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josephdante's reviews
766 reviews
Elephant Rocks by Kay Ryan
1.0
This was my introduction to Kay Ryan. I found this book in perfect condition, hard copy, at my favorite used bookstore for $1. So why not, I thought.
These poems are aphoristic and overly didactic, written in a way that claims to have all the Big Truths about Everything Ever. Throughout my reading, I kept imagining a very old man making proclamations atop a mountain, as if it were Moses and the Ten Commandments. If this wasn't written on a stone tablet, it was definitely written on a scroll. Here you will find poems such as "Age," "Silence," and "Intransigence," which are all exactly what their titles say. There’s little more to it than that. There's hardly any real imagery at all, nothing to evoke the senses. It is all written in complete abstracts, and because of that, I felt absolutely zero emotion while reading this. Ryan attempts this very impartial perspective, a bird's eye view. But as a result, there is nothing personal to be found. It is detached and indifferent. It isn’t angry or ecstatic. If you want any kind of narrative or personality, you should probably look elsewhere.
Ryan employs quite a lot of internal rhyming, which I found to be a confusing choice. Whimsical wordplay seems at odds with the subject matter and tone. It turns out to be very jarring and distracting rather than complementary.
Fortunately, other reviewers claim this isn't her best work. However, after finishing this, I’ve very little interest in reading anything else, simply because I assume it's going to be more of the same. Just maybe a better version of this. So unless the rest is radically different in terms of form, tone, approach, and style, I think I’ll pass. This is essentially the opposite of what I find appealing in poetry.
I guess one good thing about her poems is that they’re all very short and compact, so if you find them excruciating, that pain is short-lived.
But I want my $1 back.
These poems are aphoristic and overly didactic, written in a way that claims to have all the Big Truths about Everything Ever. Throughout my reading, I kept imagining a very old man making proclamations atop a mountain, as if it were Moses and the Ten Commandments. If this wasn't written on a stone tablet, it was definitely written on a scroll. Here you will find poems such as "Age," "Silence," and "Intransigence," which are all exactly what their titles say. There’s little more to it than that. There's hardly any real imagery at all, nothing to evoke the senses. It is all written in complete abstracts, and because of that, I felt absolutely zero emotion while reading this. Ryan attempts this very impartial perspective, a bird's eye view. But as a result, there is nothing personal to be found. It is detached and indifferent. It isn’t angry or ecstatic. If you want any kind of narrative or personality, you should probably look elsewhere.
Ryan employs quite a lot of internal rhyming, which I found to be a confusing choice. Whimsical wordplay seems at odds with the subject matter and tone. It turns out to be very jarring and distracting rather than complementary.
Fortunately, other reviewers claim this isn't her best work. However, after finishing this, I’ve very little interest in reading anything else, simply because I assume it's going to be more of the same. Just maybe a better version of this. So unless the rest is radically different in terms of form, tone, approach, and style, I think I’ll pass. This is essentially the opposite of what I find appealing in poetry.
I guess one good thing about her poems is that they’re all very short and compact, so if you find them excruciating, that pain is short-lived.
But I want my $1 back.