All posts by peaadmin

Saturdays @ the South: Reasons to make the blanket fort a permanent fixture…

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Ah, the respite of the blanket fort, a cushioned haven from reality about which our terrific blogger-in-residence Arabella has already expounded upon beautifully. I made my own bid for the blanket fort several weeks ago when I said that my hermitage week is more like a hermitage month, but now that month that I typically associate with long, languorous bouts of reading is coming to a close. The bouts of reading might get a bit shorter as the days start to get longer and general busyness starts to pick up a bit, but the spirit of the hermitage stays with me all year long. While I never (ever) need an excuse to read, I do find that sometimes I need to offer others who don’t sympathize with my passion for reading quite so much a reason for one of my favorite downtime (or in many cases anytime) activity. This week, for those of you who have a similar problem, I’ve compiled a list of ready-to-go reasons (backed by science, no less!) to let people know that having a book as your constant companion and reading whenever downtime presents itself is not only normal, but healthy.

Reading makes you a better person

In a somewhat ironic twist, given that readers are often considered to be introverts, being an avid reader can help you interact better with other people. Reading literary fiction with its complex characters who aren’t always easy to get to know (or like), can make that reader a more empathetic person in general. The logic behind this is that working harder to get to know characters and understand their motivations and emotions. This in turn makes readers more practiced at empathy which carries into real-life social interactions as well. (This can also explain why we get so attached to characters in some of our favorite books.) Readers in general tend to be more empathetic overall because reading stimulates the part of the brain that helps you visualize movement. In essence, readers actually feel part of the action in a book happening to them. It’s a similar process in assuming the emotions characters are showing in a book. The reader ends up feeling those emotions, too giving readers higher levels of emotional intelligence and awareness.

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“Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation”

Science has shown that not only is reading a stress-reducing activity, it can reduce stress more than other commonly employed stress-busing activities like yoga, enjoying a cup of tea or listening to music. Dr. David Lewis of the University of Sussex (whose quote from The Telegraph introduced this paragraph) indicated that reading reduced the stress levels of experiment participants by 68 percent and according to the study, “subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles… [often] to stress levels loser than before [the subjects] started.” We could all use a little less stress in our lives, so picking up a book, even for a short time can definitely help. The study didn’t address the effects of long-term reading habits, but I can only image the possibilities…

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Reading helps your brain

This one probably won’t shock any bookworms out there, but there are studies that indicate exercising your brain with reading can increase both intelligence and overall brain power. Books generally expose readers to new vocabulary (even more than TV) and exposure to new vocabulary can make you smarter. Plus, reading books can help keep you smarter, longer. “Exercising” your brain with activities like reading has a similar effect on the brain as cardiovascular activity has on your heart: it makes it run better for longer. This can help stave off some of the cognitive issues associated with age, like memory loss and declining brain function.

It’s free!

Thanks to libraries making it our mission to provide people with as much reading material as possible, reading can be free for all who possess a library card. Because of libraries, reading is cheaper than an Netflix subscription, joining a gym, going to a movie, shopping, taking a trip and many other activities in an increasingly commercial world. So not only can you become a better person by reading, it doesn’t have to cost you a cent in order to do it.

So this week, dear readers, instead of recommending specific books, I simply recommend that you read whatever you want, whenever you want, and for as long as you’d like. Keep that book fort erected and let your “I’m-A-Reader” flag fly over it proudly. You’re not just enjoying yourself, you’re improving yourself. And isn’t having fun the best kind of self-improvement, anyway?

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Raven Day!

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And so, as promised, today’s post is chock-full of avian delights and atmospheric horrors, in honor of the 171st anniversary of the publication of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven in 1845.

To get things started right, here is a recording of Basil Rathbone reading The Raven.  I think this reading is my favorite, not only because he does the voices, but because this reading sounds far more like a dark confession than a recitation.  Poe’s beloved wife, Virginia, was dying while he wrote this piece, and that anguish is present in Rathbone’s reading.  See what you think:

Poe had originally showed the poem to the staff of Graham’s Magazine, which rejected it.  Ultimately, it was a man named George Colton who agreed to publish the poem in The American Review.  Though we don’t know for sure how much Poe received for his work, the standard fee for writers was $15, which would have the purchasing power of about $460 today.

