The Dead and the Living

This book would have been five stars for me had it not been for the absolutely mind boggling final section entitled « The Children ». I could perhaps have made it past one poem about her children’s naked bodies uncomfortable and a little alarmed but after reading several in succession I decided to take one and a half stars off for good measure because MY GOD did they make me uncomfortable ! Do you have a right as their mother to write about their bodies? Absolutely. Is it weird for me to read them? Yeah! Will I ever pick this book back up again? Maybe. But not the last section that’s for damn sure ! I liked the poem « Conniseuse of Slugs » the most probably. And the ones about her dead grandmother. At least I didn’t have to show more read about her genitals ! Thanks Sharon for the wild ride. show less

Based on this book, Olds is a good poet. She comes up with stirring images and her analogies are usually apt. She is a bit sentimental for my taste, though that may have much to do with the subject matter. She is also intensely carnal, both in her images and in the topics of her poems. There were times when this interest veered into creepy territory (at least from my vantage point). I would read more of her work.

1984