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lattelibrarian's review
5.0
As many of you probably know by now, I love Anne Carson!!! She's so innovative, fresh, breath-taking, and insightful. Her poems and essays are just so incredible and help me to see things in a new light. Plainwater takes some poetry and some essays in the form of diary entries, similes, and locations. It's just all so stunning, and she seems to do it flawlessly.
This is definitely a collection I need to reread five, ten years down the line to see how it resonates with me then, to see how much I've learned, how far I've come. Her writing is always complex, layered, and multi-faceted in ways that almost seem to require the reading of her writing over and over--not because her writing is complicated, but because it is just so deep and involved that there'll always be something new and fresh to come back to.
Review cross-listed here!
This is definitely a collection I need to reread five, ten years down the line to see how it resonates with me then, to see how much I've learned, how far I've come. Her writing is always complex, layered, and multi-faceted in ways that almost seem to require the reading of her writing over and over--not because her writing is complicated, but because it is just so deep and involved that there'll always be something new and fresh to come back to.
Review cross-listed here!
minnchops's review
1.0
To be clear, I loved quite a few moments but its not her best. What it is though is interesting as an exploration of style. There’s a lot she’s playing around with here that evolves greatly in her later work.
Made me reappraise Red Doc>, so there’s that too.
Made me reappraise Red Doc>, so there’s that too.
captainjamesflint's review
5.0
extremely lovely, intricate and thought-provoking. i think the anthropology of water (particularly the sections on pilgrimage and the swimmer) impacted me the most.
realalexmartin's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The first half of this book is difficult to get through, I’m not gonna lie. The poetry is at times odd and experimental, perhaps even detrimentally so, but it is no less interesting and incredibly ahead of its time. Many of these poems were written in the early 90s, and you can clearly see where the influence for 2010s Rupi Kaur-like poetry came from. The essays in this half are great, as to be expected with Carson.
The second half takes this book to incredible heights (quite literally). Carson flexes her narrative construction and style here, creating a meditative yet continually-burning tone. Carson continues to surprise with her expression of human experience.
The second half takes this book to incredible heights (quite literally). Carson flexes her narrative construction and style here, creating a meditative yet continually-burning tone. Carson continues to surprise with her expression of human experience.