The poem was published under the pseudonym “____ Quarles” (the first name was intentionally left blank), with the follow preface, which notes that in spite of “the curious introduction of some ludicrous touches amidst the serious and impressive, as was doubtless intended by the author”, the poem was “one of the most felicitous specimens of unique rhyming which which has for some time met our eye”:

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Courtesy of The Poe Museum

The poem was an unmitigated sensation on both sides of the Atlantic, and was widely reprinted with Poe’s full name attached.  Elizabeth Barrett wrote to Poe “Your ‘Raven’ has produced a sensation, a ‘fit horror,’ here in England. Some of my friends are taken by the fear of it and some by the music.”  When Poe published The Raven and Other Poems, he dedicated the volume to Elizabeth Barrett in gratitude, not only for her fan mail, but because the meter of the Raven owes a great deal to her own poem, “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship

However, though Poe’s notoriety sky-rocketed as a result of the poem, he didn’t own the copyright, so he didn’t get paid for any reprints.  To counterbalance this sad fact, here is a recording of Christopher Lee reading The Raven, complete with musical accompaniment!  This version embraces the full creepiness of Poe’s poem, the nightmare aspects of the bird’s appearance:

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That nightmare is one that Poe fully tended to invoke.  In his 1846 work, Philosophy of Compositionhe explained “I prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect. Keeping originality always in view …I say to myself, in the first place, “Of the innumerable effects, or impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or (more generally) the soul is susceptible, what one shall I, on the present occasion, select?”

This essay is a fascinating one, particularly for the glimpse it offers of Poe’s thought process.  For example, he also noted that he specifically intended to trap the poor narrator in an enclosed, familiar space with the titular raven, because “it has always appeared to me that a close circumscription of space is absolutely necessary to the effect of insulated incident: — it has the force of a frame to a picture. It has an indisputable moral power in keeping concentrated the attention…”.

Poe was also deeply conscious of the voice of his protagonist’s strange visitor.  As we’ve noted, the raven upon whom Poe’s poem was based was a fan of saying “Nobody”, but Poe instead chose the word “Nevermore”, not only for the way its syllables fit into the meter of his poem, but because of its sound, in the head and in the mouth: “That such a close, to have force, must be sonorous and susceptible of protracted emphasis, admitted no doubt: and these considerations inevitably led me to the long o as the most sonorous vowel, in connection with r as the most producible consonant.”

And he clearly knew what he was doing.  The Raven is generally accepted to be one of the most important poems in American literature, not only because of its appeal and influence, but because it so neatly touches on some basic, fundamental human fears–the plague of memory, the loss of love, and the terror that it might all, in the end, be meaningless.

But more so that, Poe understood just how scary birds can be, and ravens in particular.  Ravens are among a number of species of bird that can be trained to “speak”.  Unlike parrots, however, their voices tend to sound downright brain-meltinginly terrifying.  Check out a video of a real raven, really trained to say “nevermore”, and tell me your soul doesn’t tremble just a wee bit:

And on that note, I can only hope that we did you proud, Edgar.  Happy Raven Day!

“Only this and nothing more”…..

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Gustave Dore, The Raven

It’s not too difficult to realize that we at The Free For All are a big fan of celebrating–we celebrate author birthdays, musician’s birthdays, book birthdays, and the act of reading in general–because life is too short not to enjoy it (and enjoy it with cake!).  This week has been a particularly rich one for celebrations, not in the least because tomorrow is the 171st anniversary of the publication of Edgar Allan Poe‘s immortal poem, The Raven.

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You’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t remember some part of The Raven, or who isn’t overcome with an overwhelming urge to yell “Nevermore!” when someone mentions the famous poem.  But how many people know the inspiration for the poem?

f3dc63f7051a5b49388209f2448fe30cAs we mentioned last week, Poe earned his daily bread and butter as a literary editor and book reviewer, generally panning books and genuinely annoying authors around the country.  But there were a few writers who earned his seal of approval, and one of those lucky few was Charles Dickens, whom Poe championed very early on in his career, saying “Charles Dickens is no ordinary man, and his writings must unquestionably live.”  The respect between the two men, it would appear, was mutual, and when Dickens arrived in the US on a speaking tour in 1842, we wrote to Poe, eager to make his acquaintance in person.  As these letters, held by the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, attest, Dickens was also trying to help launch Poe’s career in England, though without a great deal of success.

