Ten Poems to Change Your Life

Rating:
Summary: A perfect gift for people who say they don't "get" poetry
Review: In her book BLUE PASTURES, poet Mary Oliver states: " The three ingredients of poetry: the mystery of the universe, spiritual curiosity, the energy of language." Roger Housden is mindful of all of this in his wonderful book TEN POEMS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE. He gets it, and makes its so easy for all of us to "get it." I am on my second reading of this marvelous book and realized that one of the things I love about it is that I can give it to my friends who profess to dislike or are intimidated by poetry; "I don't get it" is the pathetic whine I have heard all of my life. Mr. Housden is as passionate and generous as the poets he discusses. It is a courageous and bold statement he is making: "Poetry can change your life, folks. Let me show you why and how!" For anyone who thinks they hate poetry or doesn't understand why it is crucial to a fully lived life, get this book now. Fall in love with your divinity and quit looking outside of yourself for an answer, a clue, a road map. Fall in love with poetry. Fall in love with this gorgeous book. Fall in love with yourself as a result of reading TEN POEMS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Rating:
Summary: A perfect gift for people who think they don't "get" poetry
Review: In her book BLUE PASTURES, poet Mary Oliver states: "The three ingredients of poetry: the mystery of the universe, spiritual curiosity, the energy of language." Roger Housden does a superb job of incorporating these three key ingredients in his marvelous book, TEN POEMS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I am on my second reading and just realized what a wonderful gift TEN POEMS would be for people who say they don't like or "get" poetry. Mr. Housden interprets poetry in his own poetic and deeply-felt style, illuminating the reader's own innate knowing of universal truths, longings and passions. I am reminded of a recent ad for Mercedes-Benz: "Live. A lot. Unleash yourself upon the world and go!" Mr. Housden can show you how to do just that by connecting with great poetry. What a pleasure this book is.

Rating:
Summary: Simple...
Review: Quite possibly the best book you will ever read and the quickest too... No excuses, order it and be saved...

Rating:
Summary: They say the best things come in small packages....
Review: Roger has done us two great favors with this book. It is increasingly hard to recognise truly authentic voices in the sea of information and social discourse we all struggle to navigate. Roger introduces us to 10 of them - and in my case, many are new, and I'm so grateful to meet them. Secondly, his lovingly crafted interpretations of each poem serve to kick start us, his readers, into the very rewarding act of interpreting poetry for ourselves. I plan to allow one week for each poem and, inspired by Roger, see what insights come from my own dialogue with the poetry.

Thanks, Roger. WHAT a gift!

Rating:
Summary: Ten Poems to Enjoy, and Ten Passages to Annoy
Review: Roger Housden is a blowhard.

There, I said it. His book is the epitome of arrogant spirituality gone wrong.

Housden's book is a mere outlet for his own revelation, and does very very little for a reader who thinks for himself. Housden claims that the book can change the life of the religious, and even those without religion. Yet he ends his introduction with prayer-like words. "May these poems set free your unlived dreams [...] may you wake up one morning in 'the new life.'" I expected to see an "Amen" after that. I wonder if "the new life" is so blatant an allegory to heaven that most readers will pick it up, or if people kept reading mindlessly? The quotes around "the new life" open it up for such an allegory, but my guesses are fans of the book weren't paying attention.

I do give Housden credit though. He picked some fine poems (poems he admits he picked out of "personal prejudice"). But while the poems are good (there are many better, too), his analyzations of the poems are half-way decent to laughable at best. He forms the analyzations, like a University Freshman English student, to his own theories, rather than taking into account other possible readings. Read another way, Machado's "Last Night as I Was Sleeping" could be an ironic blemish on Housden's book. "Marvelous error!" could easily be interpreted to mean that the dream is a marvelous escapist thought while wholly wrong (an error).

This book might change your life for a day or two, IF you are Christian (Housden talks about Jesus being the light of the world, despite his claiming that non-religious people can exsperience life change with this book), and IF you allow yourself to be guided step-by-step through Housden's biography and convoluted interpretations. If you think for yourself in regards to spirituality and have any sort of ability in literary analysis, the poems will be enjoyable at best, and Housden's interludes will be PAINFUL.

But hey, the cover is nice.

(2 stars for the poem selections. 0 for Housden.)

