Morning in the Burned House

Rating:
Summary: A Dazzling Journey into Metaphor and Myth
Review: An avid poetry reader and writer, I was introduced to the sparklingly new and innovative metaphors found in Atwood's book, MORNING IN A BURNED HOUSE, by a teacher. The poems certainly illuminate the ancient hidden core of individuals that yearns to beleive in something greater and more powerful...the human spirit. A great addition to a poetry library. Profoundly clear and imaginative.

Rating:
Summary: Profound. Simple. Human.
Review: This book is very aptly titled. The poems feel like waking up in a pile of cinders that used to be a house. Not sad really. Just sort of empty. As if everything has been reduced to stark facts with a few flowers sprouting here and there out of the ashes. There is something profoundly touching about these poems. They do an amazing job of conveying the spent feeling after the huge emotional turmoil of losing a parent. One line from the book that runs through my head sometimes: "After a pause, she says--he hears her say--'I love you like salt.'"

Rating:
Summary: Not Atwood's best poetry.
Review: While it's always cheering to find literary poetry on the bestseller list, this seems to have made the (Canadian)bestseller lists merely because of the author's name. It's not *bad* poetry, just not great, and Atwood at this late stage is forcing the humour: she's funny in her novels without being coy or whimsical, which she does to excess in this collection. Maybe it was an off-year for Atwood as poet--she's currently stronger as a novelist, in a reversal of her early career. This book is not representative of Atwood's best poetry; unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to find Atwood's best poetry in the United States