I really don't read poetry and I thought that reading Poisoned Apples would be a chance to expand my reading horizons. A poetry book that addresses real life scenarios using fairy-tales sounded like the perfect kind of book for me. Poisoned Apples is a short, yet interesting collection of poems, but I wasn't overly impressed with it and I found that it wasn't quite what I expected. I think part of my distaste with Poisoned Apples stems from the fact that poetry isn't really my thing and this collection failed to further my appreciation of poetry like I had hoped.
Poisoned Apples is full of extremely short poems that are accompanied by black and white photos. I can't really comment on the photographs because my review copy lacked the complete collection of photos, but I wasn't impressed with the few that I did see; the photos didn't really add anything to the poems themselves and felt arbitrary. I wasn't a huge fan of the opening poems, but I found that the later poems were crafted better and much more entertaining. By the time, I became interested in Heppermann's poems, this collection was over and I truly wish this collection was expanded to include additional poems.
The way that Poisoned Apples deals with society and it's issues never really goes beyond a basic level. I understand that societal issues are extremely complex, but I feel like the interpretations given in these poems merely scratch the surface and that these poems aren't nearly long enough to address these issues properly. These poems might be an interesting way to spark conversation about society's emphasis on beauty, but there's no way a topic like that can be breached with such brevity.
Poisoned Apples didn't leave much of an impression on me and I have rather ambivalent feelings towards it. I have a feeling that the average layman won't really enjoy this one despite the integration of fairy-tales. I can't see myself taking the time to read more of Heppermann's poems, but I am glad that I gave this collection of poems a chance.
I liked the cover and the title, but it sounds like a collection I'll skip. I'm not much of a poetry person anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe book cover is stunning. The red jumps out at you. I haven't read much poetry since my college days, but this sounds like a good place to start again.
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