Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Ten Poems to Change Your Life by Roger Housden ISBN: 0-609-60901-7 Publisher: Harmony Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Perfect Companion for your Journey to Authentic Self
Comment: Roger Housden's "ten poems to change your life" is guaranteed to inspire, illuminate and educate. Having discovered Mr. Housden's analysis of Mary Oliver's "The Journey" in the July issue of O Magazine, I was moved to purchase this gem of a book. The author has a remarkable relationship with language. Each poem is an opportunity to discover the music of Housden's ability with words. "This is the self who slips through the cracks of the ordinary mind when the sentry is looking the other way. If there is one word that can describe its voice, it is the word authentic." His fluid and incredible visual style had this reader weeping. Without question, each poem is in, and of itself, special, but it is the author's lyrical interpretation that gives this book it's powerful voice. For anyone who is on the path of self-discovery, Roger Housden's work is a journey well worth the taking.
Rating: 5
Summary: A perfect gift for people who think they don't "get" poetry
Comment: In her book BLUE PASTURES, poet Mary Oliver states: "The three ingredients of poetry: the mystery of the universe, spiritual curiosity, the energy of language." Roger Housden does a superb job of incorporating these three key ingredients in his marvelous book, TEN POEMS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I am on my second reading and just realized what a wonderful gift TEN POEMS would be for people who say they don't like or "get" poetry. Mr. Housden interprets poetry in his own poetic and deeply-felt style, illuminating the reader's own innate knowing of universal truths, longings and passions. I am reminded of a recent ad for Mercedes-Benz: "Live. A lot. Unleash yourself upon the world and go!" Mr. Housden can show you how to do just that by connecting with great poetry. What a pleasure this book is.
Rating: 2
Summary: Ten Poems to Enjoy, and Ten Passages to Annoy
Comment: Roger Housden is a blowhard.
There, I said it. His book is the epitome of arrogant spirituality gone wrong.
Housden's book is a mere outlet for his own revelation, and does very very little for a reader who thinks for himself. Housden claims that the book can change the life of the religious, and even those without religion. Yet he ends his introduction with prayer-like words. "May these poems set free your unlived dreams [...] may you wake up one morning in 'the new life.'" I expected to see an "Amen" after that. I wonder if "the new life" is so blatant an allegory to heaven that most readers will pick it up, or if people kept reading mindlessly? The quotes around "the new life" open it up for such an allegory, but my guesses are fans of the book weren't paying attention.
I do give Housden credit though. He picked some fine poems (poems he admits he picked out of "personal prejudice"). But while the poems are good (there are many better, too), his analyzations of the poems are half-way decent to laughable at best. He forms the analyzations, like a University Freshman English student, to his own theories, rather than taking into account other possible readings. Read another way, Machado's "Last Night as I Was Sleeping" could be an ironic blemish on Housden's book. "Marvelous error!" could easily be interpreted to mean that the dream is a marvelous escapist thought while wholly wrong (an error).
This book might change your life for a day or two, IF you are Christian (Housden talks about Jesus being the light of the world, despite his claiming that non-religious people can exsperience life change with this book), and IF you allow yourself to be guided step-by-step through Housden's biography and convoluted interpretations. If you think for yourself in regards to spirituality and have any sort of ability in literary analysis, the poems will be enjoyable at best, and Housden's interludes will be PAINFUL.
But hey, the cover is nice.
(2 stars for the poem selections. 0 for Housden.)
 |
Title: Ten Poems to Open Your Heart by Roger Housden ISBN: 1400045630 Publisher: Harmony Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Risking Everything: 110 Poems of Love and Revelation by Roger Housden ISBN: 1400047994 Publisher: Harmony Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: Ten Poems to Set You Free by Roger Housden ISBN: 1400051126 Publisher: Harmony Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Chasing Rumi: A Fable About Finding the Heart's True Desire by Roger Housden ISBN: 0060084456 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 08 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer ISBN: 0062515845 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
