Book Review: Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins

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Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I've been on a poetry kick lately which has lead me to a discovery: I detest most modern poetry. While I admittedly prefer rhyming lyrical poetry to the conversational style that is currently popular, I enjoy it all in moderation.

What I don't like is that poetry such as this seems to have no point. It discusses very banal subjects in a very bland way. I felt like Billy Collins was simply collecting random thoughts in short bursts rather than waxing poetic. I guess this would be fine as well if those random thoughts had something interesting about them but overall I didn't feel a connection with anything in this collection of poetry.

If this book is meant to represent the best of modern American poetry, then I think I will stick with the classics. Of course I am being dramatic because there are some contemporary poets that create beautiful and fascinating work (I am currently enjoying Leigh Stein's collection 'Dispatch from the future' and Sarah Kay is quite incredible) but I can't appreciate the stuff in this book at all.

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Book Review: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I had such high hopes for Cloud Atlas. The praise I read about the book illustrated it as a complex and exciting story that ties multiple characters together into a beautiful story. I must have missed something because I didn't get that at all. The fact that I made it through the book at all is a miracle. It was dry, long, and kind of felt pointless. I kept waiting for the story to give me some sort of revelation that linked it all together but that never happened. Maybe I missed something or simply don't have the ability to think deeply enough to understand the point of the tale but really, it just felt like a bunch of short stories shoved together in a way that I can't quite seem to understand.

I told myself at least 5 times that I should just quit reading it but I persevered and I don't think I'm glad I did. While I applaud David Mitchell's ability to create so many unique voices in his characters, I found them uninspiring. This is one book I simply can't recommend to anyone. Perhaps the movie was more exciting but I'm not sure I care enough to find out.

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