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346th out of 975 books
—
1,014 voters
The Unswept Room
by
Sharon Olds
From Sharon Olds—a stunning new collection of poems that project a fresh spirit, a startling energy of language and counterpoint, and a moving, elegiac tone shot through with humor.
From poems that erupt out of history and childhood to those that embody the nurturing of a new generation of children and the transformative power of marital love, Sharon Olds takes risks, writi...more
From poems that erupt out of history and childhood to those that embody the nurturing of a new generation of children and the transformative power of marital love, Sharon Olds takes risks, writi...more
Paperback, 123 pages
Published
May 20th 2009
by Alfred A. Knopf
(first published September 24th 2002)
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Aug 31, 2010
Eleanor
added it
A couple of these poems recall "I Go Back to May 1937," a Sharon Olds poem I used to carry in my wallet. It's interesting to read her more recent work, which sometimes seems like an altered point of view on previous poems (the daughter is now the mother; the mother is now the mother alone; the lover is now the former lover; etc.). Here are three that stood out to me, for different reasons:
Sleep Suite
To end up in an old hotel suite
with one’s nearly-grown children, who are sleeping, is a kind
of Ed...more
Sleep Suite
To end up in an old hotel suite
with one’s nearly-grown children, who are sleeping, is a kind
of Ed...more
Just starting to get into Sharon Olds. Everyone I know loves her, so I am excited to read more.
Things I liked here:
Unknown
If you know someone / who was there, that hour, at the burial, / could you tell them--I don’t know what you could tell them.
Sunday Night
Places we had been before, / no one would serve us, unless there was a young / unwarned woman, and I never warned her.
The Clasp
Her dark, / deeply open eyes took me / in, she knew me, in the shock of the moment / she learned me.
The Learner
An...more
Things I liked here:
Unknown
If you know someone / who was there, that hour, at the burial, / could you tell them--I don’t know what you could tell them.
Sunday Night
Places we had been before, / no one would serve us, unless there was a young / unwarned woman, and I never warned her.
The Clasp
Her dark, / deeply open eyes took me / in, she knew me, in the shock of the moment / she learned me.
The Learner
An...more
I am a big fan of "The Gold Cell" and so it is really fantastic to see how Olds has developed in the 15 years between these two collections--it's like she has grown into this great love and I was excited by her maturation as a writer. Her depth/detail and exposed tenderness and sorrow are my draws. I love how she "rewards" the reader with a flip in the middle of a poem. I thought the opener was a particularly good example of this, as was the revelation about her marriage. Suddenly, my mouth fell...more
I really like Sharon Olds. This was hard to read and very good. Some poems I cringed and winced at. "Still Life in Landscape" really does make you look at a car accident. And imagine others. "The Foetus in the Voting Booth" hangs one up in there, illegally, makes you think of all kinds of injustice, and still somehow manages not to judge, leaving that to you, the reader, man or woman. And "A Time of Passion" broke my heart and inspired a blog entry.
I liked The Dead and the Living and The Wellspr...more
I liked The Dead and the Living and The Wellspr...more
Sharon Olds is a new favorite poet. I love how visceral her poetry is. I feel it in my fingers and toes, as much as I experience it any other way. This book offers poems from every life stage, birth through childhood, early marriage, motherhood, coping with aging parents, the empty nest, and divorce in middle age. Her stuff is so relational...
I confess that I haven't read every poem in here, but I've read the majority of them, and it's not a novel--- I'm claiming it as read today just so I don't...more
I confess that I haven't read every poem in here, but I've read the majority of them, and it's not a novel--- I'm claiming it as read today just so I don't...more
This is a lovely collection in many ways. It is at its best as it explores the poet's relationship with her mother and her relationship with herself as a mother and a daughter. On the downside, there is a particular image that is often repeated that I find a little, for lack of a better word, icky. And I felt the sharp, perceptive gaze that is so evident in her poems about her mother missing in the poems about her husband. This may be by design, in order to increase the reader's shock when the e...more
Strong, swift, bold, and vulnerable - this collection stings real like stepping from a hot shower into a breezy room. Memory blurred with coping, accepting, and healing in the present moment meets loving openly in the face of emotional closures. Sharon Olds writes with middle-aged maturity mixed with youthful optimism and starry-eyed yet sober indulgence in all things body, heart, and mind.
