Wonderful kids' book, especially as an introduction to works of art

This book was one of the first times I was exposed to Red Groom's work. As a child I felt there was something special about this book and kept it in the living room with my parent's coffeetable books. Now I'm in my thrid year of art school and have a new appreciation of Red Groom's clever illustrations.

Strand is undoubtedly the most overrated poet in the United States. Every five years or so he puts out a slim volume that reads like a fairly good imitation of Strand, and this one is no exception, filled with the usual icy facsimiles of emotion--and featuring the embarrassing "Delirium Waltz" in which he drops, with langorous obsequiousness, the names of a number of his wellknown friends. If you're interested in Strand, read his earlier books, particularly the magnificent "Story of Our Lives."This one is a waste of fifteen dollars. An elegantly dressed corpse is still a corpse.

Is Strand John Donne? Hardly. Is he Yeats? Alas, no. But he may be among the very best of living poets, and this has several poems worth re-reading.

I look for more from him of the caliber of "Keeping Things Whole." Until then, this volume is a good consolation.

While Mark Strand is not my favorite poet, I can still see and appreciate his brilliance. The only thing about his poetry of which I can truly complain is that it does not make good reading while you are depressed. That said, if one reads and re-reads "Blizzard of One" in a more intellectual Stevens-esque mood, one must admit themself to be in the presence of a master. Strand's lines are inventive and extremely well-honed, and his work suggests the depth and complexity of a poet of the highest, or almost-highest, caliber.

Not too many people notice Strand's sense of humor, though. He read at my college in the fall of 1999 on the same night as (are you ready for this?) Donald Justice and Derek Walcott. Reading last, after Walcott read a selection from the manuscript of "Tiepolo's Hound," Strand got up and started making everyone laugh with what he read. Most of what he read was from "Blizzard of One," too. "Some Last Words" is probably the poem in this collection which best embodies that side of Strand.

I reccomend this book for anyone who loves poetry. Just be in the right mood when you read it.

This book presents a small collection of Mr. Strand's images, all titled and dated, and offers a glimpse of the entire span of his career. We are given a sense of his work through four of the major times and places during his life: his photographic apprenticeship in New York during the late 1910's, a sampling of his work done under commission in Mexico, his well known work in New England, and finally, images taken after his emigration to France, in 1950. A brief biography precedes the photographs that follow, and we are left to consider the images free from further didactic comment.

At first sight, one senses immediately the charm this man might have possessed in his relationships with both himself and those people and things surrounding his life. This sense is borne out in the wry humor of "Town Hall", with its off kilter framing, which we instantly recognize as Paul Strand. Ironically, a closer study of his personal life indicates Mr. Strand could be a difficult man. The well-known "Wall Street", an earlier piece of darkly shadowed monstrous windows overpowering passers by, is as close to the foggy pictorialist sense Strand will get, and the rest of the images show him breaking away from that style, and moving head first into the previsualized and almost straight photographic style that he was to help break ground for.

In this collection, several of the photographs stand out; but many seem rather innocuous, specifically the portraits of those he knew personally, and those he didn't - none seem to capture the viewers imagination like those of Mr. Strands' contemporaries might, Edward Weston for one. Instead, they seem unimaginative and emotionless. Furthermore, it doesn't help that, lacking that content, it may be that his reputation as an innovative technician in the darkroom goes unnoticed here, seeing these images only on the page (in small 7 inch by 6 inch reprint).

On the other hand, we are shown some photographs which show how powerful a view of quiet solitude can be. Of particular note,"Tir a'Mhurain" stands alone. A wide view of the silence surrounding three horses watering in the bay, and in the very left foreground, they are being watched from far above by a lone white horse. The leading of the three animals has turned its mane toward, and is eyeing the lone horse. The silvery water of the bay reflects the stand of horses, and more strongly, that of an immense and clouded sky, suggesting a powerful solemnity. Faintly, in mid-ground, wood buildings of a fishing village are left powerless in front of only a small mountain range. Taken in 1954, an American living in France (but not able to speak the language), Mr. Strand might have felt himself the lone horse. The obtrusive sky begging for silence. The artist contemplating his subject from afar.

