Kim Deister
There is a very clear overall theme to this collection of poems by Atwood… and that is death. Death, grief, and sadness. Poetry is an odd thing. Sometimes “enjoyed” is not the right verb to describe the reading and interpretation of it. That is the case with this collection. The poems are often dark and depressing, morbid. So yes, “enjoyment” isn’t quite the correct word. But they were very compelling, even if I often felt disquieted as I read and absorbed them.
The poems are varied, moving from the death/grief of people, to zombies, to space, to even launguage. It was a fascinating journey along the spectrum of what death, grief, and loss look like. One of the many things I enjoyed was the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated topics within a single poem, the way they are woven together, somehow making perfect sense with Atwood’s words.