april 2020 ✩ 9 pages/day
the sun and her flowers, rupi kaur (256 pages)
✰✰✰
response:
Poetry is something that I’ve slowly (yet surely) grown to love and adapt with over time. I remember Grade 8 Cindy being hesitant when introduced with poetry writing, not fully believing in my capability to be poetic in general. Grade 10 Cindy is probably laughing in Grade 8 Cindy’s face when she suddenly realizes how fun poetry writing is. I love all things poetic on my part, so I never realized how I had yet to come up with the idea to read a poetry book.
I’ve heard about Rupi Kaur before. She’s spread all over social media, her poems and book titles being something that remains ingrained in my memory. I like her writing style – the simple intricacy of it and how it managed to impact a nation of inspired writers. There is something about her writing, what I would call a “hit or miss” that I noticed while analyzing her poems. (On another note, this is the first book I actually analyzed and highlighted). Some of her poems are beautiful, ones that you just can’t seem to forget because they’re just that impactful. Other poems leave me scratching my head in fake deepness. It was definitely a hit or miss with her. Well, at least I found a lot more hits than misses.
I greatly related to her poems, especially the ones with immigrant parents. I found a sense of satisfaction knowing that there is someone out there that openly admits a struggle I greatly reside with (something I struggle to admit). Those poems hit me the most – made me think about the life I grew up with compared to the life of my ancestors. I like to read stuff that makes me think. Her poems left me awake for hours.
(I couldn’t really relate as much to her other chunk of her book, which is based on heartbreak and growth. I understand where she’s coming from, and I’m glad that I’ve never gone through what she had to. There’s a clear divide between basic human empathy and actual experience. I remember getting irked by her one poem and ranting about it, as follows:
idk what’s up with me but ive been finding it harder to relate to anything that specifically makes the love interest a guy. like me, the reader, should be falling for a MAN that eats frozen pizza??? okay ??????
rupi kaur has nice poems but i am just not liking it as much because i can’t relate. 2018 me would be eating this up though. idk if (INSERT NAME) likes frozen pizza :/.
– Cindy at 1:08 AM
04/02/20
I’m glad that this book makes me think about all sorts of things… Anyways).
I will definitely be reading more poetry books in the future (and by future, let’s hope in the next twenty years or so).
STRAIGHT: THE SURPRISINGLY SHORT HISTORY OF HETEROSEXUALITY, HANNE BLANK (264 PAGES)
I tried to read this book to the best of my ability, but I got drained and ended up not continuing where I left off. I really do like this book, and the ways in which it informs me and makes me think about society and sexuality spectrums, but I do realize at this point that I have to take all information with a grain of salt. I read reviews sometimes (occasionally) and they speak a bit more honestly – to put it in a nicer way. I’ll finish this book eventually.
read: 15 pages
reflection:
I honestly didn’t read as much as I thought my optimistic March self thought I would (wishful thinking on my part). I know how I am, how I act, and I wasn’t really surprised when I dropped reading altogether. I read small bits and pieces online, if that counts. I’ve been reading a lot of manga. I don’t think that counts. My goal is to just try to read one book – finishing be damned. I might find another poetry book since I thoroughly enjoyed analyzing my Rupi Kaur one.
┌─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐
