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114th out of 1,030 books
—
1,058 voters
Walking to Martha's Vineyard
by
Franz Wright
In this radiant new collection, Franz Wright shares his regard for life in all its forms and his belief in the promise of blessing and renewal. As he watches the “Resurrection of the little apple tree outside / my window,” he shakes off his fear of mortality, concluding “what death . . . There is only / mine / or yours,– / but the world / will be filled with the living.” I...more
Paperback, 75 pages
Published
April 5th 2005
by Knopf
(first published 2003)
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This book matters to me. Here I've found phrases, images and ideas that bludgeon like a hammer or caress like a feather. Here I recognize a God I know. The God of recovering drug addicts and booze hounds, the God you turn to when it's three am and you're convulsing and shivering on the bathroom floor, the God I turned to when I was a young man and I had shipwrecked against the shoals of my own fucked up self. Wright writes about a Catholic God, about 5am masses, signs of the cross, and the fearf...more
I am the only person in the world who thought this book was awful, and I am at peace with that.
4 likes · like · see review
Nov 13, 2008
martha
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people interested in a modern poetry of spirituality; everyone
This is a book about grace. It focuses on Franz Wright's newfound sobriety and conversion to Catholicism. It's my understanding that he got a lot of flack for the latter, since religion -- or earnestness about religion -- is an unpopular topic in modern American poetry. But he's unapologetic about it and the poems are careful and spare and intense. The senses of both hope and struggle are tangible.
I kept being astonished by how *not* overwritten these were. It definitely deserved the Pulitzer it...more
I kept being astonished by how *not* overwritten these were. It definitely deserved the Pulitzer it...more
Somebody mention F Wright to me the other day, and I thought, I've never read his work, so I gave this one a shot. I think it's decent-- these are well constructed poems of religious contemplation, alternating with poems about coming to terms with an absent father (the poet J Wright). I do feel like the religious poems lack the kind of angry passion I think characterizes the best religious poets like, I don't know, George Herbert. They seem a little easy, actually, with less of the wrestling wit...more
This is a favorite collection of a dear friend. I've had it loaned to me several times (when I had the flu or a cold or we'd had a lot of rain that week and there wasn't any hot chocolate on hand) but I'd never actually read it b/c in distress I like to turn to books I've read before or books that have over 500 pages. (Very few people have the same problems when they finish reading Les Miserables that they have at the *start* of Les Miserables, is all I'm saying.) When I finally checked it out t...more
Not my favorite book from this very readworthy author, although this is the one that netted him a very nice prize.
I love The Beforelife and others by him.
Happy Birthday, Franz!
I am glad you are here and writing and crafting such poetry, such great misery-safety-nets for all of us misery acrobats here on earth!
I love The Beforelife and others by him.
Happy Birthday, Franz!
I am glad you are here and writing and crafting such poetry, such great misery-safety-nets for all of us misery acrobats here on earth!
1 like · like · see review
I saw him read from this book, and it was really terrible. Nothing worse than seeing a formerly good poet, suddenly find god. Yuck.
Franz Wright is so amazing that I think he would be dangerous to show to young writers, mainly because his style can quite easily be copied into trite, vague and emotionless crap. But Franz spins galaxies of depair and forgiveness (mostly of the self) where even the street outside the window may wish you ill or take suicidal turns towards the ocean. Wright's poetry is the poetry of deep-rooted pain and the need to find happiness in the world, and it is delivered in quick punches, startling image...more
Someone recommended this book to me years ago, because she said her boyfriend was going through a phase where he was questioning mortality and he was loving this book. She said she thought I might enjoy this book too.
Now, I don't know what vibe I was giving off that she made the correlation between her boyfriend's issues and me - but I'm glad she recommended it. I previewed a bit at the bookstore and knew I had to own it. "Walking to Martha's Vineyard" was my first exposure to Franz Wright, and...more
Now, I don't know what vibe I was giving off that she made the correlation between her boyfriend's issues and me - but I'm glad she recommended it. I previewed a bit at the bookstore and knew I had to own it. "Walking to Martha's Vineyard" was my first exposure to Franz Wright, and...more
one of my tip top faves.
MY PLACE
for Beth
Rain land, walnut blossoms raining
white
where I walk at sixteen
bright light in the north wind
Still sleeping bees at the grove's heart
(my heart's) till the sun
its "wake now"
kiss, the million
friendly gold huddlings
and burrowings of them hearing the shining
wind
I hear, my only
cure for the loneliness I go through:
more.
I believe one day the distance between myself and God will
disappear
THE MAKER
Planet, the mind
said, all
poppyfield
as I was
waking--
The listening voi...more
MY PLACE
for Beth
Rain land, walnut blossoms raining
white
where I walk at sixteen
bright light in the north wind
Still sleeping bees at the grove's heart
(my heart's) till the sun
its "wake now"
kiss, the million
friendly gold huddlings
and burrowings of them hearing the shining
wind
I hear, my only
cure for the loneliness I go through:
more.
I believe one day the distance between myself and God will
disappear
THE MAKER
Planet, the mind
said, all
poppyfield
as I was
waking--
The listening voi...more
There are few volumes of poetry that have had more impact on my life and on the way I read -- which are really maybe the same thing -- than this, Franz Wright's stirring and heartbreaking 'Walking to Martha's Vineyard.'
It's the crispness of the language and thought offered here, combined with the complete absence of language and easy answers/allusions in many places, that make this book so outstanding. (To say nothing of the subject matter.) Consider descriptions like the second stanza from the...more
It's the crispness of the language and thought offered here, combined with the complete absence of language and easy answers/allusions in many places, that make this book so outstanding. (To say nothing of the subject matter.) Consider descriptions like the second stanza from the...more
there isn't a single poem in this book that i wasn't thrilled to read. very tenuous and lonely and questioning, but also affirming. i wish i could copy out every poem right here. just one (the title poem):
"
And the ocean smells like lilacs in late August-how is that.
The light there muted (silver) as remembered light.
Do you have any children?
No, lucky for them.
Bad things happen when you get hands, dolphin.
Can you tell us a little bit about your upbringing?
There is no down or up in space or in the...more
"
And the ocean smells like lilacs in late August-how is that.
The light there muted (silver) as remembered light.
Do you have any children?
No, lucky for them.
Bad things happen when you get hands, dolphin.
Can you tell us a little bit about your upbringing?
There is no down or up in space or in the...more
Franz Wright won a Pulitzer for this book of poetry: "If you are not disturbed, there is something seriously wrong with you, I'm sorry" "The world is not illusory, we are" It's beautiful the way all tragedies are, but considering his life is the tragedy and HE is the author, there's a haunting personal level; you feel for him. I can almost sum up my opinion of his work with this quote from the book: "...entry in the contest for the world's most poignant suicide note."
If the Pulitzer committee was made up of a bunch of Christians, I can totally see why this won. Even if not, it's hard to deny that Wright knows what he's doing.
From Shaving in the Dark
And contributing one’s atoms to the green universe
how strange is that
And some have managed to live in a constant awareness
that all things, every evil thing
will be forgotten, neglecting
to mourn for every radiant thing, and so seeing
the radiance.
From Shaving in the Dark
And contributing one’s atoms to the green universe
how strange is that
And some have managed to live in a constant awareness
that all things, every evil thing
will be forgotten, neglecting
to mourn for every radiant thing, and so seeing
the radiance.
I enjoyed the poems in this book and their flow from one to the next. It was easy to read. Nothing jarring or jagged, raw or surprising. There are, however some fresh metaphors.
I appreciated the way the poet approached the themes of aging and death.
The entire book rests in a spirit of prayer. Like the Psalms, these poem alternately address the reader, God, the creation and the author's soul.
My favorite poem of the collection: "The Only Animal"
I appreciated the way the poet approached the themes of aging and death.
The entire book rests in a spirit of prayer. Like the Psalms, these poem alternately address the reader, God, the creation and the author's soul.
