Customer Reviews

The Winged Seed: A Remembrance

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

 

 

Borne from nights of insomnia and kaleidascopic memories, The Winged Seed is a beautiful search for answers for the tumultous inner questions of the mind. Part poem, part waking dream, part remembrance, this haunting book will draw you in to the author's nights, where he is surrounded by the seeds of moments the past has left behind.

the winged seed is probably the most poetic book i have ever read. li-young lee's quiet, condensed writing style is almost sedating. he is one of the most interesting people i've met and one of the best poets i've ever read. he is what many poets strive to be.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. And I forced myself to stick with it and finish it, even though I found it very difficult to do. It was only 205 pages... you would think I would have finished it in no time, but it took me weeks, mostly because I really wasn't enjoying it.

Li-Young Lee is a poet whose work I have respected and often loved. This memoir is, however, written as many of his poems are, moving back and forth between memory, dream, imagination and symbol so fluidly that it can be, at times, excruciatingly difficult to follow.

Still, high minded and poetic as I am, I was determined to love even this about the book. But, truth be told, I did not. Some passages were so unusual they just became nonsensical. Interspersed with indecipherable, dreamlike ramblings, were passages of more typical biographical storytelling, which were often wonderful and were the only parts that kept me hanging on, trying to make sense of this book. There were passages I truly loved. Clearly, the author has a story to tell. His life is very interesting and I wanted to know and understand what shaped him. The thrust of much of his writing seems to be trying to make sense of who he is in relation to who his father was, and the tragedies his family endured. This book is no different. But ultimately, for me, the book did not succeed. I really wish that the story could have been told in a more chronological, harmonious whole. A few poetic tangents could have been tolerated. However, it felt as if much of the book was written from some semi lucid state that left me lost and confused. It is rare for me to bother finishing a book and not give it a higher rating but I'm afraid it would be a rare person I would recommend this book to, and then with only with hesitation and qualifications.

Impressive impressionistic poetic memoir, powwerful and free, obviously not for everyone especially english instructors.

a very personal look in a rather unusal life of the author.

love it as you would a sleepless nite of rain and poetry one and the same.

leaving a small imprint, claire