I don’t read much poetry, I feel like I get something out of it, but I think I miss most of what’s valuable. I liked this stuff but it didn’t bowl me over the way some of Haddon’s novels have. I requested this book from my library thinking it was recent, but actually it was published 16 years ago, shortly after his big “hit” (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

I sometimes wonder if my opinion of this book has devalued my integrity as a literary critic. I loved it, and so few other poetry lovers seem to. Perhaps in the same way some people are moved to tears by a Rothko painting while others see nothing but a big red blotch, readers of this book will find their hearts profoundly stirred only if they want them to be. Haddon's poetry captivated me because for the most part, I felt without thinking. It asks you to trust it. I found trusting it a very enjoyable, moving experience-- and I usually only see the blotch. In some verses, the sheer scope of Hadden's imagination (where is he GETTING all of this!?) is what makes these poems so epic. In others, a pervading, sometimes cosmic sense of intimacy made me hold my breath for simpler, more directly emotional reasons.

Beautiful imagery, evocative concepts, like the glassy surface of a mythical pool, beckoning you to dive head heart first and live in that world for a while.

I only liked two paragraphs out of two diffetent poems. The rest was pretty dull.

Non saprei come definire questa raccolta di poesie se non,,, imbarazzante.
Avendo il testo a fronte ho letto sia la versione originale che la traduzione. Non si salvano che un paio di poesie. Il resto: un disastro, un accozzaglia di parole giustapposte, credo con l'intento di apparire profondo, ma a me sono sembrate solo vuote. Sarò io che non capisco, del resto la poesia non è il mio genere.
Però l'Haddon di Lo strano caso del cane ucciso a mezzanotte è un'altra cosa.

No part of this book was my style at all. I loved the last book I read by him, but this was significantly different. Too close to Greek mythology poetry/writing.

I can see why the rating for this is low. It's very surreal and odd, but I actually quite liked it.

Great poetry and the actual structure of the book is really cool. There is a paper wheel in the cover and you can turn it to see the highlighted poems and a little picture to go with it.

I liked Mark Haddon's Curious Incident novel. But I read his poems before I read this. I enjoyed the novel more I must say but the poems are very well written nevertheless. And I did enjoy reading them, though some of the subject matter of the poems seem a bit obscure. Still, he's a very good poet and this is worth checking out if you're into poetry.

Some of these are haunting and some are funny and some are just weird. I like his way of looking at the world.

I love the large worlds he can build with such short space! These were cool

Personalmente non mi ha trasmesso nulla, ma probabilmente è un mio problema di comprensione di molti componimenti.

Whew, what a disappointment! I really enjoyed a novel of his that I read, but wow - these poems were inaccessible to me. The cover was the best part!