How to Avoid Huge Ships

by Julie Bruck

Both “grave and brave, serious and hilarious”—new poems from a Governor General’s Award–winning poet.

Genres: Poetry

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2018

Reviews

[Magdelanye · Rating 3 out of 5]

In lieu of faith, there were books
As my mother lay dying I looked
things up

I believe this is a quote from one of the poems, maybe two.
I was so disturbed by this book that my notes are sketchy.
I thought of reading to my mother as she lay dying. The words and the spaces between us.

each of us dragging our own conclusions
like wet cement p19

Julie Bricks careful placement of words may give her the navigational skills she requires, but the destination is over the horizon. We can't avoid the menacing shadows of the huge ships entirely as they loom suddenly out of the mist.

[Lynn Tait · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joyful read. Great writing and subject matter. Clever humour. Loved every minute of it. The book sparkles!

[Kathy Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are new to poetry, Julie Bruck's book "How To Avoid Huge Ships" is a good place to start. Bruck builds meaning with each line break and bit of punctuation, doubling and redoubling significance: "As my mother kept dying, I looked / things up, assembling a glossary / of hopeless causes...". The subjects are classic as well: family, death, those daily moments that matter in ways made clear only after contemplation and the work of creation -- what Wordsworth called "emotion recollected in tranquility.

[Melinda Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warning: If you read this when you're younger than middle-aged it will contain major life spoilers. These poems are a map for sailing into our next phases of life without sinking, but perhaps not avoiding those huge ships. They're huge after all. This a book to buy and keep. Recommend, but don't lend it out because there will be days, long days that seep into longer nights, that you find you will need to pick this up again.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these smart, thoughtful, dryly funny poems.

[Jessie B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling and personal

[Kira Godley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those rare books I think I will remember for the rest of my life, and one that I will surely keep coming back to.