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26th out of 91 books
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Just finished the first book for this year's Birth Year Challenge. With a quick roll of the virtual dice I found myself reading books from my husband's birth year: 1966. First up: Live or Die, a collection of poetry by Anne Sexton. I have always found it much harder to write about poetry than I do fiction. I like poetry. I have written poetry. But writing about or reviewing it seems difficult to me. I feel rather like the proverbial philistine of the arts who "just knows what she likes."
Poets.o...more
Poets.o...more
Why hadn't I ever heard of this poet before?
My English Lit tutor has been telling me to look her up for ages so I finally did, hoping to cite her work in an essay I'm writing. But the essay is currently lying discarded, as I'm now devouring the work of Anne Sexton.
I would thoroughly recommend this poet to be studied alongside Sylvia Plath's work. The two go hand in hand really, however, Plath is more well-known in the UK, whereas Sexton, in my experience is hardly spoken of. I have read that sh...more
My English Lit tutor has been telling me to look her up for ages so I finally did, hoping to cite her work in an essay I'm writing. But the essay is currently lying discarded, as I'm now devouring the work of Anne Sexton.
I would thoroughly recommend this poet to be studied alongside Sylvia Plath's work. The two go hand in hand really, however, Plath is more well-known in the UK, whereas Sexton, in my experience is hardly spoken of. I have read that sh...more
This is a problem.
When a person suffers and expresses that suffering incisively, shouldn't we feel compassion and shouldn't that compassion be absolute?
Why isn't it then?
Why do goths grate on us so much and why do people sometimes say, "Then kill yourself already!" when what they'd rather have is for the person to get better?
It must be the self-centeredness of the whining. Suicide shouldn't be judged harshly, but complaining endlessly probably should.
As someone not known for being Mr. Sunshine,...more
When a person suffers and expresses that suffering incisively, shouldn't we feel compassion and shouldn't that compassion be absolute?
Why isn't it then?
Why do goths grate on us so much and why do people sometimes say, "Then kill yourself already!" when what they'd rather have is for the person to get better?
It must be the self-centeredness of the whining. Suicide shouldn't be judged harshly, but complaining endlessly probably should.
As someone not known for being Mr. Sunshine,...more
Great similes. Some of the poems feel dated and over-the-top, but the book is about choosing whether to live or die... so that's to be expected, but not entirely forgiven. The poems about her daughters and motherhood are very strong ("Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman", 'Your Face in the Dog's Neck", & "Pain for a Daughter") partially because she infuses them with fairy tales, and they are not entirely about her pain, but the effect of her pain on others. She uses meter and rhyme...more
Jan 02, 2013
Halton
added it
This was the first I'd read of Anne Sexton. I picked up one of her books at random after reading a Sylvia Plath interview in which she expressed her admiration for Sexton, and I thought that in many ways the two writers are quite similar.
The content ranges from the bitterly sad & hopeless, dealing with mental illness & subtle contemplations of suicide, to more optimistic & hopeful notes. As you would expect from the title, wrestling with the question of whether to "live or die" is th...more
The content ranges from the bitterly sad & hopeless, dealing with mental illness & subtle contemplations of suicide, to more optimistic & hopeful notes. As you would expect from the title, wrestling with the question of whether to "live or die" is th...more
I opened my copy to find her NYT obit. Such a beautiful, gifted, young woman. So sad.
Painfully sensitive, horribly depressing, joyful and heart-wrenching... I read this a lot as a teen
Amazing collection! My favorite poem from the collection is "Wanting to Die"
My favorite line from a poem: "Death's in the goodbye."
I like her nursery rhymes.
I love this book.
Anne Sexton's approach to life, death, and suicide are tragically interwoven in her collection Live or Die. The poems 'The Addict' and 'Wanting to Die' are a heart-wrenching true-life story of suicide and addiction. Sexton's poems are deep and personal, with layers of metaphor, but are an easy grasp for beginning poetry readers....
Aug 18, 2008
Jennifer
added it
Mmm, delicious. Insanity meets poetry...isn't that always the case?
I have a lovely old edition bought in Little Five Points in Georgia.
Over all I love Anne Sexton's writing.
May 22, 2013
Doug Moodie
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May 22, 2013
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Anne Sexton once told a journalist that her fans thought she got better, but actually, she just became a poet. These words are characteristic of a talented poet that received therapy for years, but committed suicide in spite of this. The poetry fed her art, but it also imprisoned her in a way.
Her parents didn’t expect much of her academically, and after completing her schooling at Rogers Hall, sh...more
More about Anne Sexton...
Her parents didn’t expect much of her academically, and after completing her schooling at Rogers Hall, sh...more
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