Something else came of the meeting of these impressive minds, however, that would have a colossal effect on Poe’s career.  He got to talk with Dickens about Dickens’ beloved pet…a raven, named Grip.

2380405Dickens adored Grip, though he may have been among the only people who did.  He immortalized the cantankerous, chatty bird in his book Barnaby Rudge, and included a scene where one character, hearing a noise asks, of the raven, “What was that — him tapping at the door?”.  Dickens also, apparently, taught Grip to speak, and his favorite phrases were “Nobody!” and “Halloa Old Girl!” (honestly.  I did research on this.).  But the world did not share his views on Grip’s greatness.  In a letter (courtesy of The Free Library) written to a friend reporting on Grip’s death, Dickens wrote,

I am not wholly free from suspicions of poison–a malicious butcher has been heard to say that he would “do” for him–his plea was that he would not be molested in taking orders down the Mews, by any bird that wore a tail–other persons have also been heard to threaten–among others, Charles Knight who has just started a weekly publication…I have directed a post motem examination, and the body has been removed to Mr. Herring’s school of Anatomy for that purpose.

He also mentioned that, though he and his wife were heartbroken over the death of Grip “The children seem rather glad of it.  He bit their ancles [sic].  But that was play–”

The results of Mr. Herring’s autopsy remain a mystery to this day, but we do know that Dickens paid to send Grip to a taxidermist to be immortalized, and set in tableau.  There is also very little doubt that Grip, and Dickens’ portrayal of him in Barnaby Rudge, was a key inspiration for his own poem, The Raven, a fact that was known even while Poe was still alive.  The famous poet James Russell Lowell wrote in his work, A Fable For Critics: “Here comes Poe with his Raven, like Barnaby Rudge, / Three fifths of him genius, two fifths sheer fudge.”

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Hi there, Grip! Courtesy of AtlasObscura

Though Grip passed through a number of hands following Dickens’ death in 1870, he eventually found his way to Philadelphia’s Free Library around a century later, where he can still be seen today, presiding over the Library’s collection of manuscripts, which include works from both Dickens and Poe.

So today, on the day before the anniversary of The Raven‘s publication, we’re tipping our hat to Grip, his noble bearing, and his very odd vocabulary, for helping to inspire one of the most beloved and most memorable poems in American literature.  Hallao, Old Girl, indeed.

Check in tomorrow for our celebration of Raven Day, and a bunch of Poe-related literary suggestions!

It’s Mozart Day!


Sometimes, we hear things so often that they fade into our aural background, and we simply assume they have been there forever. But once upon a time, before 1756, there was no Mozart.  No Magic Flute, no Marriage of Figaro, no “Prague” Symphony.  None of it.

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And maybe because there was a Mozart, we don’t necessarily appreciate how much changed because he was on this planet for 35 years.  Because Mozart didn’t stride into the world and bend it to his will.  He took the existing forms of music–the sonata, the symphony, the concerto–and saw far more deeply into them than any composer before him ever had.  And he taught us that music could be fun, beautiful, and joyful.  Up until Mozart, operas were based on Greek myths and tragedies.  Mozart set his operas in magical forests, in brothels (gasp!), and in opera houses.  He mixed up the order of the movements in a traditional symphony in order to make them more accessible, and more emotionally resonant.  He wrote a piece based on the song of is pet starling, so that he and his bird could perform a duet together.

Perhaps one way to understand Mozart’s influence, we can compare him to another genius…he was the Albert Einstein of music.  Einstein believed that physics, its principles and its laws, simply existed, and it merely required a human to condense them into words–and he believed that Mozart’s music “was so pure that it seemed to have been ever-present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master.”

