[A Question for NON Poetry Lovers]

I think it's because poetry is actually a personal experience unlike prose. I didn't really like poetry until I read Dulce Est Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen. Before then I had absolutely no interest in poetry - aside from the odd comic poem. It's finding the right one for you - like a life time partner.

My sister doesn't like poetry very much but the Moth one I shared on here she liked and could understand the 'skill that went into it'. Which I think is strange as she's a song writer ... and to me, songs are poetry - Just got to listen to some Beatles lyrics and Nightwish lyrics to see that.

 

I like that. "...poetry is actually a personal experience unlike prose." And I agree. I don't dislike poetry; I actually enjoy writing it very much. I don't like reading other peoples' poetry though, because its usually much harder to gather the meaning under the limited words that poet chose to use.

[Atonement by Ian McEwan.]

Oh dear - I seem to be the only person around who really enjoyed it! I absolutely love Atonement. Partly, I think, because I'm the youngest and have a brother and sister who are more than twelve years older than me, so I can relate to a lot of Briony's narrative, the perspective of always being slightly on teh outside, always observing the 'grown ups', and could definitely relate to her feelings that that's still what she was doing in later life.

 

A great point of debate among my family and friends (One whom I've pressed this book -- lucky them!) is whether it's a happy ending or a sad ending. Ex-husband thought the ending was tragic and spoiled the whole book, Mum and I think it's a happy ending in the respect that

 

You can add me to your list of people who really enjoyed the book! And unlike the other posters to this thread it seems, I actually liked his prose. It has a sort of backseat placidity that sort of parallels Briony's dream-like misunderstanding of the adult world.