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The World Doesn't End
The World Doesn't End
Yugoslavian-born Charles Simic, who came to the U.S. in 1954, is known as a creator of poetic fantasy. In this volume, he constructs bizarre, startling and entertaining visions in short descriptive sentences that pile one incongruous turn upon another, building images that are fresh and full of surprise. Like the river in one poem which flows backward, the power of Simic's...more
Kindle Edition
Published
(first published March 14th 1989)
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Jul 24, 2012
Scott
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Shan & The Steves
I liked this about twice as much the 2nd time around. I guess that means that next time I will grant it 12 stars. It reminds me of Shan's beautifully haunting reviews.
Jul 24, 2012
Brent Legault
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
gatewayers, had-enoughs
A series of vignettes, of poetic vignettes to be sure, that sometimes read like an unsanitized children's tale or fairy book, sometimes like a Taoist who's thrown in the towel. Many of them are short enough and sure enough of their power to be aphorisms and should, perhaps, be listed in Bartlett's. While others resemble an entry in a gifted writer's dream-journal. Here is one of those:
My thumb is embarking on a great adventure. "Don't go, please," say the fingers. They try to hold him down. Here...more
My thumb is embarking on a great adventure. "Don't go, please," say the fingers. They try to hold him down. Here...more
and so again. the used bookstore. floating quietly among the stacks. looking. looking. waiting for a book to be sitting just slightly out from the rest on the shelf, as though a hand had held and tentatively put it back. but not quite. and this poem, there in the poetry section.
The time of minor poets is coming. Good-by
Whitman, Dickinson, Frost. Welcome you whose
fame will never reach beyond your closest family,
and perhaps one or two good friends gathered after
dinner over a jug of fierce red wine...more
The time of minor poets is coming. Good-by
Whitman, Dickinson, Frost. Welcome you whose
fame will never reach beyond your closest family,
and perhaps one or two good friends gathered after
dinner over a jug of fierce red wine...more
3 likes
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Mar 11, 2013
Eric T. Voigt
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
spring-thirteen
This is my first Simic and it's just as everyone expected: I'm taken. I'm smitten with this Simic. I've been prepped for it and prodded to hurry up and read some and now I have and I feel like I could knock down a bull with one blow, or at least handle Professor Bibi Andersson more handily than normal in a wrestling match. Here's my favorite poem. It has to do with witches and I'm wondering if I'm entering a witch phase, what with all the witch haus and witch google image searching. Anyway: "O w...more
The cover of The World Doesn't End is ugly, but offers an image by Joseph Cornell. From what I've heard, one isn't supposed to dwell on book covers much. But I think Cornell is the absolute best, and so I was pleased to find Charles Simic’s weird little prose poems to be an apt match.
That’s not to say that this book is The Best. I may change my mind and grant this four stars, but I’ll have to read it again.
Prose poems are hard to define, but this collection wouldn’t be a bad way to define them....more
That’s not to say that this book is The Best. I may change my mind and grant this four stars, but I’ll have to read it again.
Prose poems are hard to define, but this collection wouldn’t be a bad way to define them....more
لوحات سيريالية مكتوبة شعراً
فلو افترضنا مثلا هذه اللوحة، كيف يمكن لشاعر أن يكتبها
حسنا إن الأمر يكون ممتعا إذا كان خيالك فى حالة صحوه التامة، وأعنى بالتامة النسبة 100% أما لو كان منقوصا فأذن بحرب ضروس مع الملل
مجهدة إلا حد ما خصوصا إذا كان الجو حارا والكهرباء زائر لايأتى صيفا.
هناك رأى أتبناه يقول: وما الداعى لإعمال الخيال بكل قوته لاستحضار صور عجائبية كهذه؟: كأن يصور الصخرة بمرآة لا تعمل، أو يصور أمه بضفيرة من دخان أسود، أو قردة لها رؤوس سقراط.... إعمال الخيال فى حد ذاته شيء ممتع، بعض الصور ممتعة...more
فلو افترضنا مثلا هذه اللوحة، كيف يمكن لشاعر أن يكتبها
حسنا إن الأمر يكون ممتعا إذا كان خيالك فى حالة صحوه التامة، وأعنى بالتامة النسبة 100% أما لو كان منقوصا فأذن بحرب ضروس مع الملل
مجهدة إلا حد ما خصوصا إذا كان الجو حارا والكهرباء زائر لايأتى صيفا.
