What the Living Do: Poems Paperback | Pages: 91 pages

Present Out Of Books What the Living Do: Poems

Title	:	What the Living Do: Poems
Author	:	Marie Howe
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 91 pages
Published	:	April 17th 1999 by W. W. Norton (first published 1997)
Categories	:	Poetry. Death

Commentary Conducive To Books What the Living Do: Poems

Informed by the death of a beloved brother, here are the stories of childhood, its thicket of sex and sorrow and joy, boys and girls growing into men and women, stories of a brother who in his dying could teach how to be most alive. What the Living Do reflects "a new form of confessional poetry, one shared to some degree by other women poets such as Sharon Olds and Jane Kenyon. Unlike the earlier confessional poetry of Plath, Lowell, Sexton et al., Howe's writing is not so much a moan or a shriek as a song. It is a genuinely feminine form . . . a poetry of intimacy, witness, honesty, and relation" (Boston Globe).

Details Books In Pursuance Of What the Living Do: Poems

Original Title:	What the Living Do: Poems
ISBN:	0393318869 (ISBN13: 9780393318869)
Edition Language:	English

Rating Out Of Books What the Living Do: Poems

Ratings: 4.32 From 3589 Users | 242 Reviews

Assessment Out Of Books What the Living Do: Poems

Beautiful. Honest. Heartbreaking. Had to savor these slowly.

At first I found this book hard to read after Howe's first book "The Good Thief," in which every poem is completely surprising. These poems are more traditional and, if compared to "The Good Thief" feel almost formulaic. But when I was finally able to set the first book aside and read "What the Living Do" as a book on it's own, it won me over. It's long for a book of poems--and I'm not sure that every poem was necessary--but when I finished the excellent final title poem I went back and read the

I read this book of poems in the Elliot Bay Book Store and it stayed in mind for months until finally, I returned to that same store and bought it. The poems are melancholy and plain. Just tiny stories about life with people who are dead or dying and I find them very pure and worth remembering. They should put poems like THESE on Metro buses. Now that would change the world.

Howe's second collection is very different from her first, more personal and immediate, more relaxed or merely more natural in voice, and more powerful. The poems in the first section follow on those that end her first collection and include two superb poems, Practicing and Copper Beech, that look back at her childhood from an adults perspective of a childs experience. From the second section on two events dominate, the illness and death of Howes brother from (Im assuming) AIDS and the ups and

I didnt read these poems. I experienced them. It was like meeting someone and knowing, instinctively knowing, they understand. Howes words took me by the hand and were so affecting they went straight to my heart. She takes you in so many directions. You come to a crossroad and she gently suggests sideways options. I could read and go to either side and find a route that served me. I might meander along or force myself to take the direct route. Most importantly, any move felt right instinctively.

4.5 stars. A beautiful book. Not the type of poetry that usually grabs me, but little by little, as I began to understand the narrative, she crept right under my skin and I couldn't stop reading. It's the everyday-ness of her specific stories of loss and love that is so relatable. My favorites, at least on first reading, are:PracticingHow Some of It Happened The Last TimeWithout MusicThe KissMemorialMy Dead FriendsThe New LifeWhat the Living DoBuddy

This book was recently recommended to me by a dear friend. As the subject matter was relevant to my current state of mind in some ways, I bought it immediately and devoured it in a few hours. I know I'll be returning to many of these poems over the years. These were breathtaking and beautiful.