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Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth: Poems, 2004-2006
Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth is one of Adrienne Rich's most unpredictable and evocative collections. In the folk/blues tradition behind "Rhyme," in the incantatory pattern of "Behind the Motel," in the voices from past and present in "Letters Censored, Shredded, Returned to Sender or Judged Unfit to Send," in the dystopic scenes and intimate encounters of "Draft # 20...more
Hardcover, 112 pages
Published
October 17th 2007
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published October 15th 2007)
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I was sick while reading this book, and it really influenced my reading. I would pick up the book and put it down because my head hurt too much to concentrate. So, this will be a light review. This book had a few different themes. I really enjoyed the quotes Rich opens the collection with. She claims that the "I" and "you" in poetry are not necessarily real. The idea of misunderstood identity is carried out in the first half of the book, where appearances are not always what they seem. The last...more
Poetry is always hit or miss for me. I imagine these are very good poems - they are certainly dense. Not quite stream of consciousness, though sometimes the juxtaposition of words, and the line breaks, seem impressionistic. There's a vagueness in the settings for these poems, as though the material, concrete world just isn't that important a part of what Rich is trying to convey. Unfortunately, most of these poems were lost on me - I didn't understand them analytically, and they didn't light me...more
Not to my taste, though initially I thought I might like these poems. Except for "Rhythm" and one or two others, this collection seems rambling and very disjointed. I had trouble following the flow of the poems, they didn't make sense to me, nor were they pleasing for the words or rhythm. It almost seemed like the author put too much effort into being "artsy" and clever, rather than letting the words speak for themselves. I just didn't get it or enjoy it. Oh well.
I felt like I just couldn't "get into" this collection at first. --In other words, I felt too stupid to really understand it.
The last couple of sections really drew me in, though, and wouldn't let me stop reading until far too late in the evening.
My favorite lines from the end of the first section of Three Elegies:
And beneath the skin of boredom
indecipherable fear
The last couple of sections really drew me in, though, and wouldn't let me stop reading until far too late in the evening.
My favorite lines from the end of the first section of Three Elegies:
And beneath the skin of boredom
indecipherable fear
Kind of a let down. I feel this lacks the depth and beauty of Rich's better works. I was also expecting to see more detailed exploration of some of the great social tragedies we experienced in this era, at least in America (Bush Administration corruption, Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War for example.) If those topics were addressed in here, I missed it.
The only possible way to comment on a book of poetry is to figure out which poem or poems are my favorite. In this collection, "Letters Censored Shredded Returned to Sender Or Judged Unfit to Send" is that poem, six pages of fragments of ideas that somehow work perfectly together.
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I love Adrienne Rich's poetry, so this was a welcome collection. Of course, since she died last year, it was a little emotional to read this one, especially when she touches on such themes as nostalgia and aging. She will be greatly missed by the poetry community.
I was really looking forward to this, and while there were some high points "this is not the room" for instance...it felt disjointed to me and too hard to trace her social commentary.
I don't identify as strongly with Adrienne's latest poems, perhaps because I'm not near her stage in life. I suspect that when I am 60 or so, I will really appreciate this collection.
A little too diffuse for my taste. If I had a guide walking me through Rich's references and life I might have gotten into it, but coming in cold it rarely moved me.
Rich's writing has a highly unique style. In this particular book, she avoids the traditional conventions of punctuation—a technique commonly utilized by language poets.
I am not that looking forward to Rich's late work, but maybe I'll love it.
Update: Well, that was depressing.
Update: Well, that was depressing.
Super-experimental and all-around awesome. Adrienne Rich: still a (literary) babe after all these years.
Telephone Ringing in my EAR.
This are poems of political/dissident commitment sutured with personal extensions. The modalities are willful, loose physics of texture, time, and transformation. I am itched by the ability to simulate abstract expressionist effects through daubs of wispily connected sensual phrases.
If this wasn't Adrienne Rich, I would probably be singing this collection's praises. But the problem with having an amazing and lengthy career is that you have quite a body of work to compete with and frankly, I don't know that I'm the greatest fan of Ms. Rich's current work. However, there are some standout pieces and I love anyone who combines politics and poetry. There were a couple pieces that seemed to be inspired by the aftermath of Katrina. Moving, but not crucial like the rest of her wor...more
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Adrienne Rich offers us another journey into what it means to be a poet today in a crass and harsh society. This book is a must read for those who like experimental writing and progressive politics. She is pushing the bounderies of thought and song. My review of it for Z Magazine (Jan. 2008) can be found here: https://zcommunications.org/zmag/view...
I enjoy watching Rich's choices and the directions that her poetry takes --often evolving in response to current events. While this collection is varied in its references and in its resonance for me, it contains some remarkable passages and pieces. I am struck by what Rich has skillfully done without, and by the musical quality of the sparser poems.
Adrienne Rich is a magician when it comes to putting one-syllable words in a long row, each one heavy and full as a silver coin. All lined up, they are like a necklace without the string.
While for sound she is a genius, for meaning she veers towards the private. I am left out too much of the time for my taste.
While for sound she is a genius, for meaning she veers towards the private. I am left out too much of the time for my taste.
I enjoyed this collection from Rich. Some of my favorites were "Skeleton key," "Melancholy Piano," okay, nevermind, I liked it all. But I do think my favorite was "Letters..."
Jun 28, 2008
Kathleen
added it
I really didn't get a lot from this book. perhaps others will.
May 16, 2013
Nana Asare
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Annalisa
added it
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Adrienne Rich (b. 1929). Born to a middle-class family, Rich was educated by her parents until she entered public school in the fourth grade. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe College in 1951, the same year her first book of poems, A Change of World, appeared. That volume, chosen by W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, and her next, The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems...more
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