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65th out of 575 books
—
737 voters
Diving Into the Wreck: Poems, 1971-1972
"I came to explore the wreck. / The words are purposes. / The words are maps. / I came to see the damage that was done / and the treasures that prevail." These provocative poems move with the power of Rich's distinctive voice.
Paperback, 72 pages
Published
August 17th 1994
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1973)
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Wow.
That's all. WOW.
I was thinking of writing some brilliant review to follow up the madness of inspiration banging around in my head after a day of reading. But, what can I say except that everyone should read this! I found the small amount of ratings of this book to be somewhat shocking considering how powerful it is. There were moments of tingly-goodness on almost every page. Only a few poems fell short for me, but that was only because of the other poems that towered over them. The ones that...more
That's all. WOW.
I was thinking of writing some brilliant review to follow up the madness of inspiration banging around in my head after a day of reading. But, what can I say except that everyone should read this! I found the small amount of ratings of this book to be somewhat shocking considering how powerful it is. There were moments of tingly-goodness on almost every page. Only a few poems fell short for me, but that was only because of the other poems that towered over them. The ones that...more
While I do read modern poetry from time to time, I consider myself a more naive reader of verse than any other genre. I don't have the vocabulary to convey why I feel the way I do about poetry. So, in this case, I just have to say that I loved this book. In fact, I can't think of any work of modern poetry, including works by more iconic- and male- poets than Rich, that I found as rewarding.
I had heard of Rich but never really thought of reading her until I heard an NPR story about her death. Th...more
I had heard of Rich but never really thought of reading her until I heard an NPR story about her death. Th...more
She had thought the studio would keep itself;
no dust upon the furniture of love.
Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal,
the panes relieved of grime. A plate of pears,
a piano with a Persian shawl, a cat
stalking the picturesque amusing mouse
had risen at his urging.
Not that at five each separate stair would writhe
under the milkman's tramp; that morning light
so coldly would delineate the scraps
of last night's cheese and three sepulchral bottles;
that on the kitchen shelf among the saucers
a pair of b...more
no dust upon the furniture of love.
Half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal,
the panes relieved of grime. A plate of pears,
a piano with a Persian shawl, a cat
stalking the picturesque amusing mouse
had risen at his urging.
Not that at five each separate stair would writhe
under the milkman's tramp; that morning light
so coldly would delineate the scraps
of last night's cheese and three sepulchral bottles;
that on the kitchen shelf among the saucers
a pair of b...more
I'm so glad the National Book Foundation drew my attention to Adrienne Rich. I wasn't familiar with her work, but I loved this short book of political, emotional, intense poems. I said in an e-mail to a friend that I wanted to take them along with me on a solitary road trip, and I think that is because I think they go very deep and I want to read them again and reflect on them. I will be purchasing this set, well probably all of her work.
Here is an excerpt of my favorite one, Waking in the Dark
5...more
Here is an excerpt of my favorite one, Waking in the Dark
5...more
Finally got the combination of time and nerve to take on this landmark of American poetry, and was rewarded with a glimpse into the infinite. This book is ferocious in the way that early P.J. Harvey is ferocious: both feminine and feminist, full of rage and mysticism and sadness, a fearless, avenging voice of the dispossessed, a wail of freedom and grief. What strikes me about the poetry here is that it manages to be polemical, in a way, while also being effortlessly metaphorical; in other words...more
Jul 23, 2011
Rev. Mysterium
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
adult-themed,
autobiography-biography,
americana,
autonomy,
blood-on-our-hands,
break-the-cycle,
cant-wait-for-more,
cathartic,
consistantly-great-author,
controversial,
favourites,
environment,
ecology,
hard-to-put-down,
inspirational,
live-and-learn,
non-fiction,
poetry-and-visual-arts,
quick-read,
relationships,
strength-from-struggle
During a personal crisis, my sister recommended Adrienne Rich's poem The Knight to me for reflection. With my soul bleeding, I read The Knight and was grounded by how much it not only spoke to me, but was me. I was the knight. Rich has an amazing talent for cutting right to the quick and exposing the truth of life and the pain and brutal reality that comes with it.