هناك رأى أتبناه يقول: وما الداعى لإعمال الخيال بكل قوته لاستحضار صور عجائبية كهذه؟: كأن يصور الصخرة بمرآة لا تعمل، أو يصور أمه بضفيرة من دخان أسود، أو قردة لها رؤوس سقراط.... إعمال الخيال فى حد ذاته شيء ممتع، بعض الصور ممتعة...more
Imagine the Cirque du Soleil (“Quidam” edition) being transformed into a book of poetry. If possible, it might come out looking like The World Doesn’t End. In way of review, that might be about the best I can do, especially after only one reading. At the half way point, I wasn’t even sure what I thought of the collection. But by the end I was hooked. In all of these prose poems, Simic employs an effective, absurdist Mix & Match that can be confusing, beautiful and startling, often in the sam...more
If you are inclined to question Simic's poetry in this remarkable book, i recommend for more insights on the "genre" of his poetry, to read the review “The Smiles and Chills in the Poetry of Charles Simic”, published by the NY Times or the long introspective interview with the author for Paris Review. Because as Beth Steidel puts it : "Suffice to say, if you enjoy nothing more than a nice long romp in formalism, this book is not for you".
While reading it you'll plunge in a phantasmagorical terri...more
While reading it you'll plunge in a phantasmagorical terri...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
One of my favorite books, given to me by one of my favorite professors, Dr. Henenberg, that I somehow lost in the peripatetic shuffle of the last few years. If you buy this book, though, go to a bookstore. I downloaded the Kindle version and the formatting is unforgivable. Random symbols are added into sentences. The names of the poems are in one section and the poems in another. When you start the book, you're automatically 30% done. Wtf? You have to swipe backwards to actually get to the first...more
Some of the poems were a little too outlandish for me. But the truth of the world felt oddly and uncomfortably captured through these passages.
I would recommend lightly though I may not likely reread.
This was one of my favorites:
He held the Beast of the Apocalypse by it's tail,
the stupid kid! Oh beards on fire, our doom
appeared sealed. The buildings were tottering; the
computer screens were as dark as a grandmother's
cupboards. We were too frightened to plead.
Another century gone to hell—and f...more
I would recommend lightly though I may not likely reread.
This was one of my favorites:
He held the Beast of the Apocalypse by it's tail,
the stupid kid! Oh beards on fire, our doom
appeared sealed. The buildings were tottering; the
computer screens were as dark as a grandmother's
cupboards. We were too frightened to plead.
Another century gone to hell—and f...more
Jun 10, 2012
A.M.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
poetry,
2012-challenge-list
Unexpected is the word that comes top of mind when trying to describe this collection of prose poetry by Charles Simic, who received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for The World Doesn't End. For me, reading these poems was akin to walking through an exhibit of surrealist art.
