This is not my kind of poetry. In "Reactions to the Poems of T.S. Eliot", Charles Powell is quoted as having said that "'the ordinary reader' would 'make nothing of it'" and I think that is the case with me. I give the poems themselves two stars, but bump the book up to three stars because of the extra material at the end.

This is the first book of poetry I have read by Eliot and while the poems were not bad, they are really just not for me. I like poetry that makes the reader feel something, even if that reader doesn't necessarily understand all of what the poet is trying to convey. These poems just left me a little frustrated as the number of allusions was a bit overwhelming for me. In his review, I.A. Richards discredits the accusation that Eliot's use of allusions is excessive and unnecessary, but for me the criticism still stands. It's hard to get into a poem when some of the best lines and taken word-for-word from another source. That's less of an allusion and more of a lazy way to make a poem more interesting.

Also, the prejudice in the poems was another downside. The poor views of Jewish people and women took away some of the appeal of the poems for me. Despite the time period in which these poems were written, it is still difficult to enjoy such prejudice pieces.

I do think the information at the end of the book was helpful in understanding some of the criticisms and praise for Eliot's work as well as giving some insight into what imagism and vorticism are. The discussion of the connections of Eliot's poetry and antisemitism was also interesting and informative.

I've read (and listened to) this collection of poems half a dozen times. THE WASTE LAND is, without a doubt, still my favourite. It's hard to understand, pompous at times and so dense with allusions to other works I lose track of what's Eliot's work and what isn't. And yet ... on some atavistic level this poem still "talks" to me. The rhythm, the magic, the sheer (dare I say it) poetry in the lines (April is the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land) draws a reader in and shakes up emotions I didn't even know I had.

The tension between the physical and the metaphysical is tremendous; Eliot clearly had a deep experience of how earthbound and limited we are by the very denseness of our bodies (...the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the wet bank), while the voice of our souls rush by unheard (The wind Crosses the brown land unheard). THE WASTE LAND is a mournful cry of a man trapped in a world of harsh reality (it was written only four years afer the devastation of Europe in World War 1), sensing there is something more (Madame Sosostris), yet unable to feel or perhaps believe in it (... this card, which is blank,...,which I am forbidden to see). Here, in this poem, is the struggle between the intellect and the emotions (fear death by water - in the Tarot the water cards represent emotion), good and evil and man's lower, sexual nature and his higher, Divine nature.

What a brilliant, depressing, strong poem it is!

So strong, it almost overshadows the other poems in this collection. But ASH WEDNESDAY, with its tone of sorrow and penitance already obvious from the title, is another powerful poem, as is JOURNEY OF THE MAGI and the remainder of the poems.

In its struggle between hope and despair, this collection is as relevant today as it was in Eliot's time and is worth the effort it takes to try and grasp its elusive meaning.

OMG another romance that i actually enjoyed! what's happening to me? im turning into a sap!
*huddles in a ball in the corner in shame* lol just kidding! nah im a big believer that if anything is written well enough and is entertaining it can be enjoyable to anyone. though i do have to admit i usually dont find romances written well or entertaining, lucky for me this one was both .... kind of.
i of course do have some slight issue's but mainly i enjoyed this book.
the futuristic take on our world was very interesting and quite well done, i loved the whole truck thing, who knew trucks could actually be interesting? plus im always up for a little enhancement and gene splicing!

Now onto the things i didnt like.
Wizard while mainly awesome did sometimes come off as unconvincing in his personality. and what was with all the affirmatives? i get he's robotic, same as his siblings - no need to attempt to remind us all the time. it just came across as unnatural, same with a few other things he said.

and the word wet! omg i have never read so many... smut scenes (this is including just kissing) that was described as wet i swear by the end i was cringing, imagining all this drool, and sticky-ness, and just extra saliva everywhere....
have you ever seen that movie when the dude kisses the old lady? and when they pull apart there's all this left over.... drool? for the life of me i cant remember the name of the movie but that one scene!..... *Shudder* i imagine it will haunt me forever.

on the other hand Raina was aweosme. her in dialog was hilarious! and constantly had me giggling. i also really felt for her at times, her childhood was horrific, i have no problem whats so ever believing that she'd have trouble trusting people ever again. hell if i was in her shoes i dont think i'd even want to talk to people again! so it was pretty amazing how far she came by the end of the book 
(view spoiler)

overall an enjoyable book. I would recommend to people looking for a more futuristic romance, with action twisted in throughout, with a few splashes of steamy smut scenes thrown in. oh thing i do ave to say is, i enjoyed how the sex scene's came across naturally. they didnt seem/feel forced to me to move the story-line along. which i really appreciate.

Part two of my poetry/books photo series. This is the middle of poetic shangri-la. And what a bed should always look like, in my opinion.