Mozart_(unfinished)_by_Lange_1782The piece below is Mozart’s Requiem, a piece he left partially unfinished on his death (he left detailed notes for his apprentice, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who physically completed the score 100 days after Mozart’s death).  He wrote it while he was suffering from a debilitating, if unnamed condition (to date, some 118 conditions have been suggested, but the official description was “severe military rash”).  He was poor, cold, and dying, yet this piece is one of the most hopeful pieces he ever composed….But look at the score.  There are no cross-outs.  There are no edits.  Because Mozart heard the entire piece in his head before writing it down.

So rather than listening to me anymore, I’ll let Mozart speak for himself.  Here is the Boston Baroque’s performance of his Requiem, to make your day a little more hopeful.

Celebrating Virginia Woolf

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Yesterday was the 134th birthday of one of the greatest modernist authors of the twentieth century, and one of the bravest women I have had the pleasure of reading: Adeline Virginia Woolf, born January 25, 1882.

my_niece_julia_full_face_by_julia_margaret_cameronWoolf was born into a family of intellectuals; her father was an historian and author, who counted Henry James and James Russell Lowell as close friends, while her mother was an artist, and a model for the Pre-Raphaelite painters of the late 19th century (her portrait as a child is on the left).   As a result, Virginia got the kind of education that her voracious curiosity needed.

Her life was by no means idyllic, though.  Virginia (and her sister) suffered from breakdowns (later assumed to be a form of bipolar disorder), and both suffered from the trauma of sexual abuse committed by their half-brothers, George and Gerald.  As a result, Virginia spent several years as a young adult in institutions–but though her lifelong battle with her symptoms would hamper her social and personal life, she found a way to work, to think, and to write, even through some of the darkest periods in her life.

Following her father’s death in 1904, Virginia and her brother, Adrian, purchased a home at 46 Gordon Square, Bloomsbury.  It was from the address that the famous Bloomsbury Group emerged, including some of the most deep-thinking and daring intellectuals of the period (and Virginia’s eventual husband, Leonard Woolf).

…Apparently, they were also quite the pranksters–Virginia donned a beard in order to help with the “Dreadnought Plot” in 1910, during which several of her Bloomsbury Group convinced the higher-ups in the British Navy that Virginia was a visiting royal from Abyssinia who wanted to see their flagships (which were considered government secrets at the time).

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Virginia Woolf is the bearded gentleman on the far left.

Virginia Woolf was a remarkable innovator of the English language, often writing in streams-of-consciousness that revolutionized the novel.  Her works focus on the psychological and emotional development of her characters, rather than their physical actions or interactions, but does so in a way that is startling easy to grasp, and deeply, often heartbreakingly sympathetic.  One of my favorite moments as a reader came from this passage from Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, which was a selection for the Library’s Classics Book Group a few years ago.  This scene describes the heroine’s husband, a man of great value–and great flaws:

1770362He was safe, he was restored to his privacy. He stopped to light his pipe, looked once at his wife and son in the window…the sight of them fortified him and satisfied him and consecrated his effort to arrive at a perfectly clear understanding of the problem which now engaged the energies of his splendid mind.
It was a splendid mind. For if thought is like the keyboard of a piano, divided into so many notes, or like the alphabet is ranged in twenty-six letters all in order, then his splendid mind had no sort of difficulty in running over those letters one by one, firmly and accurately, until it had reached, say, the letter Q. He reached Q. Very few people in the whole of England ever reach Q. …But after Q? What comes next? After Q there are a number of letters the last of which is scarcely visible to mortal eyes, but glimmers red in the distance. Z is only reached once by one man in a generation. Still, if he could reach R it would be something. Here at least was Q. He dug his heels in at Q. Q he was sure of. Q he could demonstrate. If Q then is Q—R—. Here he knocked his pipe out, with two or three resonant taps on the handle of the urn, and proceeded. “Then R . . . ”  (From To The Lighthouse, Chap. 6, “The Window”)

And while Woolf revolutionized the mainstream novel, she was also a champion of the under-recognized: the women who were forced to hide their genius, men whose lives didn’t conform with society’s ideals, and those who, like Virginia, dealt with private, hidden, and yet sometimes overwhelming pain every single day.  She used language as a tool to burrow ever closer to something that unites us all, that cuts through pain and fear and isolation, and forces us to confront ourselves, as well as rethink the way we see the world around us.  Though Woolf’s own battle culminated in her taking her own life in 1941, her battles with her depression and grief remain an inspiration to readers around the world.

