Selected Poems [Paperback]

Mark Strand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1990

In this compilation of older and newer poems, Strand demonstrates his mastery of cadence and narrative style.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published simultaneously?though the Selected Poems is an update of a 1980 edition?these two books reveal a "laconic, surreal vision" (LJ 11/1/90).
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

In this compilation of older and newer poems, Strand demonstrates his mastery of cadence and narrative style.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (September 26, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679733019
• ISBN-13: 978-0679733010
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strand's a painter of words, August 28, 2001

By 

M. Swinney "Marc My Words" (Flower Mound, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Selected Poems (Paperback)

Mark Strand's poetry speaks volumes even in this thin-ish book of selected poems. It's my favorite of poetry books by living English-speaking writers. His early work reflects influences from Latin Surrealists like Octavio Paz. He moves later to the personal...autobiographical, beautiful elegies, and words on that basic thread that ties together the human experience...love. But enough of the pretentious crap on poetry that exists out there already in useless spades, on to the meat and bone of the matter, the poet's words. You be the judge. Here are some of my more favorite lines: "Tonight as it gets cold tell yourself what you know which is nothing but the tune your bones play as you keep going." from "Lines for Winter" "She slept without the usual concerns, the troubling dreams--the pets moving through the museum, the carved monsters, the candles giving themselves up to darkness. She slept without caring what she looked like, without considering the woman who would come or the men who would leave or the mirrors or the basin of cold water." from "She" "Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry...She does not understand. When I get on my knees and lick her hand, she screams. I am a new man. I snarl at her and bark. I romp with joy in the bookish dark." from "Eating Poetry" and finally "The meek are hauling their skins into heaven. The hopeless are suffering the cold with those who have nothing to hide...There are stones in the sea no one has seen. There is a shore and people are waiting. And nothing comes back. Because it is over. Because there is silence instead of a name. Because it is winter and the new year." from "Elegy for my Father"

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing..., August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Selected Poems (Paperback)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a Schubert Piano Sonata, March 15, 2000

By 

Andy Todes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selected Poems (Paperback)

hauting, ethereal, sparse, strand is, for me, the king of metaphor, and in some ways suspense. a wonderful selection, a desert island choice ... for the deserted.