Reviews

The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson

alitasharing's review against another edition

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4.0

She writes like she must not reveal what's going on; like there is a curse on her tongue that forbids her from speaking plainly. Everything is slanted and has to be whispered to you, dropped around, and peppered. Overall, a rewarding reading experience even if you would never want to be caught in the barbed wire fence of a relationship like this.

nikotta's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

brisingr's review against another edition

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4.0

- actually, 3 starts for the content, but my god, the writing. truly full of beauty

eesreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

5.0

erinduffy713's review against another edition

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challenging emotional fast-paced

4.5

savbad's review against another edition

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4.0

I can the artistry but it did not speak to me because I am a gay woman and would have never let a man make me write (fictional) essay/poems about him.

Haunting your ex, though, is very lesbian.

franchescanicole's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Honestly, I'm not a big poetry person, so I don't know what I expected when I read this. To be honest, I didn't really understand anything, but that's mostly because of my limited ability to think critically about essays. 😭 I was expecting something more...raw and practical. If that makes sense??? I was definitely not the target audience for this kind of poetry. I was more excited about the subject matter.   

ramramyum's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

tildahlia's review against another edition

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4.0

Unique in form and structure, I enjoyed the strangeness of this collection. I can't say I was able to absorb every reference (poetry/poetic prose is a work-in-progress for me), but the rawness of the emotion oozed out of each page to an extent it's hard to imagine it being purely fiction. I appreciated that this book stepped beyond the cliches of 'sad/jealous jilted wife' to explore broader themes about having work and ideas appropriated by a man and otherwise not being 'seen' for one's talents and smarts. I plan to read more Carson.

irmah's review against another edition

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3.0

will I ever have enough knowledge of history and literature to understand Carson’s work? probably not
is that gonna stop me from reading it? most definitely not