And if you are looking to discover more of Virginia Woolf’s words…in her own voice!…then check out this article from The Paris Review, which features the only known recording of Woolf’s voice, giving a talk on “Craftmanship”:

 

Happy reading, beloved patrons, and may you discover the whole alphabet today!

A Word About Book Recommendations

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BBC

 

I led a very misguided youth, my friends.  A wild, rebellious life, full of dangling participles, chilled red wine, and moving parking cones around when I thought people weren’t looking…Ok, so maybe I wasn’t precisely a dangerous rebel, but there were mistakes made.  For our purposes, let’s say that the greatest of these was the inability to accept book recommendations.

When I younger, people would offer me suggestions for books that I should read, and I, in my omnipotence, would pull my sleeves over my hands and roll my eyes and proclaim to the Heavens “You don’t know me!  You don’t know what I should read next!” (Again, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point).

Eventually, however, as I grew older, and began to accept that I didn’t, and indeed, might never, know everything, I began to realize that other people might actually have some good ideas about books…and other things, as well.

stock-photo-23919442-giving-booksI’ve mentioned here before about the benefits of having bookish friends, but it’s worth mentioning again.  Because, very often, friends can see parts of us that we ourselves cannot.  Therefore, while some of their recommendations may be straightforward “oh, I just read this and it was good–read it too, so I have someone to talk to”, very often, these recommendations can speak to a part of you that isn’t readily visible, can speak to a part of you that you don’t normally acknowledge, or can help you though a problem that you didn’t know you had.  Sometimes, these recommendations speak to the nature of your unique relationship with anther human person, or just remind you of the reasons you entrusted yourself to this person in the first place.

For those of us who love to read, books are more than just entertainment.  They can very often become extensions of ourselves and parts of who we are.  So talking about books and their characters, their twists and turns, even their settings or details, can be a way of learning about ourselves and finding our way to others.  So for that reason, book recommendations should seldom be discounted, particularly when they come from a trusted source (human, or blog…book blogs are great places for recommendations, you know!)

And thus, I’ve included a list of some of the best and/or most memorable books I’ve read as the result of a recommendation, to show how diverse and wonderful a reading experience you can have when you rely on the kindness of others.  Please consider this my recommendation to you, as well!

2251443‘Salem’s Lot: I’ve waxed lyrical about this book before, and I will again, but I might never have read Stephen King were it not for my Dad.  When I was little, I genuinely thought Stephen King was a friend of ours, because his books (and, thus, his publicity photos) were all around our house.  He has a terrific story about the first time he read ‘Salem’s Lot that I’m sure he can tell you if you ask nicely, but hearing it had me convinced that if this book was enough to creep my father out, it had to be terrifying.  But the truth of the matter is that ‘Salem’s Lot is so much more than a scary book (though it is, indubitably, a scary book).  It’s a beautifully-written book that I have, in turn, passed on to a number of friends, and we have all enjoyed making our own memories of The First Time We Read ‘Salem’s Lot, too!

2255425Eugene Onegin: I was incredibly fortunate to have one of the best advisers ever in the history of undergraduate advisers, not only because she was infinitely wise and never let anything bother her, but because she began every conversation we ever had with “What have you been reading?”.  And she genuinely cared about the answer.  It was because of her that I first picked up Pushkin’s classic poem.  Even in translation, Pushkin’s brilliance is obvious, and his rhyme scheme is subtle enough that the book reads as much like a novel as a poem.  More than anything, though, I marvel at the way he can balance the humor and sarcasm of his narrative with heart-wrenching honesty and sympathy for all his flawed and unforgettable characters.  If you’re interested, there’s also a superb film adaptation, starring Ralph Fiennes, and directed by his sister, Martha.