"You never know what Charles Simic is up to until you reach the end of the line or bottom of a paragraph. Waiting for you might be a kiss. Or a bludgeon. A smile at the absurdities of society or a wistful, grim memory of Worl...more
"You never know what Charles Simic is up to until you reach the end of the line or bottom of a paragraph. Waiting for you might be a kiss. Or a bludgeon. A smile at the absurdities of society or a wistful, grim memory of Worl...more
Back to Simic after time with World this late summer. I'll let him speak for himself with what are still my two favorite pages:
12:
"It was the epoch of the masters of levitation. Some evenings we saw solitary men and women floating above the dark tree tops. Could they have been sleeping or thinking? They made no attempt to navigate. The wind nudged them ever so slightly. We were afraid to speak, to breathe. Even the nightbirds were quiet. Later, we'd mention the little book clasped in the hand of...more
12:
"It was the epoch of the masters of levitation. Some evenings we saw solitary men and women floating above the dark tree tops. Could they have been sleeping or thinking? They made no attempt to navigate. The wind nudged them ever so slightly. We were afraid to speak, to breathe. Even the nightbirds were quiet. Later, we'd mention the little book clasped in the hand of...more
My favorite book ever, taken on an overall enjoyment per-word mathematical formula, would probably be the very short stories and aphorisms that make up Kafka's Parables and Paradoxes. I like other books probably more, but those books have lots of words, and they are long and in a quick moment just opening up to a page there is most likely not going to be any immediate enjoyment gleaned from the pages (unless if luck was on my side and I opened up to say that talking light bulb scene of Gravity's...more
11 likes
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like
· see review
Jan 21, 2008
Robert Beveridge
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
finished,
cle-pub-lib
Charles Simic, The World Doesn't End: Prose Poems (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990)
Charles Simic won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for The World Doesn't End, and it is blessedly easy to see why. This collection (which, despite its subtitle, is mostly prose poems, with a few "regular" poems thrown in for good measure) could easily be a primer for the aspiring poet on exactly how to write a prose poem. (Would that more who attempt it had read this!) In the days when prose poetry has fallen so...more
Charles Simic won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for The World Doesn't End, and it is blessedly easy to see why. This collection (which, despite its subtitle, is mostly prose poems, with a few "regular" poems thrown in for good measure) could easily be a primer for the aspiring poet on exactly how to write a prose poem. (Would that more who attempt it had read this!) In the days when prose poetry has fallen so...more
2 likes
·
like
· see review
2007 wrote: I am increasingly in awe of this poet. This is perhaps the third volume of his work I have read. With only a page of words, he can make a full-bodied story. Each page is a segment in time, a glimpse that leaves one with trails leading to their deepest past and most unknown future. Simic is a winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. The poems in this piece had much to do with the award, and are completely worthy of the acclimate. This book made me wince, laugh, question and decide.
Earlier today there were two apparent bombs that went off at the end of the Boston Marathon. It was a book I couldn’t really put down after I started reading it. It seemed the right thing to be reading today. In very short pieces taking up, each, less than a page - they describe a world that is both nonsensical and makes perfect sense. Much like today. He writes of pain and wonder and mystery. This is a day for poetry. Other words can’t describe it. I’m glad I read it.
May 04, 2010
Joanna
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
100-books-2010,
poetry
This was such a dream like volume of poetry. The way that Simic uses language to create fresh and imaginative images is a constant surprise. The fact that most poems are titled only by first line, and only in the table of contents, makes the experience of this slim volume almost like reading a lengthy minor epoch. I enjoyed the leaps and the turnings quite a bit. A wonderful journey through some of Simic's work.
Ah, Charles Simic, my secret husband. Loved this. Just ordered this online to own it and love it some more. Also his notebooks book which looks amazing in reviews. I thought Wallace Stevens was my secret husband for a long time but then I discovered Charles Simic and realized Wallace was more like a first husband that there is this big connect with but it just didn't work out. Maybe it was the whole banker thing. Who knows. Thank goodness Charles came along.
2 likes
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like
· see review
Jan 07, 2009
Scott
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone
Recommended to Scott by:
Christina Mengert
Shelves:
favorites
I searched far and wide for this book. It wasn't until I ventured into the course books at the William and Mary college bookstore that I found it. All of that searching was for a good cause, as this is one of my favorite books. It's pretty obvious after the first page or so why this book won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. The first book (and perhaps only) of prose poems to do so.
"
هل أَكَلَةُ لحوم البشرِ الرّوسُ أسوأ من أقرانهم الإنكليز؟
بالتأكيد. فالإنكليز يأكلون القَدَمَ فقط، بينما يأكلُ الرّوسُ الرّوحَ. "الروح سرابٌ،" قلتُ لآنا ألِكساندروڤنا، لكنها مضتْ تأكل روحي رغم ذلك.
"أمثل طبق "كونفيت " البطّ رائع المذاق، أم مثل بطلينوس العنق القصير المذهل الآتي لتوِّهِ من موطنه المالح؟" تساءلتُ. بينما اكتفتْ بِفَرْكِ بطنها وابتسمتْ لي عبر الطاولة.
"
هل أَكَلَةُ لحوم البشرِ الرّوسُ أسوأ من أقرانهم الإنكليز؟
بالتأكيد. فالإنكليز يأكلون القَدَمَ فقط، بينما يأكلُ الرّوسُ الرّوحَ. "الروح سرابٌ،" قلتُ لآنا ألِكساندروڤنا، لكنها مضتْ تأكل روحي رغم ذلك.
