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Lucky Life
Book by Stern, Gerald
- GenresPoetry
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
3 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Gerald Stern
67 books33 followersGerald Stern, the author of seventeen poetry collections, has won the National Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, the Ruth Lilly Prize, and the Wallace Stevens Award, among others. He lives in Lambertville, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 19, 2015
I've always found Gerald Stern's poetry a bit frustrating for its inconsistency. I gave this collection four stars based primarily on the briliance of "Behaving Like a Jew," "At Bickford's," and "Lucky Life," all of which embody what's valuable in Stern: his wit, his candor, and his refusal to give into Romantic conceptions of nature. It's not that he doesn't find BEAUTY in nature, just that unlike, say, Mary Oliver, Stern refuses to have the injustices and failures of the world placated by watching spiders spin webs or cows ruminating. It's the Pittsburgh in him I suppose.
But many of the other poems collected here are either far too verbose, too abstract or both. My problem is not an issue of genre--I love Charles Simic's prose poems very much. It's that in some of these pieces, it feels as though Stern could have said in two stanzas what he manages to string into six or seven. But his sensory ties to the world aren't strong and evocative enough to hold my interest for that long a poem, and soon enough, I've finished reading the poem without having read the poem.
But many of the other poems collected here are either far too verbose, too abstract or both. My problem is not an issue of genre--I love Charles Simic's prose poems very much. It's that in some of these pieces, it feels as though Stern could have said in two stanzas what he manages to string into six or seven. But his sensory ties to the world aren't strong and evocative enough to hold my interest for that long a poem, and soon enough, I've finished reading the poem without having read the poem.
February 16, 2013
Excellent, earthy poetry from Gerald Stern. I picked up this collection based on the recent film by Lee Isaac Chung that takes this collection, and especially the titular poem, as source material for the film. There's a sense of settledness to the poems, a clear vision of the world in all its beauty and complexity that really makes the poems shine. And while I know nothing of the New Jersey locations that crop up regularly, they still add a sense of place, a rootedness to the collection. My favorites: Gold Flower, Pile of Feathers, I Am So Exhausted, I Need Help from the Philosophers, and of course, Lucky Life.
June 30, 2019
It's not hyperbole to say this book completely changed my life, and my belief in poetry as an avenue to relate to the world. Poems of place, poems about work, economical language and images that have almost a muscularity to them. I will always return to these poems for solace and comfort in place and the world around me. So thankful for Gerald Stern.
March 18, 2009
The poems center around aging and death. Most also "take place" in New Jersey, which makes me wonder why/how there are so many Jersey poets (especially Jewish poets from New Jersey). Stern makes plenty of religious and mythological allusions, so it's obvious that he's well-read. He also apparently likes Van Gogh (I do as well).
I thought the poems were complex but not necessarily saying anything new. (Of course, they were written over thirty years ago.) Some are long-ish, while most are fairly short. Stern doesn't use too many poetic devices, so they certainly don't inhibit one's reading of the poems at all. I might like to see more of them, actually, since they read prosaically. Overall, this is a good book for those who want to get into Stern's work.
I thought the poems were complex but not necessarily saying anything new. (Of course, they were written over thirty years ago.) Some are long-ish, while most are fairly short. Stern doesn't use too many poetic devices, so they certainly don't inhibit one's reading of the poems at all. I might like to see more of them, actually, since they read prosaically. Overall, this is a good book for those who want to get into Stern's work.
May 16, 2010
One thing that really stuck out to me in this collection was the maturity in Stern's voice.
I really like poems, like Peddler's village, Behaving Like a Jew, and Pile of Feathers, that revolve around a simple image to express a larger idea (show vs. tell).
Sometimes, I felt like the repetition in starting lines mixed with the use of street and place names took away from the emotional impact of the poem, like the focus was on these things instead.
Other poems I liked a lot:
One Foot In The River
I Am So Exhausted
County Line Road
I really like poems, like Peddler's village, Behaving Like a Jew, and Pile of Feathers, that revolve around a simple image to express a larger idea (show vs. tell).
Sometimes, I felt like the repetition in starting lines mixed with the use of street and place names took away from the emotional impact of the poem, like the focus was on these things instead.
Other poems I liked a lot:
One Foot In The River
I Am So Exhausted
County Line Road
July 12, 2010
Gerald Stern is great stuff. This was recommended to me by a summer workshop instructor, and the thing about it was the way that Stern captures details, but also a sense of dread about the world. Hmm, not dread, more like...things are beautiful, but also, tough. I was surprised to see that he's still around and publishing new books--I think I may have to write him a letter.
May 7, 2023
Love it
October 20, 2015
Road kill, weeping, some sepulchral Cretian orchards. Your standard poetry from the late twentieth century.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews