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jackie_woelfel's review
3.0
This book called me stupid then laughed in my face. But when I did understand it, it was excellent. However, I mostly felt stupid.
dillarhonda's review
Many of the poems in Valzhyna Mort’s collection Music for the Dead and Resurrected are experientially akin to watching someone break a major bone in front of you. Their visceral honesty and unflinching gaze demand that the reader contend with the horrors of life in Soviet Belarus. Her use of repetition can become hypnotic, snaring the reader in a web of Mort’s making. Under the blank stares of elder relatives, children in her poems explore a world they don’t quite realize has been devastated before their time. Violence in Mort’s work is as atmospheric as the drifting radiation from Chernobyl. With too many dead to count, Mort’s catechismic and hallucinogenic pieces create a ritual of grieving imbued with an unsinkable optimism.
ellaferrero's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
beautiful, mystical, feels like an unwrapping. very strange, very wonderful, very bruised.
andreapetita's review
5.0
ESPECTACULAR
Uns poemes molt potents, tots. Estic molt agraïda a l'Andrea del passat que va comprar-lo quan encara no s'havia publicat i que em va arribar farà cosa d'un mes, de sorpresa. De veritat que són uns poemes realment bonics i l'imaginari que crea és cru i bonic alhora.
Uns poemes molt potents, tots. Estic molt agraïda a l'Andrea del passat que va comprar-lo quan encara no s'havia publicat i que em va arribar farà cosa d'un mes, de sorpresa. De veritat que són uns poemes realment bonics i l'imaginari que crea és cru i bonic alhora.
gal1's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
lovefromhannah's review
2.5
[ 2.5 stars ] 'Music for the Dead and Resurrected' is a haunting, descriptive poetry collection by Belarusian poet Valzhyna Mort, draws on a first-hand account of a past grandparent generation of the Soviet labor camps, redistribution of land, and massacres of World War II in Belarus. My favourite poem in this collection is 'Genesis'- especially the opening line: "I've always preferred Cain".
She questions "does everything have to be like a poem?". To answer: no, they don't have to be. I think it would have interesting to see what this collection would have been like as creative non-fiction or maybe even a memoir instead? Despite saying that, these poems are powerful and tell the narrative of Belarus and it's turbulent history.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for granting me this free eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own, unbiased views.
She questions "does everything have to be like a poem?". To answer: no, they don't have to be. I think it would have interesting to see what this collection would have been like as creative non-fiction or maybe even a memoir instead? Despite saying that, these poems are powerful and tell the narrative of Belarus and it's turbulent history.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for granting me this free eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own, unbiased views.
jshipe19's review
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A