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Grimes recommended The Flowers of Evil in Books (curated)

 
The Flowers of Evil
The Flowers of Evil
Charles Baudelaire, Anthony Mortimer | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"“I’m not typically interested in poetry, but I discovered The Flowers of Evil in high school as I was just becoming a goth and getting into Trent Reznor – and everyone else was getting into the Beat poets, who I find comparably boring if we’re going to discuss druggy, surrealist poetry. This work is so visceral, filthy and gorgeously written. It feels like a distillation of the opium scenes from Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, but more abstract and extensively documented. This one poem is just a disgusting, sexual description of a corpse that is permanently burned into my mind.”"

Source
  
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Connor Sheffield (293 KP) created a post

May 21, 2017 (Updated May 21, 2017)  
As it says in my profile I am a writer of both Fiction and Poetry. Last year I was able to achieve something incredible and publish a small book(let) that contained only my poetry. In the past my poetry had been joined alongside many other poets in anthologies, but this one was all me and I could not express how I felt about this when they finally arrived and I held one in my hand, reminding me that this time around, this was real. Not a dream.

However, I was not able to sell as many copies as I'd like, simply due to lack of interest in poetry that I discovered among friends who have supported me in my work. I still have some copies left and I ask you, the people of Smashbomb, that if you enjoy poetry, or think it could be something you could at least read through, then please visit my website;

https://catchadreammedia.wixsite.com/catchadream

where you can read some of my work, and even buy a copy of the book(let) I have spoken of for just £4 via PayPal. I don't want to spam this site with my own promotion, so this is why I'm making a long status, because this site is for reviewing, and the reason I am writing this now is so that perhaps some of you might be kind enough to review my work, in order to help me promote it to other audiences. I will create the category for it, if @bird will allow this of course, I would not do so without your permission, and even if you don't buy the book, then please help by reviewing some of my poetry that is free to read on the website. Use the title of the Poem as your review Headline so that I might see which pieces of my work are preferred.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this,
I love this site and it's members, so keep up the good work :)
     
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Bird (1700 KP) May 22, 2017

Hi @Connor Sheffield - sounds great and well done on your achievements so far!

You are of course welcome to promote anything you like on your personal stream and may also create a new item for any published work for others to rate.


All sounds great, and I wish you the very best of luck with it all!

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Connor Sheffield (293 KP) May 22, 2017

Thanks a lot @bird I really appreciate your kindness. Keep up the good work with the site. Can't wait to watch it evolve as it has already. So many friendly members with great inspiring reviews :)

the sun and her flowers
the sun and her flowers
Rupi Kaur | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.7 (14 Ratings)
Book Rating
I know this will be controversial, but....
This is written in five parts, like the life cycle of a flower: wilting, falling, rooting, rising and blooming. Some really disturbing, personal poetry is amongst these poems. It's a celebration in all it's forms: romantic, sexual and parental (I may have missed some). I originally wrote that the poems were 'so good', but I wonder in hindsight whether they actually are. In some ways, the poems are all very disjointed. You don't even really know where one ends and another starts (and vice versa). I'm not keen on how the titles of the poems are written at the bottom of the poems, and some are just left hanging in the middle of a page, like a motivational slogan. I read quite a bit of poetry, but this just isn't for me. I wouldn't go by my opinion though. I strongly advise you, if you're interested, to have a go and read Kaur's poetry yourselves.
  
Poems to Live Your Life By
Poems to Live Your Life By
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Poems to Live Your Life By is a book of poetry collated and illustrated by Chris Riddell. People who read my blog regularly know that I obsess over Chris Riddell, which explains my reasons for buying this.

The collection is just beautiful. Each poem has individual illustrations surrounding it, bringing the poem to life.

Even though I dislike poetry as a whole, there are a few poems that I love, and some of them were in this collection, including Digging by Seamus Heaney and Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. Even though I have read these poems multiple times, the illustrations made them feel new to me, because it almost gave a new interpretation to them.