"Driveway" was taken late in his life (in fact, three years prior to his death) where he lived in France. This poetic view leads us through an overgrowth, tunnel-like, of bare tree limbs and branches. Beneath this dark surrounding of hibernating growth, two parallel white cobblestone paths. Our eyes search the dark, shadowed background to where we are being lead; almost imperceptible, at the end of the driveway, we make out a decrepit structure: a country cottage, seemingly empty and abandoned. One cannot help but feel the author's probable recognition of the path of his own life, and the awful truth of life: of autumn, the oncoming winter, the drawing to a close, and of coming home to a place unknown.

In this collection, these are his strongest images, these landscapes. - whether "Fox River", from his acclaimed book "Time in New England", or the handful of New York cityscapes, or the country landscapes and village life scenes, such as "Marketplace", taken in Italy. Robert Adams has suggested that Mr. Strands work went into decline following his emigration to France in 1950 (1). In actuality, it is these images we wish for more of. Mr. Strand's capacity was not limited by time and place, but by subject and content. Seeing the images borne from his emigrated life, one is left wanting less of his still life's and portraits, and more of what showed a more genuine side of Mr. Strand through symbolic form. Not the modernist machine pictures like "Oil Refinery", or "Akeley Motion Picture Camera", but more of "Landscape, Sicily, Italy", with its bare, white birch trees having cloistered the villager's in their quiet homes.

However, in this book, as a simple compendium of Mr. Strand's oeuvre, the viewer is at least left with a closer understanding of a part of what this celebrated photographer was seeing throughout the varied stages and places, both known and foreign, of his life.

1. Adams, Robert Why People Photograph, Aperture Press, 1994. pg. 85

as a person who has been close with the Strand family for a long time, i have to say that out of personal relations and out of knowing the full potential for paul and his family, this book is amazing. you have to remember that there is a face and a mind behind this camera, and the amazing talent that people must have in the first place to even be able to spot beauty in the everyday things. if you can take the time to look at the power of these photographs as a human being with a powerfully capable mind and not as a critic, prone to hang on every little detail instead of fully trying to enjoy the pieces in question, i can garauntee that you will be completely satisfied with this collection. in my mind it will always be stunning.

Strand's poetry hits the mark of greatness at times, but at others -- which to my dismay seems the more prevalent -- floats along on mediocrity. Perhaps I'm missing something. I was nevertheless disappointed by this collection.

DARKER and REASONS FOR MOVING each contain many poems which go very deep into the Self. I respectfully submit that, although the poems as a body did not speak to the other reviewer Skag, very, very few of them are "mediocre."

Mark strand, one of the better living poets in America delivers with a great, longer work set around growing older. It is accessable and interesting, which is about all you can ask for out of a modern volume of poetry. More then a few of these poems will rattle around in your head, long after you have put the book down.

I would actually give this book 4.5 stars if I had the choice, but not 5. The poems are very different and original. All of them had a certain specialness, a deepness, if you will, that made them worth-while to read. My personal favorites are "I once saw a man pursuing the horizon", "A postcard from the volcano", and "Observation Car".

I agree with the last 2 reviews: being well-known and well spoken of does not preclude a poet from writing good poetry, and this collection is a very good sampling of Strand's work. I'm particularly fond of his early work, and this collection continues to keep in-print poetry that otherwise might not be read since his earlier collections are out-of-print.

Yes, a poet brings to his work a certain personality, and we can't fully separate the two. But in the end, poets are vessels and it is the poetry we are interested in--if not, we'd be psychologists.