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Companion for your Journey to Authentic Self
Review: Roger Housden's "ten poems to change your life" is guaranteed to inspire, illuminate and educate. Having discovered Mr. Housden's analysis of Mary Oliver's "The Journey" in the July issue of O Magazine, I was moved to purchase this gem of a book. The author has a remarkable relationship with language. Each poem is an opportunity to discover the music of Housden's ability with words. "This is the self who slips through the cracks of the ordinary mind when the sentry is looking the other way. If there is one word that can describe its voice, it is the word authentic." His fluid and incredible visual style had this reader weeping. Without question, each poem is in, and of itself, special, but it is the author's lyrical interpretation that gives this book it's powerful voice. For anyone who is on the path of self-discovery, Roger Housden's work is a journey well worth the taking.

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Summary: Read More and Be Inspired By these Great Books!!!
Review: Roger Housden's collection delivers what its title promises, ten poems with the potential to change your life. Let the reader beware: reading poetry like this can be dangerous; dangerous, we're told, "because you may never be the same again" (p. 1). "Great poetry can alter the way we see ourselves," Housden explains in the Introduction to this ten-poem collection. "It can change the way we see the world . . . Poetry at its best calls forth our deep Being, bids us live by its promptings; it dares us to break free from the safe strategies of the cautious mind; it calls to us, like the wild geese, from an open sky" (p. 2).

Housden (TEN POEMS TO OPEN YOUR HEART; RISKING EVERYTHING: 110 POEMS OF LOVE AND REVELATION) knows great poetry, the kind of poetry that "has the power to start a fire in your life" (p. 1). He has drawn the ten poems collected here from around the world and from different centuries, including accessible selections from Mary Oliver, Antonio Machado, Walt Whitman, Rumi, Kabir, Pablo Neruda, Galway Kinnell, W. S. Merwin, Derek Walcott, and St. John of the Cross. Each poem encourages us to "Wake up and Love," and to open our eyes "to the wonder of what is around us; to the wonder of what is deep inside the human heart; and above all, to be awake to the presence, the sensation, of our own being, in the midst of all of it" (p. 116). Housden annotates each poem with insightful commentary based on his own personal experience.

G. Merritt

Rating:
Summary: Ten life-changing poems.
Review: Roger Housden's collection delivers what its title promises, ten poems with the potential to change your life. Let the reader beware: reading poetry like this can be dangerous; dangerous, we're told, "because you may never be the same again" (p. 1). "Great poetry can alter the way we see ourselves," Housden explains in the Introduction to this ten-poem collection. "It can change the way we see the world . . . Poetry at its best calls forth our deep Being, bids us live by its promptings; it dares us to break free from the safe strategies of the cautious mind; it calls to us, like the wild geese, from an open sky" (p. 2).

Housden (TEN POEMS TO OPEN YOUR HEART; RISKING EVERYTHING: 110 POEMS OF LOVE AND REVELATION) knows great poetry, the kind of poetry that "has the power to start a fire in your life" (p. 1). He has drawn the ten poems collected here from around the world and from different centuries, including accessible selections from Mary Oliver, Antonio Machado, Walt Whitman, Rumi, Kabir, Pablo Neruda, Galway Kinnell, W. S. Merwin, Derek Walcott, and St. John of the Cross. Each poem encourages us to "Wake up and Love," and to open our eyes "to the wonder of what is around us; to the wonder of what is deep inside the human heart; and above all, to be awake to the presence, the sensation, of our own being, in the midst of all of it" (p. 116). Housden annotates each poem with insightful commentary based on his own personal experience.

G. Merritt

Rating:
Summary: A Class of One
Review: The content of this little book is terrific, but the best part about it is the format. It is like you are in a classroom with the book as the instructor. The ideas presented in the discussions that follow each poem are as thought-provoking as the poetry itself. The variety of works presented and discussed is wonderful as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is remotely interested in poetry....or in delving beneath the surface of life. This book led me to purchase several other publications of the poets whose works are presented. I'd love to see more books follow this format...for those of us who no longer have the priveledge of attending formal classes, this format provides everything but the desk, chair and walls!

Rating:
Summary: What a great book!
Review: This book is a lovely and thoughtful meditation on 10 poems with spiritual or metaphysical themes. The selection of poems is interesting and eclectic, but it's the commentary that really shines. Mr. Housden discusses the poetic themes with stunning insight is to their relevance to modern life...trust me, the first chapter alone is worth the price of admission. A book to be read, re-read and savored on the road of life. A big "thank you" to Mr. Housden for this wonderful book!