theliteraryteapot's reviews
285 reviews

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".

My girl Hazel 💛

This is a slow-paced cosy book that reflects on burn-out, on our relationship to work culture, on capitalism, on finding happiness in the little (simpler) things in life. And of course, it's a love letter to books, to literature, and to coffee. The slow pace itself is inviting the reader to slow down and take the time. The author criticises the neverending demand of our capitalist society to go fast, to be productive, and to lose ourselves in the process.
It's a universal topic but it's worth remembering the context: in which the book is written by a South Korean woman author, making it much more important in regards to the work culture in her country.

I took my time with this one, and enjoyed it. My only issue was the constant switch between past tense and present tense. Maybe it's a translation issue (I read a French translation) but it confused me at times. Apart from my love for literature, my experience in the book industry, and my hope to one day open my own little bookshop, I think the book sums up 2024 quite well for me. I learned to slow down. To appreciate the little things. To take the time to appreciate them. To take the time for myself, to relfect, to let my body and mind rest. To breathe.