I also discovered some poems that I hadn’t heard of before and now love, including Thirteen by Kate Tempest, and Safe Sounds by Carol Ann Duffy.

This is definitely a book to buy for the poetry lover in your life!
  
milk and honey
milk and honey
Rupi Kaur | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.1 (27 Ratings)
Book Rating
Heavy Subjects
I had a lot of of fun with this book. I've never been one that's into poetry. I have nothing against it, but I never gravitate towards it. I found Milk and Honey through a lot of posts on the internet. Snippets of the book are constantly on Pinterest and Instagram. When I loved some of those snips, I decided it was worth it to pick up the book. I ate through the book in one sitting. It had me happy. It had me hurting. It had me crying. It had me feeling strong. It's a really beautiful book. To me, it read very much like a story line. You could follow it from beginning to end. The note that it ends on it's really great. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who isn't necessarily a fan of poetry or isn't familiar with it. It feels like a good stepping stone into a modern take on poetry.
  
The Siege of Abythos
The Siege of Abythos
Phil Tucker | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Poetry battle (2 more)
Poetry battle
Poetry battle
The third instalment in the Chronicles of the Black Gate series is the biggest yet, in terms of page count. The story follows the same PoV characters as previous books but their adventures are now covering so much more of the world and the storyline is becoming quite entangled.
Tharok's attempts to unite the orc-like kragh tribes and invade the human world continue, meanwhile Lady Iskra seeks to rescue her son and take revenge on the Ascendant's empire.
This book covers a lot more political debate and intrigue than the previous two, with prolonged discussion of who should be invaded, and what should be done thereafter. While this is very much a necessity in such an epic tale I felt it was somewhat laboured at times.
I very nearly gave up on this book at one point - where the portly magister Audsley (who has three demons lurking in his soul) was seeking to inveigle his way into the upper echelons of the empire, most of this storytelling centred around the colour of robes to wear, the type and colour of paper to use in sending letters and reciting poetry. Again this was very much laboured but bearable, until it looked like we were heading for what can only be described as a poetry battle, where Audsley (coached by one of his demons) was set to take on a senior government official's poetry representative in a battle of wits to see how would curry favour in the empire.


That's right: a poetry battle.
Think Philip Larkin in 8 Mile.
Will the real Slim Shakespeare please stand up.
Kanye Wordsworth.
NWA (Novelists with Assonance)


At this point I very nearly gave up. Thankfully, so did Audsley and the contest ended abruptly as he refused to let his demon take control of him. Phew. Disaster avoided. If this had been allowed to continue it would have made Tom Bombadil look like a critical plot point.


Other than Audsley's chapters (which in the previous book had been a highlight) the book does roll along at a reasonable pace and there is just about enough action to keep the interest, particularly in the last 100 or so pages.


All in all, a good read and a turning point for the series as a whole, but a lot of nonsense could have been removed, (Edgar Allan) Poe Shizzle.
  
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Dracoria Malfoy (690 KP) created a poll

Jan 2, 2018  
Poll
 Anonymous
So, I've been writing poetry (it's not professional or anything) and I want to know if you'd like me to share it with you. It's slightly depressing, and a bit rebellious at the same time. If you want some, just answer the question.

Yes

12 votes

No

0 votes

Vote
     
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Mike Mignola recommended Basquiat (1996) in Movies (curated)

 
Basquiat (1996)
Basquiat (1996)
1996 | Drama
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I moved to New York in 1982, and I didn’t know any of those kind of people but that kind of world was going on. It’s a brilliant film; the poetry of the language and everything else — it’s just a great film about art."

Source
  
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"I love poetry. Reading it. Writing it. And everything about Stevens's work comes through so personally. When you're reading it, it feels so natural. I'm not sure there is anything I can write here to either enhance or detract from the status of Wallace Stevens."

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Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
1985 | International, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I rarely single a film out solely for production design, but this is an exception. It influenced me before I worked in film. The stage sets by Eiko Ishioka of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion alone are striking. Inspired use of nonlinear storytelling and cinematic poetry."

Source