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drekklin's review
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
5.0
His poetry contains a lot of variety , but a great vocabulary and unique way of phrasing things is present across every poem. Great collection
nhnabass's review
5.0
“Polyglot
in which language do you dream
and in which
will we speak in heaven”
I had the opportunity to meet Fady at AWP several years ago in Portland after his panel and was so excited to pick up this collection. His use of specifically anatomical language as a doctor was foreign to me in this kind of writing and I did have to pause to look things up every so often to ensure I was fully understanding the imagery he was using, but it is well worth it.
in which language do you dream
and in which
will we speak in heaven”
I had the opportunity to meet Fady at AWP several years ago in Portland after his panel and was so excited to pick up this collection. His use of specifically anatomical language as a doctor was foreign to me in this kind of writing and I did have to pause to look things up every so often to ensure I was fully understanding the imagery he was using, but it is well worth it.
jesshooves's review
“my bare feet and the plasma core of the world / smeared by human hands / the magic of apricot says / no one’s ever nude on radiology film.” —From poem “The Magic of Apricot”
emquartz15's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I love the idea of it - the intertwining of science and what’s natural, exploring life/Earth/the body/nationhood/culture through both a technical and emotional lens - but I feel like so much got lost in the high level of scientific vocabulary. I know it’s intended to have a lot of technical words, and it’s fascinating to a point, but as an average, non-doctor reader, I couldn’t keep up and it left me frustrated. That being said, there were some pretty incredible lines in this book. Some examples:
From “I, the sole witness to my dreams, declare”
“A beaver / is building a home in my blood.”
From “Kohl”
“A Sahara weeps its molten iris”
“Ruins are tattoos of earth”
From “The floor is yours”
“Your touchscreen / my ringtone heart”
I respect this book 100% for what it is. Maybe I’m just not the target audience. But if you’re like me and you want to read Joudah’s poetry, prepare to either Google lots of medical terminology, or acquiesce (like me, lol) and accept that you won’t be able to understand a lot of it and try to go along for the ride.
From “I, the sole witness to my dreams, declare”
“A beaver / is building a home in my blood.”
From “Kohl”
“A Sahara weeps its molten iris”
“Ruins are tattoos of earth”
From “The floor is yours”
“Your touchscreen / my ringtone heart”
I respect this book 100% for what it is. Maybe I’m just not the target audience. But if you’re like me and you want to read Joudah’s poetry, prepare to either Google lots of medical terminology, or acquiesce (like me, lol) and accept that you won’t be able to understand a lot of it and try to go along for the ride.
ceah_reads's review
5.0
A strange and beautiful mix of joy, sorrow, grief, and the poetics of health and life.
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