I am now on a quest to read and process Rich's work, and this was the first book that I found to begin the journey on my path to surv...more
I am now on a quest to read and process Rich's work, and this was the first book that I found to begin the journey on my path to surv...more
I've recently made an effort to read more poetry, something that I haven't done since school really. So I'm far from being a poetry expert and judging what makes good poetry. But I did love this collection from Rich. Yes, it's very political, radically political. Yes it's very feminist, radically feminist perhaps. And yes it is very personal (I think). Do all these things make good poetry. Of course not. But presenting interesting and original ideas in such superb style (in my base judgement) ma...more
I've loved this book for 25 years...especially the poem "Stepping Backward."
Many surprising language moments and turns. A good deal of strength behind a understated, almost mocking anger. I write that line and think, what the heck does that even mean? Some lines that represent this for me are: "computing body counts, masturbating / in the factory / of facts" or "... your eyes / assuming a depth / they do not possess, drawing me / into the grotto of your skull."
But, really, the poems are able to stay in focus and not drivel over the edge (and so able to keep their edge)...more
But, really, the poems are able to stay in focus and not drivel over the edge (and so able to keep their edge)...more
Rated: harsh PG-13
You can tell a lot about a person by their poetry. I confess to knowing nothing about this author, if she’s alive or dead. The main thing I took away is that she seems lost and confused, brittle and prickly. Because of that, her poetry appeared too choppy and bewildered to really enjoy. But perhaps that’s what makes people like it, though.
It wasn’t absolutely terrible. I liked a few of her poems. But most of them were violent and distraught.
Would I recommend it? No. But that’s...more
You can tell a lot about a person by their poetry. I confess to knowing nothing about this author, if she’s alive or dead. The main thing I took away is that she seems lost and confused, brittle and prickly. Because of that, her poetry appeared too choppy and bewildered to really enjoy. But perhaps that’s what makes people like it, though.
It wasn’t absolutely terrible. I liked a few of her poems. But most of them were violent and distraught.
Would I recommend it? No. But that’s...more
Dec 26, 2008
Jennn
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
those who like strong imagery and dark, but well-written poems
Shelves:
poetry
I'm so picky when it comes to poetry and it takes a lot to wow me. Right from the first page, this book starts out powerful and lasting with "Trying to Talk with a Man", Rich explaining in such vivid imagery "out here I feel more helpless/with you than without you".
The next poem, "When We Dead Awaken", maintains the same electricity and sting as the last (e.g. "the trash/burning endlessly in the dump/to return to heaven like a stain" and "souvenirs of what I once described/as happiness", and in...more
The next poem, "When We Dead Awaken", maintains the same electricity and sting as the last (e.g. "the trash/burning endlessly in the dump/to return to heaven like a stain" and "souvenirs of what I once described/as happiness", and in...more
Nov 02, 2008
Shannon
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Mikkee, Melissa L.
Recommended to Shannon by:
My 21 year old self
Shelves:
poetry
Poetry reads very differently from a novel. While that may be stating the obvious, it's the reason I gave this book three stars instead of four. For readability, it gets a three, for writing it merits at least a four.
It was interesting to go back and re-read this book of poetry, which I read for the first time during my senior year of college. Because I read this book as a part of a class, there were notes in the margins on my thoughts for some of the poems. It was enlightening to see how my rea...more
It was interesting to go back and re-read this book of poetry, which I read for the first time during my senior year of college. Because I read this book as a part of a class, there were notes in the margins on my thoughts for some of the poems. It was enlightening to see how my rea...more
1973's Diving into the Wreck, a collection of poems dated between 1971 and 1972, marks a middle style in Adrienne Rich's development as a poet. In it, we find Rich abandoning her earlier structuralism and adopting more experimental poetic forms; these new uniquely organic forms frame her poems around a wealth of second-wave feminist ideology, and attempting to hone an unencumbered feminine dialect, Rich's use of language is aimed at expanding the province of poetry to carry political as well as...more
I've read some of Adrienne Rich's poetry before, but not all. I came across this by chance in the library today, and decided to bring it home -- I knew Diving into the Wreck itself, but not all of the other poems. They're powerful, painful, beautiful. There are only a couple that didn't really speak to me.
