WeBuzz
Reader discussion: Spoon River Anthology
Public reader discussion about Spoon River Anthology in the WeRead Catalog by Edgar Lee Masters.
It seems like the same books get recommended here in nearly every thread, unless the poster requests something very specific (and sometimes even then). Recommend me a book you like, that you don't think most other people would like .
By OrangePanda18
Honestly it can be anything, even a book that’s kind of hard to pin down or one I just liked a little, or something I read years ago that never really left my head. I just don’t want it to be one of those super-popular picks that seems to get mentioned in every single thread. Like, I’m not saying those books are bad—I actually love a bunch of them—but it gets old seeing the same titles over and over.
[POEM] Alexander Throckmorton by Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology, 1915
By Mouse_Footnote
When I was young, I felt like I could keep going forever, but I didn’t really know the bigger things.
Now that I’m older, I understand the bigger things, but I’m too worn out to keep up with what I see in my head.
Maybe genius is just wisdom and being young.
I have just finished "Winesburg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson
By wintercarrot
This one feels like a real gem—like it connects all the town folks in a way that also shows how lonely people can be. The character parts really stand out to me, and the whole mood is pretty sad, but in a “small-town feels” kind of haunting way. It made me think a lot about identity and love and just trying to find some meaning.
If you’ve read it, I’m curious what you think about Wing Biddlebaum from “Hands.” Was he meant to be homosexual, or was he just getting misunderstood—maybe both?
Spoon River Anthology is blowing me away. I'm gonna have to take notes, right?
By GardenDeep
I’ve liked poetry for ages, but I somehow never got around to Spoon River Anthology. Honestly, I didn’t even know what it was actually about.
For anyone who doesn’t already know, it’s a bunch of poems — seems like a few hundred — where dead people kind of speak for themselves and spill their secrets, wishes, and regrets. They’re all from the same town, and the pieces all connect with each other. I was pretty much in once I hit the opening poem that introduces five men and five women as the “main” ones.
It’s kind of amusing too, because I’ve been wanting to make something similar, just in an Edward Gorey sort of way — like a creepy little village with linked verses about the living relatives — so this is probably going to help a lot.
Some of the references are a little hard to catch at first, but wow, this is huge. Has anyone else read it?
EDIT: after reading more, I think I had actually come across part of it before. One of my school books had the excerpt about the boy who died of tetanus. I just had no idea what the bigger idea of the book was.
Books that are beautifully written and poetic?
By Dusty_Path53
Hi everyone!
I’m on the hunt for books with really beautiful, descriptive writing—like the prose almost feels poetic. I don’t really care what genre it is, so if you’ve got poetry suggestions too, I’m all for it.
What I’m most interested in is atmospheric, captivating language that kind of pulls you in and leaves you thinking a bit. Any recommendations?
Some of my favorites for that dream-like imagery/vibe are Erin Morgenstern’s stuff (The Night Circus, Starless Sea), The Book Thief, The Poisonwood Bible, Karl Ove Knausgård’s Winter (those descriptions are so specific and weird in a good way), The Bird King, The Song of Achilles, and The Kite Runner.
Thanks in advance!
[Poem] by Edgar Lee Masters
By BronzeEagle1985
I just found this Instagram page that posts a poem from Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology every day. Not sure if it’s been around a while, but I thought it was pretty cool—here’s the account: https://www.instagram.com/trainorthedruggist/
[POEM] Minerva Jones - Edgar Lee Masters
By deltaneedle
Spoon River Anthology. The individual poems feel kind of plain at first, like not much is going on, but once you keep reading the different storylines you see how they start linking together. Then you’ll hit one “butch” welds-type line that brings up Minerva or somebody, and then later someone else brings up Minerva again. It kind of makes me think of National Lampoon’s yearbook. Pretty brilliant.
Spoon River Anthology - Edgar Lee Masters. What an amazing read!!!
By bookwormwaits2000
It was also adapted into a play.
Spoon River Anthology companion?
By rustyDesk2002
Hey, I have a question for people who know a lot more about literature than I do. For most of my life I’ve kind of hated poetry. It never really landed for me, and honestly it stirred up feelings I didn’t want to deal with, so I stayed away from it.
Maybe now that I’m older and better at recognizing my own emotions, that’s starting to shift. случайly, I read a few poems from Spoon River Anthology and I actually liked it a lot. I love how all the voices connect to each other. A lot of the people in it remind me of people I grew up around, and it makes me feel lucky I didn’t go through some of the stuff they talk about.
So I guess my question is: is there something that goes along with Spoon River? Like a companion or deeper look at it, kind of like what you can find for books like Canterbury Tales? I feel like I might be missing some things since poetry is still pretty new to me.
What are the best IL festivals and events?
By doglake
It feels like every small town around here has some kind of festival every weekend in the warmer months, but a lot of them are pretty underwhelming. We didn’t figure out which ones were actually worth it until we’d lived in our last hometown for a couple years (I don’t really use Facebook, which seems like the only place people look for this stuff now). Since we’re still pretty new to Illinois, I was wondering what everyone’s favorite annual events are—ones that are actually worth checking out. When do they usually happen, and what do you like about them?
Doesn’t matter what part of the state—just hoping to hear from folks all over so we can see what’s out there. Thanks!
What’s your favorite fun fact about Illinois?
By Sonnet_Hardcover77
We grow more pumpkins than any other state.
[Discussion] Disillusioned with Poetry
By Narrow-Rabbit
Just finished my first year studying English literature at uni, and I’ve noticed my summer reading list is full of novels and plays I actually want to read, but I can’t really make myself get into poetry again. It feels weird, because poetry used to be my absolute favourite. At school I was really into Keats and Auden, and by the time I got to uni I was basically obsessed with Yeats… now I’m just stuck. I can’t seem to find any poetry I actually want to explore.
A lot of what I see coming out now feels like it’s mostly trash to me (Rupi Kaur etc.). And I’m also kind of sour on free verse as a whole—not because I think the form is inherently bad, but because it’s so often treated like poetry just means “no prosody, no metre, no rhyme” and that stuff is part of what makes it poetry, whether people admit it or not.
I guess I’d love to hear what other people think:
- Are there any poets who try to capture reality in a way that feels more like what novelists or playwrights do? Like if that kind of poet exists, I’d actually want to read them and maybe get my interest back.
- Also, do you think poetry is basically a dead medium? I’ve got some ideas about that, but I’m not sure they’re right, so I want to hear other takes.
[OPINION] What are some of your favorite narrative poems?
By happy-laurel61
I’m really into poems that kind of tell a story, even if the plot is simple sometimes. Like The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe or Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti.
That said, it feels like this kind of straightforward narrative poem is pretty hard to find lately, at least in modern poetry. If anyone has recommendations, I’d love to hear them.
Poetry fans, what are some must read poetry collections?
By faintLynx
I picked up Bukowski’s *The Pleasures of the Damned*, Ginsberg’s *Howl*, *Caddish and Other Poems*, and a nice second-hand Betjeman collection the other day. I’ve only gotten through the Bukowski so far and it’s amazing — honestly no idea why I hadn’t read him before.
I already have an Eliot collection that I really like, and a Hardy one that’s just kind of alright, but I didn’t realise it was mostly his nature poems, so it doesn’t really have the more bitter side of him. I do like “Neutral Tones” though, that’s a really good poem.
So, who do you all like? Who’s basically essential, and who can you skip?