Becky Isett
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 347 |
| correct: | 240 (69.2%) |
| skipped: | 201 |
| best streak: | 9 |
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I really enjoyed the style of writing for this book. It's very artistic and pretty. A lot of it was a little overpowering in the flowery department, but I kinda like when a novel reads like poetry. The plot was not very important, but still decent enough, mostly because I like tattoos and crazy people. I could really do without the last like 20 pages or so though. Maybe it's just me, but I think the author went in a silly direction. If it wasn't for the ending I would have given this 4 stars. ]]>
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Akhmatova is a Russian poet who remained isolated for most of her literary career. All of these poems reflect that a little, I think. They're intense, almost brutally so. Most are depressing and cold, but in a really passionate way. religious and historical references are the usual themes. The translation is really good, although I don't really have much to compare it to... but I think her message gets across in all her poems. Definitely not for everyone, but really breathtaking if you can get through it.
Lot's Wife
And the just man trailed God's shining agent,
over a black mountain in his giant track,
while a restless voice kept harrying his woman:
"It's not too late, you can still look back
at the red towers of your native Sodom,
the square where once you sang, the spinning-shed,
at the empty windows set in the tall house
where sons and daughters blessed your marriage bed."
A single glance: a sudden dart of pain
stitching her eyes before she made a sound...
Her body flaked into transparent salt,
and her swift legs rooted to the ground.
Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seem
too insignificant for our concern?
Yet in my heart I never will deny her,
who suffered death because she chose to turn. 1922-24 ]]>
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I think the main theme of this book is Don't be afraid to make art because not making art is even scarier than making art! Oh, but if you're not making art, don't worrry because you will make art once you realize that you don't have to live up to anyone's expectations but your own! The exclamation points are necessary because that is seriously how the entire book is worded. I think I was under the impression that this was going to be more about the role fear plays in the artistic process, and I think that may have been the author's intention... but it comes off more as a bad motivational speaker, complete with dumb jokes and irrelevant anecdotes. ]]>
I really wish you could give half stars for books because really I feel this is more of a 3 1/2. To be more specific, I feel that some parts of this book deserve a 5 while other parts are more of a 2. Overall, it seems like the main motif of this book was garbage, the garbage we create, store, and eventually throw away, and the "valuable" garbage of memory. I like that a lot. Some of the characters were trite and whole sections would go by that I wasn't really interested in, but it told a very unique history of intertwining lives. ]]>