Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

5/5 stars

What's it about? Anne Carson reimagines the myth of Geryon, a giant felled by the Greek hero Heracles, who steals Geryon’s cattle as one of the labors imposed upon him by the gods. Is this relevant to your reading? Not really, but it would be a shame to spoil any bit of this devastating novel in verse about love, longing, monsters, mothers, and seeing, so that’s all the context you’ll get. A masterful modern retelling.

How’d I find it? A Northeast Library book sale in DC scored me this read.

Who will enjoy this book? Autobiography of Red is a sumptuous treat for those who revel in ingenuity of form and lustrous language. Readers who loved Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Ocean Vuong (particularly On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous), and Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad will appreciate.

What stood out? I was admittedly skeptical about this book, as I didn’t enjoy Carson’s Plainwater (I know, I know). But the knockout language of Autobiography of Red left me breathless. I can’t wait to read this book again and discover what new pangs the words inflict. Buy this book, revisit it, underline heavily. Never have chapter titles done such rich lifting.

Which line made me feel something? I’ll be chewing on this book for days (pity on whatever I read next), but this line in particular from the chapter “From the Archaic to the Fast Self” has me thinking: “Like the terrestrial crust of the earth / which is proportionately ten times thinner than an eggshell, the skin of the soul / is a miracle of mutual pressures.”

Bluets by Maggie Nelson

5/5 stars

What's it about? Maggie Nelson plumbs the depths of her obsession with blue, of color itself, and of grief over a lost love in a knockout work that defies genre. The result is reflection rendered, a meditation of a book that succeeds in creating an immersive mood, a mind state.

How’d I find it? I was late to work, hustling down the sidewalk after finding a hard-fought parking space, and passed a Little Free Library. Well, I didn’t pass it at all. I found this.

Who will enjoy this book? Fans of Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red, William Carlos Williams, and Emmanuel Carrère's Lives Other Than My Own

What stood out? What a book. A slice of brilliance that had just the desired effect: a tickle in the brain that had me mulling over the words like a worry stone. The numbered paragraphs (verses?) are peppered with references to works I want to read immediately.

Which line made me feel something? “...the blue of the sky depends on the darkness of empty space behind it. As one optics journal puts it, ‘The color of any planetary atmosphere viewed against the black of space and illuminated by a sunlike star will also be blue.’ In which case blue is something of an ecstatic accident produced by void and fire.”