read the poem on saved in the favourites tab.
That poem appears in this collection, along with a lot of others that convey the same urgency, desperation, confession. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like the poem collapses time and you experience all the moments of intense emotion at once. In that way they are dreamlike — some reference dreams explicitly, but others have the same feeling because of the emotions and the moments, the scene changes, all folding in to each other. It feels like each poem has been written by a poet who knows he has a minute to live. I think Siken’s influence can be felt in a lot of contemporary poetry — Ocean Vuong’s for instance. Masterful work.
That poem appears in this collection, along with a lot of others that convey the same urgency, desperation, confession. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like the poem collapses time and you experience all the moments of intense emotion at once. In that way they are dreamlike — some reference dreams explicitly, but others have the same feeling because of the emotions and the moments, the scene changes, all folding in to each other. It feels like each poem has been written by a poet who knows he has a minute to live. I think Siken’s influence can be felt in a lot of contemporary poetry — Ocean Vuong’s for instance. Masterful work.
bacchicecstasy's review against another edition
4.5
Some of my fave poems from the collection: little beast, boot theory, litany in which certain things are crossed out, snow and dirty rain
c0nn0rmc's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most profound collections of poems I will ever read in my life; every time I come back to it I feel like I’ve been punched in the teeth by an old and dear friend
quotemeasonnet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
tramhatesu's review against another edition
5.0
"you're in a car with a beautiful boy,
and you're trying not to tell him that you love him, and you're trying to choke down the feeling, and you're trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you've discovered something you don't even have a name for."
(24, you are jeff)
and you're trying not to tell him that you love him, and you're trying to choke down the feeling, and you're trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you've discovered something you don't even have a name for."
(24, you are jeff)
hali's review against another edition
3.75
I enjoyed this more than War of the Foxes for reasons I can’t explain. Well, maybe it’s the high levels of yearning that is all throughout Crush. We’ll go with that.
Super long poems begin to lose me about halfway through. This is a me problem. Still, some of these works were very compelling.
Some quotes:
“Sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine.”
- Little Beasts
“I want to tell you this story without having to be in it.”
- The Torn up Road (5⭐️)
“You see, I take the parts that I remember and stitch them back together to make a creature that will do what I say or love me back.”
- Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out (5⭐️) [reminds me of Frankenstein and the Creature]
“I will come back from the dead for you… Keep talking. I'll keep walking toward the sound of your voice.”
- You Are Jeff [reminds me of Eurydice]
Super long poems begin to lose me about halfway through. This is a me problem. Still, some of these works were very compelling.
Some quotes:
“Sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine.”
- Little Beasts
“I want to tell you this story without having to be in it.”
- The Torn up Road (5⭐️)
“You see, I take the parts that I remember and stitch them back together to make a creature that will do what I say or love me back.”
- Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out (5⭐️) [reminds me of Frankenstein and the Creature]
“I will come back from the dead for you… Keep talking. I'll keep walking toward the sound of your voice.”
- You Are Jeff [reminds me of Eurydice]
elaine707's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Such gorgeous prose. The use of blank space and the words themselves was breathtaking. I read the intro after reading the poems, and the concept of anxiety is bleeding through the pages. I was wholly captivated.