Reviews

The Heart Is Strange: New Selected Poems by John Berryman, Daniel Swift

tarrowood's review against another edition

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4.0

“& horribly, unlike Bach, it occurred to me / that one night, instead of warm pajamas, / I’d take off all my clothes / & cross the damp cold lawn & down the bluff / into the terrible water & walk forever / under it out toward the island.” — Henry’s Understanding
(These lines feel almost like an omen to Berryman’s untimely fate, a warning to those that might listen)

There are poems in this collection that deeply affect the reader; it is almost as if Berryman lives on a prophesies within you.
But there is a short collection included, that don’t live up to the Berryman despair, and that’s why it’s a 4 star.
Most of my favorites can be found in his Delusions, etc collection. The way faith mingles with despair is something that compels me to think more as I read.

pliego29's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad fast-paced

3.0

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