This collection proves Mark Strand to be one of the most amazing, talented contemporary poets. Easy for a poetry beginner to appreciate and understand, yet complex enough for the biggest poetry buff to love, this book made me think over and over again about the thoughts Strand so elegantly examines. I had the luck to be able to see Strand read, and his wit and grace impressed me almost as much as his work does. If you are interested in reading contemporary poetry, or already love the likes of Simic, Tate, Wright, Ashbery, etc, pick up this book and let Stand's magic take you away.

Mark Strand is an excellent contemporary poet. Some poems leave the reader smiling, such as in "The New Poetry Handbook." An excerpt reads, "If a man publicly denounces poetry, / his shoes will fill with urine." Even within this one poem, the reader changes from a laugh to a stunned silence, from the last line in the poem, "If a man finishes a poem, / he shall bathe in the blank wake of his passion / and be kissed by white paper."

Strand uses language to purely, succintly, metaphorically, lyrically, and beautifully describe every day life: marriage, writing, love, home, and death.

BUY THIS BOOK!

Very superficial: a good book if you like superficiality.

Though Strand has been widely regarded as a notable poet for over thirty years, this book--which comes hot on the heels of his Pulitzer Prize in poetry--is his first collection of essays. Actually, there are other kinds of prose here as well, including two prose poems on the topics of translation and narrative poetry (reprinted from his 1990 book THE CONTINUOUS LIFE) and a story revolving around the conflicts between public life and poetic sensibility. All three are humorous, as are several of the essays: Strand has always oscillated between pure gravitas and a kind of serious humor. Like the best such collections, THE WEATHER OF WORDS not only illuminates Strand's own poetic practice, but also offers insights into poetry that readers unfamiliar with his work will find valuable. An example is his discussion of the villanelle form--how it turns out to be the "safest" kind of poem in which to talk about loss. Particular standouts here are "A Poet's Alphabet," which opens the book, and Strand's introduction to THE BEST AMERICAN POETRY 1991.

this book is a great picture of poetry by one of america's best living poets. funny, touching, and above all, poetic, strand's new book is definitely worthwhile to anyone interested in poetry.

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is a skilled portrait photographer, and we've seen his work in magazines as well as museums everywhere. A monograph of his work has been long overdue.

Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a GOOD book of his work.

This book denies us the opportunity to see the pictures presented to their best advantage. "Art World" is jam-packed with hundreds of good portraits, but they are printed very small, six to a page, forcing the viewer fantasize about the precise detail and deliciously long tonal range that surely exists in the originals. The publisher is either clueless or cruel -- I'm not sure which.

Greenfield-Sanders' first book should have been a monumental publishing event -- instead it's just an unimaginative catalog sure to frustrate those of us who admire his work.

A stunning collection of portraits that spans the art world. Greenfield-Sanders is gifted in his photographic technique and in his ability to elicit personal qualities in his subjects. If you've ever wanted to know who populates the art world, then this is a book that is indispensible and literally unrivaled. Enjoy!

There is definitely a need for such books on poetic forms today, but this book does not fill that lacuna adequately. As has been noted, the editors are not poets of the first rank (despite the fact that Mark Strand was a poet laureate of the US) and are not unquestionable masters of form. So, while this book may serve a scant few beginners, there remain better other options.

I would suggest checking out John Hollander's excellent short work "Rhyme's Reason". He goes over more forms and in a better style than in this book. If you are a poet yourself, definitely you should choose Hollander's book over this one. However, if you want an easy and light read, maybe this book is better, since it provides longer "readings" of certain poems. But if that's what you're after, you'd be better served by Harold Bloom's "How to Read and Why", a very good book written by a top scholar and yet readable by virtually anyone interested in literature.

These two poets rarely write in poetic form themselves, and it shows. The book is sketchy and often superficial in its treatments of the forms. For a much more thorough look at a much wider range of forms, check out the new book AN EXALTATION OF FORMS: CONTEMPORARY POETS CELEBRATE THE DIVERSITY OF THEIR ART.

The choice of poems in this book is great, the design is beautiful and it can sure be very helpful for anyone who loves poetry. Just the best.