Diving Into The Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 [Paperback]

Adrienne Rich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1994

In this reissue of her seventh volume of poetry, Adrienne Rich searches to reclaim—to discover—what has been forgotten, lost, or unexplored.

"I came to explore the wreck. / The words are purposes. / The words are maps. / I came to see the damage that was done / and the treasures that prevail." These provocative poems move with the power of Rich's distinctive voice.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"It is hard to overestimate the importance of Rich's work in the landscape of contemporary poetry and in the writing of women's experience and lesbian experience," notes LJ reviewer Christian.
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Review

“Diving into the Wreck is one of those rare books that force you to decide not just what you think of it, but what you think about yourself. It is a book that takes risks, and forces the reader to take them also. . . . You feel about her best images, her best myths, that nobody else writes quite like this.” (Margaret Atwood - New York Times Book Review )

“The poet is telling of something now standing before her eyes of which her heart is full. . . . These poems are not loose facts, they are parts of a revelation.” (Richard Howard - Harper's )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 17, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393311635
• ISBN-13: 978-0393311631
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite single volume of poetry, May 6, 2001

By 

"gabecca" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diving Into The Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 (Paperback)

Adrienne Rich is one of America's best poets, and this is certainly her best collection. To use the word "angst" to describe these poems (as a previous reviewer did) is to diminish these works of volcanic beauty. This collection reads very well as an organic whole, but some of the best individual poems are "Incipience," "The Stranger," and, of course, the title poem. Common themes of awakening and discovery run through this book; I wish that every women would read these poems. Rich finally shakes free of the masculine poetic establishment and rejects male mythology as she writes:

A man is asleep in the next room/ We are his dreams/ We have the heads and breasts of women/ the bodes of birds of prey/ Sometimes we turn into silver serpents

Rich dives into the wreck and comes out transformed. Don't miss this opportunity to explore your own wreck.

5.0 out of 5 stars Surviving the Wreck, December 15, 2011

By 

Lucia - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Diving Into The Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 (Paperback)

You must be willing to dive into your own wreck, get soaking wet, risk getting the bends, and triumph in surviving when you jump

into Adrienne Rich's poems from the early 70's. If there were no date noted on this book, one could place them in the present.

Rich's metaphors hold true even though forty years have passed. Today, my favorite is the one about Talking to the Dead. I think because it

reminds us of all those lost to us as we approach year's end: the ones we loved and the ones we didn't even know. It asks what happens to all that love that doesn't stop

simply because the loved one is gone. Does it rush away like water? Flood the land? Does it burn like embers not quite extinguished?

On a more universal level, we might think of all the potential wasted in needless death, an interpretation that expresses Rich's precept that

the personal is always political. Reflecting on all of the levels of Rich's meaning can give us the means to survive our own wrecks and be willing

to dive with her.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Years of Angst and Resolution, October 22, 2000

By 

Judith M Wallace (Bluff, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diving Into The Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 (Paperback)

The poems that are included in this book are particulary noteworthy for their angst. Rich weaves words into powerful images that portray her stuggle as a woman, a lover, and as a human being.

This collection of poems was written during the early years (1971-72) of her career as a poet. Although the imagery and voice are understandably not as clearly defined as in her recent work, this book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the development of poetic voice and style.