2391030Silent in the GraveI discovered Deanna Raybourn first delightful historical mystery series from a dear friend who was, like me, an historian, a fan of mysteries, and a lifetime devotee of Jane Eyre.  In this series, Raybourn not only shows off her skill at creating complex and genuinely shocking murder mysteries, but her characters are total and unique treats to meet.  Her heroine, Lady Julia Grey, is a young widow from what might be the most eccentric family in England, and her interactions with her father, brothers, and sisters, are some of the funniest I have ever read.  But beyond this, there is her erstwhile and irresistible companion in sleuthing, the secretive Nicholas Brisbane, who is a slightly handsomer, slightly less angsty version of the great Mr. Rochester himself (swoon, sigh, etc.), making this series (in particular, the first three books), sheer delights to read.

3529152Bird BoxThis is the latest recommendation I’ve had, and it came from the lovely Lady Pole.  She is one of the few people who doesn’t flinch when I talk about scary stories, or dark fantasy stories, or creepy stories, because she knows that reading scary stories can be good for you.  It allows you to explore the feeling of fear in a safe place, it allows you to conquer those fears vicariously, and it also helps us realize that we are stronger than the scary stuff, both in books and in real life.  So when she heard that this book was a genuinely terrifying exploration of Things That Lurk Where We Can’t See Them, she knew who to tell.  And while I’ve only read the first few pages, I can confirm that this book is an immediately engrossing and unsettling one that is going to necessitate keeping the lights on–but it’s also beautiful and fascinating, and I can’t wait.

Saturdays @ the South: Easing past your Metrophobia

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Recently, one of our wonderful librarians took on the touchy subject of poetry here on the blog, namely getting over the apprehension that often comes with the suggestion of reading poetry. I completely agree with her, both that reading poetry can cause that knot in your stomach that often comes with trying something unfamiliar, but that it can also be a rewarding experience. I loved poetry in high school so much that I became co-founder and president of my high-school’s poetry club and continued to love it in college, but as an adult (at least in theory), I’ve found my poetry-reading falling to the wayside and only occasionally reading a poem and even rarely reading a volume of poetry. I’ve been grateful that the Classics book group has embraced National Poetry Month and our coinciding April selection has been a book of poetry the last few years as it reminded me how enjoyable poetry can be. So why did I all but stop reading it?

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The hard truth of it is, poetry requires thought. It doesn’t have a plot that you can follow (usually- ballads are often an exception here and I highly recommend Loreena McKennit’s rendition of Alfred Noyes’s “The Highwayman” for a thrilling poem-turned-song/story). Meaning isn’t always discernible upon the first reading, so poetry often requires time as well as effort and with so many books to read, who has the time for poetry? It’s also a hard truth that not all poetry is for everyone. When I visited Scotland, I took a brief day-tour into the Highlands including a whisky distillery visit. The tour guide told us Scotch novices that not all whisky is for all people and his father gave him some advice: “Finding the right whisky is like finding the right woman. You often have to test out several types before you find the one you want to spend a lot of time with.” Scottish pragmatism aside, I think there’s a solid parallel to poetry here. Some people like free verse, others prefer that poems rhyme. Some people like haiku, while others prefer long ballads. There may be people who want to think long and hard about a poem, while others prefer to have at least some meaning visible from the start. Not everyone likes the same type of poetry and that’s OK because there is plenty of great poetry in many different styles out there to choose from. It just may take a little experimentation to find what you like.

All those poetry choices can be bewildering and further contribute to the anxiety that comes with starting poetry. So how does someone get over it? There are a lot of different options, and like poetry itself, it may take a couple of tries to find the one that works for you. The Millions has offered a brief list of poems for people who hate poetry, so that may be a good place to start. My humble suggestion might be a bit radical, but if you’re truly a metrophobe looking to overcome your fears, it may help to remember the fun of poetry and start with perusing collections that are designed for kids. I’ve already talked about how kids’ books can be an appealing, entertaining respite from adult books and I believe the same holds true for poetry. Furthermore, there are plenty of children’s poetry collections that have poems with broad appeal from traditional “classic” authors. Kids’ poetry titles can be a way of easing yourself into poetry and a reminder that poetry can be fun and enjoyable.

