Louise Gluck ponnos diante do noso peor nós, e non pasa nada. Salvo que nos damos conta do que somos capaces de pensar e non dicimos. Pode que a súa sexa unha aproximación científica á súa familia, como unha entomóloga que pode diseccionar a quen, como mínimo, observa, e pode que ame. É crear beleza á vez. Unha maravilla. ( )

At least for me, the problem with reading a poem in the collection in which it belongs, as opposed to reading the poem standing alone on some random website or an anthology, is that the poem's meaning changes. I bought this book because I love Gluck's poem 'First Memory'. Read out of context, it is a poem about my own childhood; in the collection I suppose it still can be but it's not the same. The meaning changes in relation to the other poems as 'First Memory' is the conclusion of the collection. I did enjoy the collection over all, there were a few very memorable poems ('Confession', 'The Untrustworthy Speaker', 'New World', and 'First Memory' -- those are also the poems that I consider to be broader in their potential interpretations). Gluck's poems are more like diary entries or reflective vignettes and most are very particular to her own life with specific references to places and family members. I don't think this takes away from her poetry but for me it makes it a little difficult to identify with them. I don't know anything about poetry, my only goal in reading poetry is to find poems that express my feelings since I can't express them as eloquently as a poet can. Broader themed poems tend to do that more often than really specific, personal ones. That's almost a moot point though, I guess, since all poems technically are personal to the poet and the reader is always allowed to project their interpretations on to it. For example, the themes that run throughout this collection are dysfunctional families, sibling rivalry, future generations, and dealing with deaths in the family. Gluck discusses at length how her relationship with her mother was negatively effected by her sister. That's not something I've experienced personally but I can still enjoy the poetry and project my own family beef on to it. ( )

The poems in this book are all about family. I like that because it's what I'm familiar with. I like the way Gluck writes, as though she's speaking thoughts, writing thoughts, but coherently. ( )