Customer Reviews

The Gatehouse Heaven: Poems

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

 

 

An unbelieveable first volume, nominated for a Pulitzer, this very talented poet has delivered images of rural Mississippi that transcend time and geography. In the title poem, the poet takes the reader with him through the gates of the asylum and into the dark world of his father's unrelenting schizophrenia. This is a poem which begs to be read aloud.

Mr. Kimbrell will be a force to be reckoned with in the world of academia and poetry in the years to come. His writing is very accessible, fluid and pure. The foreword by his former teacher (himself a Pulitzer recipient) has been criticized as being "perfunctory"...only so, in my opinion, until the poetry has been read aloud. Only then will the reader understand the genius of this young poet and the excitement with which Charles Wright witnesses the beginning of a great career.

This work is pure genius. The images are vivid and reminiscent of my own childhood in the south. Every poem takes you somewhere whether it's the southern U.S. or Asia. You are there. You can see it and smell it and taste it. Every time I re-read the poems, I discover something new there I had not seen before.

This is a great book, although it is rather short. I read it a few times. I went to one of his readings at a local university and he is a great guy, his poetry is well written, it is not five star work yet.

James Kimbrell's poetry exhales with the perfect balance of expertise and ease. There's nothing contrived or stuffy about his poems. The voice is significantly soothing, pure and unequivocal. And each new poem has a mysterious and revitalizing significance.