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Loading... Grief Is the Thing with Feathers: Max Porter (original 2015; edition 2016)by Max Porter (Author)
Work InformationGrief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter (2015)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A writer researching Ted Hughes is suddenly widowed and left as the single parent of two young boys. In the throes of their grief, this little family is visited by a Crow, who helps them deal with their loss. There's really not much more to this little book. It's a very strange piece, sometimes funny, sometimes sad and mostly bizarre. I think it is likely to be very divisive; people are either going to hate it, or think it is genius. I genuinely can't make up my mind.
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers is heartrending, blackly funny, deeply resonant, a perfect summation of what it means to lose someone but still to love the world – and if it reminds publishers that the best books aren’t always the ones that can be pigeonholed or precis-ed or neatly packaged, so much the better. Was inspired byAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness. In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow - antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him. As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss gives way to memories, the little unit of three starts to heal. In this extraordinary debut - part novella, part polyphonic fable, part essay on grief - Max Porter's compassion and bravura style combine to dazzling effect. Full of unexpected humour and profound emotional truth, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers marks the arrival of a thrilling new talent.-- No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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"Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -"
I don't think I totally "got" this book but I enjoyed the listen. Grief is such a hard thing to write about - so complex and personal - but Porter does it well.
4 stars ( )