My favorite poem of the collection: "The Only Animal"
There are a few things in this book that I feel really enriched to have read: a handful of stanzas from the title poem; the turtle imagery at the end of "Walden"; the first page of "The Only Animal"; a couple of the very short poems ("P.S.," "The Poem"); the memorably clever "risperdal/whisperdoll" pun. On the whole, though, I think many of the epiphanies Wright presents here are so vaguely worded that they are in danger of being mistaken for cliches. I would have liked to see more incisive thou...more
while others may be put off by some of the christianity present in these poems, i found wright's spirituality to be easily accessibly from an atheist or agnostic perspective. the poems express a sense of devastation and hope simultaneously. they are written from a place of having hit rock bottom, looking up. i give these poems to friends who are struggling to climb out of the darkness.
"That glass was it filled with alcohol, water, or light // At ten / I turned you into a religion // The solitary / four-foot priest of you, I kept / the little manger candle / burning, I / kept your black half-inch of / scripture / in the hiding place // Destroyer / of the world // That empty / glass"
an excerpt from, "Flight"
This book makes me want to die crying.
an excerpt from, "Flight"
This book makes me want to die crying.
A grand arc of compelling narrative, unique images, and moments of epiphany both quiet and bold.
I'm rarely one to read a complete collection of free verse poetry, but this has jumped onto my top 10 list of favorite books.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
I'm rarely one to read a complete collection of free verse poetry, but this has jumped onto my top 10 list of favorite books.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
I have struggled to find poets like Franz Wright, and there are many and few at the same time. Walking to Martha's Vineyard was poignant, true, ethereal, and real all at the same time.
A fantastic collection. Each poem is a point of reflection for hours.
I do not want to talk a lot about his poems. Will give a sample and that would suffice:
PROMISE
Long nights, short years. Forgiving
silence
When morning comes, and pain--
no one is stranger, this whole world is your home.
I do not want to talk a lot about his poems. Will give a sample and that would suffice:
PROMISE
Long nights, short years. Forgiving
silence
When morning comes, and pain--
no one is stranger, this whole world is your home.
Hopelessly cheesy. Like a Hallmark card mixed with those awful Footprints Jesus cards. And this all coming from a hopeless romantic like me.
You know how some poets take forever to get to the ending that takes the top of your head off? These poems are distilled down to that ending. He turns massive corners with minimal armor. Beautiful.
Four of these poems are now marked with sticky things as I do still just really love them.
Not telling which ones.
Not telling which ones.
Same criticism from me as of "The Beforelife"--spare and "allusional" to the point of obfuscation (on my part).
Wright blows me away with his metaphors. I so appreciate His observations and reflections.
reminds me of billy collins, but I seem to respect and engage with these poems more ...
My first book of Wright poems and a great place to start.
Marked by a rhythm that soberly dances on the precipice of sin and grace, regret and awe, the tangible and other-worldy.
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Born in Vienna, Franz Wright is the author of fourteen collections of poetry. Walking to Martha's Vineyard (Knopf 2003) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. His newest collections, God’s Silence, and Earlier Poems were published by Knopf in, 2006 & 2007. Wright’s other books include The Beforelife (2001), Ill Lit: New and Selected Poems (1998), Rorschach Test (1995), The Night World and the Word Ni...more
More about Franz Wright...
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“I basked in you;
I loved you, helplessly, with a boundless tongue-tied love.
And death doesn't prevent me from loving you.
Besides,
in my opinion you aren't dead.
(I know dead people, and you are not dead.)”
—
24 people liked it
I loved you, helplessly, with a boundless tongue-tied love.
And death doesn't prevent me from loving you.
Besides,
in my opinion you aren't dead.
(I know dead people, and you are not dead.)”
“EPITAPH
Now I'm not the brightest
knife in the drawer, but
I know a couple things
about this life: poverty
silence, impermanence
discipline and mystery
The world is not illusory, we are
From crimson thread to toe tag
If you are not disturbed
there is something seriously wrong with you, I'm sorry
And I know who I am
I'll be a voice
coming from nowhere,
inside--
be glad for me.
”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
Now I'm not the brightest
knife in the drawer, but
I know a couple things
about this life: poverty
silence, impermanence
discipline and mystery
The world is not illusory, we are
From crimson thread to toe tag
If you are not disturbed
there is something seriously wrong with you, I'm sorry
And I know who I am
I'll be a voice
coming from nowhere,
inside--
be glad for me.
”
Jun 08, 2009 10:12am
Sep 24, 2009 08:35am