The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton
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The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton
by Authors:
Anne Sexton
Released: 28 April, 1999
ISBN: 0395957761
Paperback
Sales Rank: 16,629
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List price:
$18.00
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$12.60
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| Book > The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton >
Customer Review #1:
Poetry as Therapy
What first drew me to the poet Anne Sexton was a fragment I read from an essay in which she discussed the death of fellow American poet Sylvia Plath. What struck me was not just the disarming honesty of Sextons remorse, but also the glimmer of a slightly less generous sentiment that belied her sadness. The precise nature of this sentiment became evident to me once I read Sextons poem "Sylvias Death," which revealed that Sextons grief stemmed more from a profound sense of being left behind than from a sense of losing someone dear. In the poem, which is heartrending in its sincerity, Sexton mournfully addresses Plath: "Thief -- / how did you crawl into, / crawl down alone / into the death I wanted so badly and for so long, / the death we said we both outgrew, / the one we wore on our skinny breasts." What this passage and the entirety of her poem "Wanting to Die" reveal is just how clearly Sexton was aware of this death wish, this "suicide," as not only a disease of the mind, but a hunger -- an inexplicable and ever-present craving for permanent closure to consciousness. The overwhelming tone of "Sylvias Death" is one of a woman who feels cheated out of something rightfully hers. Indeed, for Sexton, suicide was an inevitability -- she lived out her existence always with the awareness that she would end it by her own hand -- and many of the poems that made her name were a reflection of this very way of being. For those who deal with clinical depression as a way of life, the truth of the pain that rings from Sextons verse is almost refreshing, and, in a sad sort of way, therapeutic.
The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton >
Customer Review #2:
Sexons Work Is Both Gritty and Incandescent
To read the poetry of Anne Sexton is to drown in the moment between sleeping and waking. Although Sextons poems range in tone from gritty to incandescent, her content is consistently sharp, insightful, and stinging. Shes one of those rare talents who manages to write with a purpose AND a passion. The first time I read her work, the thought that sprang to mind was: "Wow. Shes writing what everyone else is only thinking." Sexton has a great capacity to verbalize the unspeakable, and she does it in such a way that it scars you and heals you simultaneously. Take, for example, her "Transformations" series (the re-written fairy tales.) Here we have incest, beauty, fear, love, repression, magic...all tangled between translucent words with spines of steel. To say I am in awe of this book is to only scratch the surface.
The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton >
Customer Review #3:
Complete Indeed - Perfect!
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You can like, or dislike, Anne Sexton. I wont describe her work (other reviewers have, and if youre here youre at least familiar), but say that if youve loved any poetry by Sexton, I highly recommend this book.Its organized, chronologically, by her books (and hence her life): each poem from each book is within this one, plus some previously unpublished poems. Each of her books--in this case, chapters--is thematically consistent: fairy tales (Sexton-style "homages"), "love poems," time in the institution, etc.
You may not love every book/chapter, but the volume is a must-own. I dont see a need to buy "Love Poems," for example, or all or some of the rest of her books, when theyre all in here - and each one not priced all that differently from this entirety. (Its also not oppressively long and hard to hold like some "complete" collections.)
Within this book, if you dont connect to one, two, or any of her other books, youve got them at hand and while enjoying the material you do--be it institution or masturbation--youll be familiar with the rest.
Anne Sexton is my favorite poet, I admit, but when I reread a poem I far more often pick up this volume than the individual books.
As well, the chronological organization of "Complete Poems" tells a story itself - Sextons life through her confessional poetry. It becomes a memoir, of sorts. While reading, you can easily see the year of each books/chapters publication. And in this way, the volume becomes a story and a biography.
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The Complete Poems : Anne Sexton >
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