Here in paperback for the first time is the celebrated eleventh book of poems by Galway Kinnell. The book his stunning requiem for those who died i...
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reviews
Nov 27, 2009
Tracy O
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I've seen Galway Kinnell read and so I've got kind of a starry-eyed fan thing going on for him. He's a GREAT, moving reader. And, I love his poetry. This book is everything I love about how he can evoke a moment, but also invest it with something transcendent (sp?). I'm not sure how he achieves the elevation of the everyday birthday party or carpentry project into something that feels like your life depends on it, but he does. Even without the incredibly moving 9/11 and Jane Kenyon poems th
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Feb 19, 2011
James
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There's some interesting poetry here. Those poems early in the book are longer narratives, more like extended studies of snapshot moments. In one, Kinnell tells how he finds the frail body of a vole he'd discarded is being buried and stored for food by beetles. Another is about he and his father pulling a nail from a board. After carefully detailing how his father had originally driven the nail years ago, he tells how they both need to cooperate to pull the nail from the stubborn wood, then
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Jan 04, 2009
Pris
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Strong Is Your Hold O Mortal Flesh, 18 Jan 2007
The book's title derives from Walt Whitman's Last Invocation: Strong is your hold O mortal flesh, / Strong is your hold O love. In 2000, Galway Kinnell, another poet who draws from life, wrote in the preface to "A New Selected Poems": "For many years, I have felt exasperated by my intractable habit of working at certain poems again and again, over long spans of time. But in recent years I have More...
Oct 09, 2008
Robert
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Galway Kinnell, Strong Is Your Hold (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)
I have to admit that up until now I've never run across a Galway Kinnell poem I've liked. I rather expected to pick this up, skim through it, write a generic bad review, and move on. But it seems Kinnell has (with the exception of one more-of-the-same poem) mellowed out a great deal as he's gotten older and turned his thoughts to interpersonal, rather than global, politics:
“Now beings what could be called
ca More...
I have to admit that up until now I've never run across a Galway Kinnell poem I've liked. I rather expected to pick this up, skim through it, write a generic bad review, and move on. But it seems Kinnell has (with the exception of one more-of-the-same poem) mellowed out a great deal as he's gotten older and turned his thoughts to interpersonal, rather than global, politics:
“Now beings what could be called
ca More...
Jan 12, 2008
Rick
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Mr. Kinnell turned 80 this year and I bought this and his New Selected with the understanding that I would attend a celebration of his birthday at Cooper Union. Unfortunately I dawdled over dinner that evening and arrived at the Great Hall only fifteen minutes before the program was to start and was shut out. Poetry lives! The free event was overflowing and they were admitting no more audience members, even as people piled up behind the descending staircase. “What about standing room?” Nope, all
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Nov 28, 2007
Carolyne
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Galway Kinnell is one of those poets who I read and think, "crap, how am I ever going to live up to that." This book was no different, but at 80 years old it is a bit encouraging. Perhaps if I am writing what I am now, I will be almost as good if I make it to 80. The good aspects of this book are the reflective qualities, the looking back on his life, the gentleness and honesty with which he handles death, without glorifying or sentimentalizing. The less wonderful aspects are that
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Dec 15, 2007
Derek
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After struggling a bit with Strand I sought out Galway Kinnell, easily my favorite poet. I had not yet read this new collection of poems and quickly digested it in a sitting. Kinnell is easy to read, like a person talking with you in the room. But unlike conversations you can return to Kinnell's poems again and again. He is earthy, strong, yet gentle in his words and subjects. This volume contains "When the Towers Fell," and hard to read but not sentimental refection on Sept. 11. As he
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Aug 25, 2010
Prepare for the 2010 Poets Forum in New York City (October 28-30) by reading Kinnell's newest book of poetry, and check out the Poets Forum 2010 bookshelf for the latest collections by each of the poets participating in the Poets Forum. Happy reading!
Jun 25, 2008
DS
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What is most interesting to me about this book is that it seems like a time traveler's notebook. In other books, he was more rooted to a current time, like what what going on in the poem was rooted to "the now". But here, we have grown children as kids, reflections back, the current, recent events. It's ironic that the looseness of time and place appears in a book advertising that the world's hold on us is strong.
As sensual as ever, though more reflective I'd say. The poem More...
As sensual as ever, though more reflective I'd say. The poem More...
Oct 10, 2010
Marguerite
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This is underwhelming, reading more like a country journal than verse that transforms vision or understanding. Two snippets stand out:
"Clarity turns out to be an invisible form of sadness."
"Think of the wren and how little flesh is needed to make a song."
I didn't listen to the CD of poems read by the author because the poems bored me. This will be recycled.
"Clarity turns out to be an invisible form of sadness."
"Think of the wren and how little flesh is needed to make a song."
I didn't listen to the CD of poems read by the author because the poems bored me. This will be recycled.
Feb 24, 2011
Heidi
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Feb 15, 2010
Emily
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Absolutely beautiful in its seemingly everyday revelations. "It All Comes Back" is perhaps one of the best explanations of the tension between protecting loved ones and writing the truth. I've only read Part 1 of the book, mostly because I keep stopping to reread certain lines again and again. I have liked Kinnell before, but this book makes me love him.
Jun 06, 2008
Dan
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I liked this book and his poems. The book came with a CD and it is always nice to hear the poet read his own work. The flow of the poem and meaning can sometimes be interpreted differently, and be seen in a different light when read by the author.
Mar 15, 2011
Heather S.
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thankyoumara! i'm LOVING it!
==update==
this precious book along with several others were stolen on our journey home from kazakhstan. it was a small little black rolling suitcase full of the books i COULD not leave behind! what irony!
==update==
this precious book along with several others were stolen on our journey home from kazakhstan. it was a small little black rolling suitcase full of the books i COULD not leave behind! what irony!
Jan 02, 2008
Tommy
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Galway is one of my favorite poets and I own 2 of his books. This one comes with a bonus cd that is really great, if you like to listen to poetry read by the poet, and Galwy is an excellent reader, good stuff.
Feb 24, 2008
Charlotte
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The epigraph of this book unifies these poems that are very much an elegy to life:
"Tenderly--be not impatient. Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh. Strong is your hold, O love."
"Tenderly--be not impatient. Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh. Strong is your hold, O love."
May 06, 2007
Andrew
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Read selections in our poetry reading group: suck-tastic! Clumsy, ham-fisted, sentimental rot. Kinnell does have an amazing bass voice in his recording readings of the poems, though.
Feb 18, 2010
Angela
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poetry about everyday rural ocurrances. Male writer on male topics, which is especially appreciated.
May 07, 2008
Heidi
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Oh man, I picked this up on a road trip through the desert and I need to send it to zip next...
some stumble, some fall, and some rip right into you.
some stumble, some fall, and some rip right into you.
Feb 04, 2012
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