Jun 05, 2008
Trianna
added it
WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN
1. Trying to tell you how
the anatomy of the park
through stained panes, the way
guerrillas are advancing
through minefields, the trash
burning endlessly in the dump
to return to heaven like a stain--
everything outside our skins is an image of this affliction:
stones on my table, carried by hand
from scenes I trusted
souvenirs of what I once described
as happiness
everything outside my skin
speaks of the fault that sends me limping
even the scars of my decisions
even the sunblaze in the m...more
1. Trying to tell you how
the anatomy of the park
through stained panes, the way
guerrillas are advancing
through minefields, the trash
burning endlessly in the dump
to return to heaven like a stain--
everything outside our skins is an image of this affliction:
stones on my table, carried by hand
from scenes I trusted
souvenirs of what I once described
as happiness
everything outside my skin
speaks of the fault that sends me limping
even the scars of my decisions
even the sunblaze in the m...more
A Feminist and a confessional poetess, at her own, takes the herculean task of raising women and their status at par with their male counterparts.
Though a rebel and a radical feminist, but, contributes a lot in raising the voices of the suppressed women.
Known to be blatant, openly accuses her husband too, for his inefficiency in accepting her as his competeter, and inflicting and choosing a suicidal death for himself.
Though a rebel and a radical feminist, but, contributes a lot in raising the voices of the suppressed women.
Known to be blatant, openly accuses her husband too, for his inefficiency in accepting her as his competeter, and inflicting and choosing a suicidal death for himself.
I'm perpetually torn with Rich. There's a studied, formal quality to even her mid-career, furious work - and I rarely enjoy tight-wound poetry, at least on a sort of affective level. My other frustration with Rich is that she can envision striking images, but so many of her poems seem to me to be endless series of absolutely disconnected images, and not in a surrealist, avant-garde way, either. Just disjointed attempts at stating the same idea again and again, which can be tedious. The latter pa...more
When I was a young thing, I would save my pennies to buy everything Adrienne published. This is the pivotal book of poetry, the turning point from the earlier (and beautiful) formal poems into the rough territory of heart and world through which the later books move. Stellar.
Rich's poetry contains many powerful images but it doesn't really flow together for me. Most of the poems seem to be image after image after image. Each one is interesting and vividly described but I need more of a connector or it just feels like a string of metaphors.
Mar 22, 2009
Rory M.
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
the unhappily married
Shelves:
poetry
A collection of poems are read & reread throughout your life. When I was an agrier, younger woman, this collection appealed to me. Rereading it in my mid-30's...not so much. When I reread this collection in my 40's, or even a year from now, I may have a different reaction. Life takes us places that poetry helps us understand.
I had a hard time giving this book only one star. Adrienne Rich is supposed to be meaningful, visionary, and unparalleled: only I don't see it.
This is the first time I've read this particular collection in several years, and I will admit that I found some more clever turns of phrase than I had expected. I have no problem accepting Adrienne Rich as a real poet, and for that I'd give her at least two stars. However, upon reading her poetry, I always have the urge to close the book. So a recognitio...more
This is the first time I've read this particular collection in several years, and I will admit that I found some more clever turns of phrase than I had expected. I have no problem accepting Adrienne Rich as a real poet, and for that I'd give her at least two stars. However, upon reading her poetry, I always have the urge to close the book. So a recognitio...more
A student of mine recently wrote a piece of coursework on a Rich poem which inspired me to read this slim volume. When she's good, Rich is damn good. Made my pen itch for flow!
I don't know if I ever read anything by Adrienne Rich and I don't know if I am confusing her with a visual artist or if she is that visual artist. Regardless, it was nice reading a few poems a day and trying to find some meaning in the code. I imagine that the language is completely not coded to others, but I feel an insatiable lust for reading plain language these days and am having trouble extending at all. I like the last poem "Meditations for a Savage Child". I remember this format appealing...more
Her death sent me back to this book, which changed my life like twenty years ago. Reading the title track brought tears to my eyes. So much ferocity paired with so much empathy.
Dec 25, 2012
N.T.
added it
The center of this collection moved me greatly: "Stranger," "From the Prison House," "Dialogue," the title chapter and "Phenomenology of Anger" at top of pt II.
critical to understanding the power and tragedy of the women's movement. So much remains to be appreciated about her work. Everyone should read the poems here.
Feb 15, 2013
Carrie
added it
Read in one sitting and one standing. Just enough narrative to pull you in, but with enough of the "poetic moment" to keep you from being mired in "story."
Exasperating and bleak poetry cycles about gender struggle and body politics. Not my usual parvenu, but I appreciated hearing this voice. On the bus.
I liked this better than An Atlas of the Difficult World, although Diving Into The Wreck contains poems from an earlier era of Rich's work.
No book in the second half of the 20th Century meant more to me about learning where poems come from and what they cost than this volume.
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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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“I don't trust them but I'm learning to use them.”
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