Review: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories 2 by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt

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Reviewed by Connie

Published: 2012

It's about: Christina and Ingrid reviewed volume 1 of The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories last year, a book that serves to prove that "the universe is not made up of atoms; it's made up of tiny stories." In these two volumes, actor Joseph Gordon-Leavitt "directs thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. With the help of the entire creative collective, Gordon-Levitt culls, edits, and curates the massive numbers of contributions into a finely tuned collection." Basically, it's a collaborative effort of poetic, one or two-sentence stories with corresponding artwork.

I thought: I thoroughly enjoyed this book -- more than Christina and Ingrid enjoyed the first. Although I never read volume 1, I'd say from the few selections I've seen from it that volume 2 far exceeds it.

Naturally, as a collaborative effort, some of the tiny stories are insightful, intriguing, or thought-provoking, while others fall flat or come across as desperately emo. But I'd say the former greatly outnumber the latter.

It would make a great coffee table book (or bathroom book... not that I keep mine in the bathroom. Hahem.)

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf

Reading Recommendations: If you are a fan of books such as PostSecret, you will likely enjoy this book.

Warnings: None

What I'm reading next: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

**I received a complimentary review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda

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Reviewed by Christina

Published: As 20 Poemas de amor y una Canción desesperada, 1924. This translation, by W.S. Merwin, 1969

It's about: Twenty love poems. And then a song of despair.

I thought: Well. First of all, a disclaimer: I really have no right to review poetry. I know so little about it, and it's been years since I read much poetry at all. So consider this more of a response than a review if you want to.

Today I got a hankerin' for some lovey poetry ('tis the season). Enter Señor Neruda. And boy, does he deliver the goods. This is an intensely romantic collection of poems, rich with tastefully erotic imagery and nature-y symbolism. It's no surprise that nineteen-year-old Pablo Neruda was vaulted into literary stardom when 20 Poemas de amor y una Canción desesperada was first published in 1924. The romantic themes are powerfully expressed and universal: longing, stillness, anticipation, and worshipful, passionate love, all wrapped in teenage urgency. And then there's the seething Song of Despair, a breakup song if I ever heard one.

I'm not gonna lie, there are definitely lines, stanzas, whole poems in this collection that I just don't get. It probably has something to do with my inexperience with poetry. I lose my train of thought in phrases like this: "from your regard sometimes the coast of dread emerges," and then I get annoyed when I have to rearrange it in my head ("sometimes the coast of dread emerges from your regard") and I get more distracted still when I try to check my version with the Spanish original on the opposite page.

But then, out of nowhere, BAM! A simple truth like "Love is so short, forgetting is so long." Or a uniquely descriptive stanza, like this:

In you is the illusion of each day.
You arrive like the dew to the cupped flowers.
You undermine the horizon with your absence.
Eternally in flight like the wave.

Ah! Amor!

Verdict: It's not my favorite poetry ever, but it definitely still deserves a place on the shelf.

Reading Recommendations: This is a perfect V-day read, whether you're in love or not. It's very short and it'll help you remember all the wonderful and terrible things about love.
And don't get one of those editions that leaves off the Song of Despair.

Warnings: sexy!

Favorite excerpts: from XIV:
"My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
I go so far as to think you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees."


And from the Song of Despair:
"Oh the bitten mouth, oh the kissed limbs,
oh the hungering teeth, oh the entwined bodies.

Oh the mad coupling of hope and force
in which we merged and despaired."

What I'm reading next: Still savoring My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead

Review: Alone Among Many by Spargo Postle

Reviewed by Ingrid


Published: 2011

It's about: Alone Among Many is a book of poems that reflect on loneliness, feelings of insecurity and vulnerability, identity, and the passing of time.

I thought: After writing my review of Norwegian Wood that went up last Wednesday, I've been thinking a lot about how pain and loneliness sometimes increases our ability to empathize with others. This was the perfect book of poems for me to read while in that mindset. After I finished, I thought that there are many reasons we write - to educate, inspire etc., but writing can also be an act of empathy. The speaker of these poems speaks from a vulnerable place, perhaps a very painful place, and through this pain reaches out to the reader. I loved that about this book. The poems could use a little work - I think sometimes the author may have been writing something very significant to him that got a little lost in translation when read, but I applaud his intent. This would be a great book to read when you are feeling lonely or a bit out of sorts.

