theliteraryteapot's reviews
290 reviews

Rick Riordan had me with "the trio will be pet sitting for the goddess of magic Hecate on the week of Halloween" lol. I love these characters so much.
Just one teeny tiny frustrating thing, about the trio facing problems having to do with magic and ghosts and... just not think of Nico? (Hazel too if she wasn't far away).

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a new edition of Ararat, a poetry collection about family, loss and grief. Louise Glück has this great ability to reflect on her suffering. And doing so when it comes to family is not easy, there's such complexity in a family system and in generational trauma. She examines for instance sister dynamics, heterosexual marriage, or the place of a child and the love for your family you have to feel.
In Ararat, her writing is a bit different than her other two books that I have read (Averno and The Wild Iris). We depart from the usual mythological and religious figures (albeit not completely) to dive directly into the poetess’ very personal, intimate, life which brings this work closer to confessional poetry.
I admit, though, that I was not as enchanted by this collection as I was with Averno. For me, something was missing in the writing, although it feels a bit weird to say I felt underwhelmed considering the subject matter. Perhaps the bitterness emerging from the poems prevented me from engaging with the poetess' other emotions?

My favourite poems were: "New World", "Brown Circle", “Mirror Image”, “First Memory”.

This was a lovely selection of poems by Wendy Cope. I'm glad I could listen to the audiobook because it is narrated by the poetess herself and she explained why she wrote some of her poems. I like the simplicity in Cope's writing, it feels like breathing some fresh air after a work day.

A very well written autobiography about childhood (and more), specifically set in a poor and working class environment in Denmark. Stylistically, it reminded me a little of Colette.
I find it interesting how most of the time, the publishing world will prioritise translating women writers' autobiographical or academic work over their poetry books (thinking of Audre Lorde).

Two quotes that I wrote in my notes (translated to French):
“[…] mon père dit que je ne dois pas croire en Notre Seigneur, parce que les capitalistes se sont toujours servis de lui contre les pauvres.” p.19

“On ne peut pas s’échapper de l’enfance, elle flotte autour de chacun de nous comme une odeur persistente.” p.29

Une biographie plutôt originale d'une des plus grands écrivains de langue française, Colette. Je n'en suis pas à mon premier livre sur cette autrice mais l'ajout d'images d'archive et d'anecdoctes était chouette. J'ai trouvé que c'était tout de même quelque peu décousu, avec cette manière de lister aléatoirement des points sur la vie de Colette. Mais c'est aussi ce qui a rendu la lecture dynamique.

Il manque peut-être des notes de bas de page pour référer les affirmations aux sources (qui sont à la fin). Notamment concernant tous les "Colette est la première à ceci, à cela" parce que bon on se pose des questions quant à la véracité.

Colette étant de ma région natale, la Bourgogne, j'avais visité le musée qui lui est dédié et je recommende si vous passez par l'Yonne.

C'est très intéressant de porter une attention particulière à la poésie populaire. Et ce d’autant plus dans un contexte où la poésie, notamment dans sa forme écrite, est devenue un genre littéraire dit noble, et considéré élitiste. Il y a malgré tout cette opposition poésie orale/populaire vs. poésie écrite/élitiste donc.
Ainsi, le milieu ouvrier ou bien les campagnes se voient mis à l’honneur par nombreux poètes. Le travail sur le langage était chouette car il montrait la diversité des accents, des prononciations. Et puis ma Bourgogne a eu droit à un poème lol.

Toutefois, c'est une anthologie qui manque cruellement de poétesses (seulement 2/28). Certes, ça date de 1992 mais ce n’est finalement pas tant une excuse. Il manque alors un regard critique de la part de l’éditeur sur ce manque de femmes et donc sur ce que cela dit de notre société et des milieux populaires. À noter que les deux seules femmes incluses dans l’anthologie étaient toutes deux issues de milieux bourgeois (voir aristocrate). Je note également la dose de racisme.

Thank you to Netgalley and Beaming Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ping's Perfect Pot is a picture book about a little girl preparing for Lunar New Year. She wants to make the perfect pot for a new tangerine tree. It is about creativity. It is about learning patience, perseverance and the importance of practice. In the end, it shows all the joy and love that can result from creating as well as embracing the imperfections of the art created.
I think this is a great message for children, you don't need to be perfect nor to be the best artist to engage in an artistic hobby. Something that you made with love is absolutely wonderful.

I love the illustrations as well, the style, there were lots of flowers, lots of little details. And I appreciate the explanations of what Lunar New Year is and what are its main traditions. This note can be read by parents to their children and they can discuss or learn about it together.
For ages 4-8.

Je ne sais pas trop quoi en penser. J'ai l'impression qu'il me manque trop de contexte pour comprendre les métaphores et les messages. Et puis, les derniers poèmes m'ont un peu lassée, très méta peut-être.

For some reason, I didn't expect for religion, in one way or another, to take up all the space. Just as with Averno, I wasn't particularly interested in the themes but what appealed to me was the writing skills. Specifically, Louise Glück's ability to create a dialogue between the poems (which is a main point in a poetry collection but I feel like this has been a bit lost in 2010s collections), and through the metaphors.
In the end, I enjoyed my time reading The Wild Iris. My favourite poems are: "Early Darkness" and "Retreating Light".