She astounds me with her awareness of connections. I savored this book. I was a little afraid to pick it up because I experience her writing so intensely. Favorite: "The Tending."
Read this for Day 1 of Poems Bootcamp. I spent the day reading these poems out loud to myself. "The Learner" in particularly will stay with me for a long time.
An amazing poet; priceless humor, moving emotion, intense craft. I enjoyed this collection very much.
Very good open-mic poems. Layered, and very involved in the intimate moments of the family. Thick with themselves, and of sex.
I think this book could easily pass as prose poetry or short-shorts if she took out all the line breaks. It's all very personal, conversational, accessible. I remember a poem toward the beginning about having a threesome in a schoolyard tree, with recurring geometry references... a lovely poem, and the geometry bit resonated for me at the time I was reading the book. Midway through the book, though, I stopped feeling entertained by her storytelling style and decided I needed her to start telling...more
favorites:
14 sunday night
23 still life in landscape
89 the shyness
97 the learner
14 sunday night
23 still life in landscape
89 the shyness
97 the learner
No one writes about relationships like Olds. She inspire much of my writing.
A few good moments. Mostly repetitive, self-absorbed, and dull.
Many of these are poems I wish I had written...
Poetry is well written, but depressing in tone.
A typical mix of stunners, fairly strong work and the cringeworthy, which is pretty much the Olds hallmark when it comes to her collections. Maybe this is a result of her prolificity. I'm sure some day she'll sort out the goats from the lambs and have a very strong Selected. Isn't it time...mabye it exists..oh wow, I just saw she had one as early as 2002....I wonder if that's a good culling...if that matches my favorites...she's a very good reader...no wonder she's been on the circuit so long......more
She is mistress of all she touches!
so direct and yet so layered
This collection sticks to the bones. Something primitive and masterful moves in these poems, as dancers in gauzy, loose chiffon alternately squatting and twirling across a dark stage.
awesome, accessible poetry
Before reading this book, I had a vague appreciation for Olds. Upon finishing this book, I have a touchstone.
Jan 07, 2013
Mills College Library
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
december-2012,
weekly-01-07-2013
811.54 O44u 2002
The book held me all the way. I tried to read it slowly, as one should read poetry, but it has strong narrative tugs that keep one reading for emotional plot. A poetic short story of a long life. The poems to her husband had the most affect on me. I won't say more in case someone else wants to experience the discovery.
I love poetry, though I'm kind of new to exploring the vast field. Sharon Olds is someone with whom I've become acquainted only in the last year. I love the provocative and descriptive nature of her poems. I love the way she describes her beautiful relationships with her beloved husband.
The gift-giver didn't know I liked Sharon Olds, but he saw this book and read in it and thought I would like it. I love it when someone knows what I'll like just by the words alone. Can't wait to dig in.
She's a great poet. This book focuses on childhood and motherhood. Olds uses great words and images, a repetitive style but it works for her. Many read as "yes! that's a poem" others are list-like
I reread this book and found myself astonished by the excellent way Olds handles a complicated subject matter, with wry subversive import and natural eloquence.
Great stuff!
Great stuff!
Emily gave this to me at Ike's baby shower. I've just started reading it--slowly, of course.
(nearly 2 years later...)
Still reading, rereading. It's beautiful.
(nearly 2 years later...)
Still reading, rereading. It's beautiful.
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Born in San Francisco on November 19, 1942, Sharon Olds earned a B.A. at Stanford University and a Ph.D. at Columbia University.
Her first collection of poems, Satan Says (1980), received the inaugural San Francisco Poetry Center Award. Olds's following collection, The Dead & the Living (1983), received the Lamont Poetry Selection in 1983 and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Her other col...more
More about Sharon Olds...
Her first collection of poems, Satan Says (1980), received the inaugural San Francisco Poetry Center Award. Olds's following collection, The Dead & the Living (1983), received the Lamont Poetry Selection in 1983 and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Her other col...more
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Feb 29, 2008 06:44am