Verdict: The poems had some clichés, and I think the author used ellipses a little too often. I loved the empathy though, so I'm going to put this one In between.

Warnings: A few f-words.

Favorite excerpts: from "Who Am I"
Who am I [...]

what constitutes an individual
am I really one person
how can I say I am me [...]

has everything been done before
did not every word be spoken
have all sentences been written

do I swim in collective awareness
then how is it
how can i be

What I'm reading next: Gender Trouble by Judith Butler

* I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Review: Possession by A.S Byatt

Reviewed by Lucia.

Published: 1990.

It's about: Passionate academics Roland Michell and Maud Bailey uncover a stash of letters between the two Victorian poets they have dedicated their careers to: Randolph Ash and Christabel LaMotte, a connection which was not previously known to have existed. Initially, Roland and Maud's discovery alters their research only, but as they unearth the truth of the correspondence, their involvement becomes increasingly personal. Desperately concealing their purpose from competing researchers, they are drawn together by their urgency, both of them from solitude and loneliness, challenging the most basic knowledge about themselves, and uncovering their unique entitlement to the secret of Ash and LaMotte's past.


I thought:Byatt's daunting novel is intricately written and passionate in every sense, and reading it reminded me why I love the English language. Her style is lush and wordy in the best possible manner. I was primarily drawn to the details of emotional description as opposed to the author's physical descriptions, and Byatt succeeds brilliantly at this. I loved simply her choice of words, over other literary techniques. The depictions of people and the images evoked from them are built with a fluid yet occasionally bizzare choice language, however I quite liked this peculiarity and was interested by it. Moreover, the author's use of poetry in very intense. Not being a huge reader of the text type, I read the poems without looking too much into their meaning in relation to the overall storyline. Despite this, the plot was comprehensible, and the metaphors which I did pick up on were clever and well integrated.

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Review: Practical Gods by Carl Dennis

Reviewed by Ingrid

Published: 2001

This is the first time I've reviewed a book of poetry on this blog. Poetry is difficult because sometimes it really is hard to tell what is "good" poetry and what is "bad" poetry. The fact that Practical Gods won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 is a clue that this poetry is pretty good. But how else can you tell? As you ponder this question, watch this extremely entertaining trailer for the movie "Bad Writing":


Here's what stuck out to me in this video: "You're not writing for yourself, you are writing for everybody else in the world." Good poetry can be personal, but it's always relatable. Practical Gods is full of beautiful, relatable poetry that is easy to get - his writing is not abstract or overly wordy. He addresses religious themes and ideas and applies them in a "practical" way. For example, in the poem "Department Store" he writes,

"Thou shall not covet,' hardest of the Commandments, 

Is listed last so the others won't be neglected. 

An hour a day of practice is all that anyone 

Can expect you to spare, and in ten years' time 

You may find you've outgrown your earlier hankering 

For your neighbor's house, though his is brick 

And yours is clapboard, though his contains a family.

 The poem goes on to describe the moment the narrator sees a father and son  in the sweater section of the department store.

All will go well if you hold you focus steady 

On what's before you and cast no covetous eye 

On the middle-aged man across the aisle 

In women's accessories as he converses quietly 

With his teenaged son

 ... as they discuss a gift to get for his mother. The final line says,

Think how angry 

You'll be at yourself tomorrow if you let their purchase 

Make you unhappy with yours, ashamed 

Of a sweater on sale that fits you well, 

Gray-blue, your favorite color.

Why is "thou shalt not covet" the hardest of the Commandments? Is it really a sin to covet a home and a family, to be lonely? Each poem touches on similar themes that make you think about and sometimes question religious ideals that many people take for granted.

 In in interview on PBS, Dennis said that he wanted his writing to sound like an individual talking to an individual. I believe that this is what makes his poetry unique and truly great. I loved this book and would highly recommend it for those who loved poetry, as well as those who aren't so sure about poetry and want to start with something that's pretty accessible.

Verdict: Stick this one on the shelf. 

Warnings: None.

What I'm reading next: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.