"أمثل طبق "كونفيت " البطّ رائع المذاق، أم مثل بطلينوس العنق القصير المذهل الآتي لتوِّهِ من موطنه المالح؟" تساءلتُ. بينما اكتفتْ بِفَرْكِ بطنها وابتسمتْ لي عبر الطاولة.
"
1 like
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like
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This book is a gem,.., its eccentricity, its boundless joy in the midst of trauma and war. I love the way it skirts the boundaries of reality, never allowing the reader to quite get his footing. The moment you become certain of where you are, he astounds yet again with his bizzare leaps and fresh images, simultaneously being the master of the absurd and of hyper-meaning.
Mostly prose-poems with surreal imagery that is occasionally inaccessible (which is NOT the case with Simic's more traditional verse poetry). The endings of these short pieces often have lovely non-sequiturs and other types of twists. My favorite poem in "The World Doesn't End" is about a guy who imagines himself as bait in a mousetrap in the cellar. Weird.
3 stars, even though the percentage of really liked pieces is more than 'meh' pieces.
i think it's mainly because i expected a lot after reading all the reviews. i do think i'd probably change this review in 2 years if i reread it.
overall, enjoyable short read.
update: changing it to 4 stars because dammit he has a wild imagination and i love/respect/admire that.
i think it's mainly because i expected a lot after reading all the reviews. i do think i'd probably change this review in 2 years if i reread it.
overall, enjoyable short read.
update: changing it to 4 stars because dammit he has a wild imagination and i love/respect/admire that.
A few bits here and there that I really enjoyed, but, overall, it didn't do too much for me. Something of a disappointment. My favorite part: "I was stolen by the gypsies. My parents stole me right back. Then the gypsies stole me again. This went on for some time." Sometimes, though, Simic comes off like Cosmic Stan with less theoretical physics.
Breathtaking in his simplicity, intoxicating in his imagery, stupefying in his power to repeatedly cut you right down to the bone. Simic is the rarest of writers who can take up the esoteric and transform it into the near-universal. I read this book and felt my brain being rearranged.
Some of the poems in this collection are really amazing and make one feel a range of emotions, from shock to confusion to love to laughter.
The rest of them sound like a mentally insane, drunk, homeless man's preaching of an extraterrestrial gospel on the street corner.
The rest of them sound like a mentally insane, drunk, homeless man's preaching of an extraterrestrial gospel on the street corner.
pg 17 :
The stone is a mirror which works poorly. Nothing in it but dimness. Its dimness or your dimness, who's to say? In its hush your heart sounds like a black cricket.
I love this book. You can flip to any page and read (it's a collection of prose-poems).
The stone is a mirror which works poorly. Nothing in it but dimness. Its dimness or your dimness, who's to say? In its hush your heart sounds like a black cricket.
I love this book. You can flip to any page and read (it's a collection of prose-poems).
لبس الطفل قناع الكوميديا فى شارع البنايات الفقيرة الخربة ذات الحجارة الرمادية , جاء القناع من أطلال السينما التى ظل معلقاً فوق ستارتها مع رفيقه قناع التراجيديا . أيها الطفل الذى يجرى لابساً النعل الأحمر …كم أنتظر أن أرى واحدة من حسناوات الشاشة الصامتة مسرنمة فى يقظتك
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| صدر حديثا - كتب و...: العالم لا ينتهي - شعر - تشارلز سيميك | 1 | 34 | May 09, 2013 01:03pm |
Charles Simic (born Dušan Simić) is a Serbian-American poet and the 15th Poet Laureate of the United States. He is co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review. Simic is the 2007 recipient of the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. This $100,000 (US) prize recognizes outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.
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“If the sky falls they shall have clouds for supper.”
—
18 people liked it
“I was already dozing off in the shade, dreaming that the rustling trees were my many selves explaining themselves all at the same time so that I could not make out a single word. My life was a beautiful mystery on the verge of understanding, always on the verge! Think of it!”
—
8 people liked it
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Jul 23, 2012 12:30pm
That is most excellent! I love Merwin! I have two of his at home to r...more
Jul 23, 2012 12:38pm