To that end, here are a few suggestions that might just get you over your metrophobia and help you to enjoy poetry:

3175294I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus by Jack Prelutsky

Next to Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky might be the poet most synonymous with kids’ poetry, and for good reason. Many of his verses are light, funny and downright absurd. This compilation includes some hysterical animal combinations like the “penguinchworm” and the “buffalocust” that remind us all that there’s nothing wrong with being silly, particularly when it’s such a productively creative outlet. But there are some deeper poems too, like “The Afternoon My Hamster Died” which deals (albeit briefly) with themes of loss, conflicting emotions and the sense of not really knowing someone. This (and plenty of his other collections) have great potential to bring the joy back into reading poetry.

1180076Cool Melons Turn to Frogs by Matthew Gollub, Kazuko G. Stone and Keiko Smith

This book is an amazing blend of biography and poetry that can easily appeal to nonfiction readers of all ages. While the book tells the story of Issa, a Japanese haiku master, the biography is punctuated with Issa’s haiku poems. This sense of background information allows the reader to gain greater insight into the poems’ meanings, the genre of haiku and how life and poetry can inform each other. The illustrations illuminate the verses beautifully offering additional levels understanding into the poems offered. If you’ve ever thought that a picture book was just for kids or if you’ve ever thought that poetry’s meanings are impenetrable, this sophisticated book will almost certainly change your mind.

3553227Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

If the slew of honors (Newbery Honor, National Book Award and Coretta Scott King Award) gracing the cover of this book don’t convince you that it’s worth reading a book of poems, perhaps the premise will. This book is a fascinating and brilliant combination of free verse poems that tell the story of Woodson’s life growing up in the North and the South during the 1960’s and 70’s. Each poem acts as a chapter furthering the story of her life during that time and each chapter/poem offers deeper insight into thoughts and feelings in a way that expository prose simply can’t accomplish. This is not only an important work, ingeniously formatted, but an accessible one as well and a great, accessible start to poetry.

3217594National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry ed. by J. Patrick Lewis

Come for the pictures, stay for the poetry. This book is simply amazing. It’s filled with stunning animal photography that you would expect from National Geographic and pairs those photos with poems about the animals depicted. But this compilation is so much more than that. Instead of taking  takes existing poems and excerpts from well-known names like Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Benjamin Franklin and more. Maybe you were intimidated by some of these poets in school, but somehow, when combined with gorgeous, detailed photos illustrating what the poets are talking about, the poems don’t seem quite so ominous. Instead, they seem joyful, whimsical when taken out of a stodgy textbook context. Organized by animal type (winged ones, strange ones, water ones, etc.) this book is ripe for browsing and picking and choosing. You’re certain to find a poem you appreciate, and maybe even will want to share somewhere among these pages.

Bonus Selection:

2693913Essential Pleasures ed. by Robert Pinsky

This book is in the adult section, not the kids’ section, but it has one essential item in common with many children’s books: the idea of reading aloud. Poetry, like kids’ books are often at their best and most meaningful when they are read aloud. There’s something wonderfully comforting about having someone read to you and this poetry collection does just that. Pinsky, former U.S. Poet Laureate and creator of the Favorite Poem Project, collected a number of poems that work best, not when they are read, but when they are heard. To enforce that, the book is accompanied by a CD of 21 of the poems read aloud by Pinsky. I don’t like to play favorites with my library books, but this book is one that I’m extremely proud to have in the South’s collection. If this concept strikes a chord with you or if you get addicted to hearing poems read aloud (as many were meant to), consider checking out PoemsOutLoud.net which has a large collection of poets reading poems. For the ultimate read-aloud poetry experience, you can also check out this blog’s feature on the Illiad executed by the Almeida Theatre in London.

samuel-johnson-poetry-quotes-poetry-is-the-art-of-uniting-pleasureThis weekend, dear readers, I invited you to take a step towards easing that poetical anxiety and simply read a poem. Bonus points if you read it out loud, triple score if you read it out loud to someone else. Pick one, pick a few, just pick something that resonates with you and sparks an interest. Feel free to laugh! Poetry doesn’t have to be serious, but, as the Pinsky title intimates, it should always be something pleasurable and enjoyed.