The Book of Medicines by Linda Hogan

The Book of Medicines Reviews

• 
  Plagued by Visions

  It imagines the dawn of time in detail so intimate, you truly are left with the coldness of loss at the end of every verse.
• 
  Kirsten

  Read a few other reviews, and I can't understand that we've read the same book. There are several poems, even passages, that would make this worth reading even if every other poem left me uninspired.
  
  I'm going to leave this here for easy reference, as I'm reading a borrowed copy:
  (p.19)
  
  I am afraid of the future
  as if I am the bear
  turned in the stomach
  of needy men
  or the wolf become a dog
  that will turn against itself
  remembering what wildness was
  before the crack of a gun,
  before the men tried to kill it
  or tame it
  or tried to make it love them.
• 
  Doris Raines

  I. Really. Like. This. Book. Of. Medicines. Why. Because. This. Book. Reminds. Me. Of. My. Child hood. My. Ancestors. Did. Not. Believe. In. Medicines. From. Doctor s. They. Discover. There. Very. Own. They. Lived. To. Get. 100. Years. Old. This. Book. Is. A. Must. Yes. I. Got. To. Have. This. Book. In. My. Libary. Doris.
• 
  sylas

  SO. Good.
• 
  Mariana

  These great poems should be read very slowly.
• 
  hh

  incantatory
• 
  Rae

  Beautiful poetry with Native American and environmental themes throughout. This is just fine stuff.
• 
  Lauren

  This poetry is best enjoyed aloud. Alone. In a clear, beautiful spot.
• 
  Alexa

  Linda Hogan's verse is beautiful and complex, offering much to unpack and take in.
• 
  Adam Burnett

  Rich poems hot with hunger and compassion leaving one breathless in a literary tonic of hurt, joy, poison, and wisdom; animal medicine as choral profundity and revelation.
• 
  Brian

  Capturing a feel for First Nations sensibilities and insights.
• 
  Brett Francis

  I had a poetry professor once very harshly criticize me for the same kind of enjambments I found all over this chapbook. Melodramatic, my professor called it. And this collection really made me feel the truth behind that. Perhaps I am missing something, but this whole collection felt like it was full of grand proclamations of a vague sort that I simply couldn't ground into reality. The imagery was so intangible for me, and I recognized some of the characters of Native American folk traditions, but couldn't quite connect them with the meaning Hogan was trying to achieve. I frequently found myself trying to read the poems and my mind would wander onto other things because not a single piece in this collection held my attention. I kept hoping to find something in one of the later poems, but then I had made it to the end and just...I didn't get anything out of this book. I'm sorry to say.
• 
  Lauren

  While the book contains beautiful descriptions and language in most parts. I found the poems to be highly political and less emotionally honest. I feel that many of them came from a source of deciding what the poem would "teach" before putting pen to paper, rather than letting them teach incidentally. Some people like this, I don't.
  
  Confusing syntax and overuse of abstractions also caused me to not enjoy certain stanzas of poems, but there's plenty of good stuff in the book to make up for that, depending on how picky you are.
• 
  C

  I want to like this much more than I do like this.
  
  I agree with the message. I believe the poet has a good understanding of rhythm and meaning.
  
  Something, however, just feels flat. Several poems stand out - particularly "glass" and "fat," but I just can't fall into this collection... I don't feel like I can believe in it.
• 
  mr. kate

  I couldn't get caught up in these poems and forced myself to read the first section, but then packed it in.