Customer Reviews

The Diary of Emily Dickinson

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Customer reviews prior to this one here, as well as the author and publisher's manner of presention of this book blatantly titled THE DIARY OF EMILY DICKINSON, present a kind of ethical dilemma to this reader and lover of Dickinson's poetry.

Unless literary history has changed mightily while I, like a modern Rip Van Winkle, slept right through it, the fact is that IF Emily Dickinson ever kept a diary or journal, it was either suppressed or destroyed. Probably the latter, by the same friends and family members who heavily edited (and had the audacity to change Emily's words in) the first printings of her poems.

You will note, if you read the reader reviews posted here before this one, that two out of three amazon.com readers believed they were reading a diary actually written by Emily Dickinson herself.

I am frankly distressed by the publication of a book that does not make its fictional nature more obvious and upfront.

I just bought this book to help me do some research on Emily Dickinson and did not realize the "diary" is actually fictional. The "novel" is so well done that you will believe that you are reading actual diary entries written by Emily Dickinson. There are even editorial notes throughout the diary to help clarify the entries. The prologue doesn't even clue you in to this "April Fool's". I was flabbergasted when I was halfway through the book and so happened to glance at the back cover and realized this diary was actually fictional! Very well done! Very well done! No matter, it has helped me understand Emily Dickinson's poetry a lot better . . . Jamie Fuller threads throughout the diary actual events with likely events . . . oh it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant! Bravo! I am laughing hard still from the shock of discovering my error.

This book is fiction and yet when I picked it up I thought I was getting the actual diary of Emily Dickinson! The writing is similar to what Emily might have written in her diary but she did not write any of this. The author takes way too many liberties with this title and deceives those of us who are true fans of the immortal Emily Dickinson. Read Emily's poetry instead and you will find a living diary directly from this beautiful woman's life.

To be honest, I never was able to get fully into Emily's poetry. I always thought that her poems were a bit too remote for me to reach, for example, themes like death, eternity, etc. I have always wondered what kind of person can really write these poems. After reading this diary of hers, I really must say, it just seems that I have made a new friend. It just makes me get to know more about the thoughts, the beliefs, the anxiety and the inner world of a very talented woman. Now, after finished reading her diary, I am really able to appreciate her poetry fully. I recommend this diary to anyone who likes Emily's poetry, or, to people who like me, have at first found her poetry a bit hard to get into. I am sure that after reading this book, you will get to understand and like her better.

This book is intruiging to read. I first read this book before i read her actual poems. And i must admit that i like her diary more than her actual poems. I guess it is the depth of her thoughts into a diary than her thoughts of seeing. Some of her poems were inspiered from here entries into her diary. There are many exerts of various poems into this book, which is a real treat to get more than you payed for. =) I would reccomend this book to anyone who would like to gain a perspective of the artist by her daily, weekly entires.