Saturday, November 26, 2011

Book Review: "God's Silence" by Franz Wright

"At some point, forever, I crossed
into a state where my words
became more real than I am (even to me)
Is that a good thing
or a bad thing, I
have absolutely no idea
but every day I thank God for this consciousness
that neither
one is real"
-from "The Beloved Illusory"

Franz Wright is the son of renown poet James Wright. In 2004 Franz's collection Walking to Martha's Vineyard won the Pulitzer Prize, making Franz and James Wright the only Father and son to win a Pulitzer in the same category.

God's Silence (2006) is an absolutely breathtaking collection of poetry. It is simple and yet profound all the while being deeply spiritual. These poems move from darkness to light and they climb and fall and take you along with them. It is beautiful and yet humble at the same time.  Langdon Hammer, in the New York Times Book Review, wrote of God’s Silence: “In his best poems, Wright grasps at the ‘radiantly obvious thing’ in short-lined short lyrics that turn and twist down the page. The urgency and calculated unsteadiness of the utterances, with their abrupt shifts of direction, jump-cuts and quips, mime the wounded openness of a speaker struggling to find faith.”

I posted "Love", one of my favorite poems from this collection, earlier and even though I have finished the book and written a review I may still come back to it and post some more poems from this collection. I can honestly say that I've enjoyed this book as much, if not more than any collection of poetry I've ever read.

You can purchase the book here:

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