Reviews

My Emily Dickinson by Susan Howe

morrie2020's review against another edition

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Reading slump mixed with too much analysis. slow reading to no reading.

rlselden's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

3.5

emmalthompson85's review against another edition

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2.0

I think I must be missing something here, because this was awful. I understand that Howe is trying to bring a poetic style into her prose, is choosing to treat the subject matter in the way one might treat a poem, as a counterpoint to a more traditional analysis where a point is made, evidence, then made again. Maybe I'm just not a poet enough in my soul to understand but I have to admit that, for me, the style of delivery served to obscure the meaning more than clarify it. I don't read an analytical text to come away more confused. Again, the fault is probably in my reading but give me straightforward and clear analysis any day.

pixie_d's review against another edition

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4.0

The author being a poet herself had a refreshing way of recording her impressions. There was scholarship there, but it wsn't recorded like standard literary criticism.

highlylola's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

2.5

nathansnook's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

 
"๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ. ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ. ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฎ. ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€ฆ"

Life is but a list of tireless dedications. Some failed, and some so stout with amorous confidence and nonchalance that it goes beyond the combative arguments over the chicken or the egg, fate or destiny, it just is.

Here, Howe expresses so much intent, knowledge, and power to Dickinson's poetry. Linking her work through the letters of other writers that shared her spirits.

As an introduction to Dickinson's poetry, this was a generous gesture in a deep reading of her work from a feminist lens among her contemporary colonial male writers that spited her.

She lived through the Civil War, the Lincoln assassination. She lived through one of the deaths of the Brontรซ sisters. She loved Shakespeare. She was agoraphobic. She was so quiet and mysterious yet her mind was loud and explosive in its inquisitive nature. She "๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ."

Passion lives within Howe's prose in her academic brilliance and her trusted feelings in texts she knows so well. She cares so much and you can tell. What a beauty it is to dedicate your life to the work of a single writer, to understand their world in ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.

almendrita's review against another edition

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1.0

No words to describe what a piece of shit this book is. And I'm an English major.

shane_marble's review against another edition

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4.0

This is surprisingly fascinating for a pretty dry account of the way Dickinson took up her influences - the stuff about puritan theology and colonial-era potboilers are fun.

kweekwegg's review against another edition

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4.0

While it was the most difficult book of its size that I've read in a while, I found it highly rewarding. There are plenty of moments that enlighten the basic connections between such people/things as Dickinson, Emily Bronte, the Civil War, Puritanism, Calvinism, Robert and EB Browning, and Shakespeare, but the book's real work is the very intricate lyric connections that she makes both within and without Dickinson's texts. It's difficult work for the reader to make -- there are very few underlined arguments, and at some point you need to surrender reading it like an essay and embrace reading it like a poem. Once you let this happen, Howe's writing becomes as meaningful and as powerful as you're willing to admit. This is both wonderful and quite uncomfortable, as though the work knows of the hardened layers of yourself that it's chipping away at.