The Dead and the Living [Paperback]

Sharon Olds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 1984

The 1983 Lamont poetry selection of the Academy of American Poets.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The 1983 Lamont poetry selection of the Academy of American Poets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (February 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394715632
• ISBN-13: 978-0394715636
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.3 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Running with Wolves, November 14, 1998

By 

Thomas Fulton (Minneapolis, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dead and the Living (Paperback)

I discovered Sharon Olds' poetry while reading the anthology The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, which includes several of her poems, most notably (for me) "The Race." I followed through by reading Satan Says and The Dead and the Living. For me, Olds' poetry combines sensuous, keenly observed (and keenly felt), images with searing emotion in a way that achieves an intensity that is, at times, trance inducing. In The Dead and the Living, Olds' writing is grounded in personal family experiences which included, during her childhood, shuddering, shattering incidents of abuse. I found the poems raw, edgy, blunt, earthy, but also subtle, exploring many dimensions of family experience over several genertions. There is something about the work which blends both rage and understanding, an ability to move through without forgetting. Two examples would be the "The Killer" and "The Sign of Saturn" in which Olds reflects on the shadow she sees (or imagines) in her own children. I found The Living and the Dead more alert to the complexity of evil than the earlier book Satan Says, but no more detached from its horror. I'm looking forward to reading her most recent poems to see how her perspectives may have evolved. In my opinion, this a very serious woman (in the best sense of the word serious), who knows her way around both the day world and the underworld and can hold the tension between.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquence at its best, August 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dead and the Living (Paperback)

Ms. Olds has an amazing command of language. She uses this particular compilation of her work to explore the cycles of death and life. She depicts different events in her life with unparalleled lucidity and skill. This extremely accomplished poet never fails to amaze me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a beautiful compilation of some of Olds' best work., June 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dead and the Living (Paperback)

This book is filled with poetry for "everywoman," and deals with issues such as romantic and sexual relationships, childbirth and childrearing, and physical and verbal abuse.