Nonetheless, The Game of Boxes is that rare occurrence in contemporary poetry, a collection at once emotionally devastating and intellectually sharp, turned inward to the working of the self and, more importantly, outward to those points of contact where the self is troubled and destabilized by the dread-inducing universe of which it is a part. Christopher Kempf is a Ph. Skip to main content. Christopher Kempf. Thursday, May 16, But we know more than they think.
The lover in these poems know[s] agape means both dumbly open and love not the kind of love that climbed the stairs to you. Barnett seems to find the sublime in the subway, in a discussion of religion, alone, or in a simple game played with the speaker's son.
In addition to the slice of life moments, Barnett has 14 poems each titled "Chorus," which switch to third person and give these poems the feel of a Greek drama, the chorus being the collective refrain of the play. I think the collective feel keeps each from staying pigeonholed as 'confessional' poetry -- we're ch Receiving this turned out to be pleasant surprise. I think the collective feel keeps each from staying pigeonholed as 'confessional' poetry -- we're challenged to see where we have had our feet in those shoes: Chorus Everyone asks Everyone asks what we're afraid of but we aren't supposed to say.
We could put this list on the list, its infinity. Who knows why we're here, it's a "mystery. One that struck me, perhaps because of the ease with which she combines the daily and the eternal, not being mystical, not being trite. This is the last poem in the collection and seems to underscore the underlying theme. Providence This evening I shared a cab with a priest who said it was a fine day to ride cross town with a writer.
But I can't finish the play I said, it's full of snow. The jaywalkers walked slowly, a cigarette warmed someone's hand. Some of the best sermons don't have endings, he said while the tires rotated unceasingly beneath us.
All over town people were waiting and doubleparked and making love and waiting. The temperature dropped until the shiverers zipped their jackets and all manner of things started up again. I'm not sure this is a collection I would have picked out on my own, but the aha moments grow with additional readings.
I will be reading more of the poet's work. Jan 06, Andrea Blythe rated it really liked it Shelves: poetry. It took me a while to connect with the poems in this collection. Some poems I had to reread several times until they began to click though I think the distance had more to do with my headspace than with the poetry. Once it did click, though, I discovered poetry that took the everyday and commonplace and didn't so much as elevate it, as roll around in it, feeling the sharp and soft edges and appreciating them for what they are.
The collection is split in three sections. The first, "Endless Forms It took me a while to connect with the poems in this collection. The first, "Endless Forms Most Beautiful," features a dozen or so poems named "Chorus," which alternate with other poems with individual titles.
The titled poems all deal with an "I" narrator, an individual, who could be the same individual in each case, while the Chorus poems all focus on a "We" narrator that takes up the song of the populace that circles the individual. Sometimes, while driving or walking down the street, I'll break out of my own personal narrative and be stunned by how many lives are going on around me, each with their own stories, their own internal monologues — reading "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" reminded me of that experience.
The second section, "Of All Faces," is comprised of a single long poems, called "Sweet Double, Talk Talk," a modern love story, full of sex and intimacy and distancing and coming round again.
It's beautiful and subtle and bitter sweet, like love often is. I read this through a couple of times and connected deeper with it on the second reading. The last section, called "The Modern Period," is a series of poems that approach everyday moments, such as visiting a doctor, and finds deeper resonance in each moment.
Jun 06, Christina M Rau rated it really liked it Shelves: poetry. The speakers in Catherine Barnett's The Game Of Boxes vary among the innocent child, the adult in duty, the unsure woman, and the third person observer. That variety offers a renewed look at the world with every poem.
Most poems show her mastery of minimalism, using specific nouns to elicit tone without needing the backstory, the excess words, or the title to speak for the poem. Though some poems veer into enigma, most become clear when considered in the space of the collection.
Most of the poem The speakers in Catherine Barnett's The Game Of Boxes vary among the innocent child, the adult in duty, the unsure woman, and the third person observer. And everything from "Sweet Double, Talk-Talk" packs a world of fear, confusion, and wonder.
Apr 19, Jeff added it. I don't want to dedicate stars here because I don't want to bash a poet on her highly-touted second work. And I know she won the Academy of American Poets Award and I know the other reviewers seem to be in love here, but I was pretty unimpressed by this work.
Nothing challenges, nothing is unique or traditional. It reads like someone who wanted to write what she always thought poetry was but never considered what it could be. I feel bad writing this, don't want to knock someone around here.
So I I don't want to dedicate stars here because I don't want to bash a poet on her highly-touted second work. So I'll just be a little mean and leave the stars to the sky.
Jul 14, Mark Bruce rated it really liked it. Lovely little book that teeters on the precipice of abstract poetry without ever quite going over the edge.
Feb 17, Sophie added it Shelves: poetry. Dec 29, Linda rated it it was amazing Shelves: poetry. I read the whole book in one sitting. Then I read it again the next day. This is something I rarely do with poetry books, but I think that as the first two sections are written as contained sequences, they read better as a whole. The poems are beautifully and carefully made, very satisfying to read and surprising how much energy and life they hold inside them.
I love this book. I'll read it again and again. Dec 09, Richard rated it really liked it Shelves: read-in , poetry. This book has three distinct sections. I didn't care for the first a mother's imagined voices of a kind of Lost Boy tribe , loved the second a jaded loved caught by an erotic fascination , and thought the third was okay a competent but unexciting case of urban ennui.
A better than average collection. Jan 06, Erin rated it really liked it Shelves: poetry-poetics. I think I need to read this book a few more times before I can give it a decent review.
The poems are easy to read, but they have a density to them. Some of the themes in the book include abandonment, loss, and love, both the purely sensual kind and the kind of a mother given to a child.
Aug 19, Anne rated it really liked it. I love this! Everyone asks us what we're afraid of but children aren't supposed to say. Nov 09, Aran rated it really liked it Shelves: poetry. I wasn't entirely convinced until the middle section "Of All Faces"-- slim, sexy, slightly-rhymey. Mar 20, Gerry LaFemina rated it really liked it Shelves: poetry.
ISBN Format Paperback. Publication Date. Subject Poetry. Pages Trim Size 6 x 9. About the Author. Her honors include a Whiting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
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