Poetry > H Poetry > less than 5 GBP

Advantages: Funny and original, and the CD is a huge plus
Disadvantages: None that I can think of

...the title of the book, All the Hits So Far, makes you think of a CD rather than a book. That is not all that strange though, because inside the cover of the book you'll find a CD attached. The CD is 33 minutes and 57 seconds long and on it you get to hear instrumental music as well as Hathaway reading the poems in the book. Sometimes the music is just played inbetween the poems, but every now and then he actually reads to the music. It's not quite ...
...and he does so in all of his poetry, still the overall stucture is free. Hathaway does not hesitate to write about controversial topics, such as religion/the existence of God (Short and Untitled, The Hug Poem, and others), masculinity (Manly Man), social issues (The Annoying Hardcore Dude That Goes Too Far) or the standards of beauty (Big Things in Big Packages), but he does so without disrespecting anyone. He has strong opinions, but he communicates ... Read review

Advantages: Poetry of Coleridge, Essay by Hughes
Disadvantages: Only 160 pages

...died in July 1834. A Choice of Coleridge’s Verse edited and Introduced by Ted Hughes was published by Faber and Faber on March 18th 1996 and is available from most good book shops for £7.99. There are two reasons why this book is so special, the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the introductory essay written by Ted Hughes. Hughes entitled his essay, 'The Snake in the Oak'. Ted Hughes held a belief in the presence of an inner force behind ...
...suggests that Coleridge was fighting a losing battle between a 'Christian Self' and the 'unleavened Self '. Hughes states that it was whilst Coleridge was in this 'unleavened Self' that his three visionary poems, 'Kubla Khan', 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', and 'Christabel' were written. Hughes dramatically presents Coleridge's career as a self-torturing flight from the possibility of a psychic wholeness, a state which he could only achieve by ... Read review

Advantages: lots
Disadvantages: none

this is a strange and highly original collection. it appears at first to be rather innocent but quickly progresses under the guise of his hauntingly playful verse into a disturbing but tender recount of youth. a young man passes thru differetn phases of his life becoming differetn things and watching his friends depart for war and never returning and thus he becomes accutely aware of how precious life is. it is a truly wonderful collection and i ... Read review

Advantages: a well selected collection of poetic verse
Disadvantages: difficult to engage with on first read.

As a listed A level curriculem author , this particular collection is extremely useful for study. It contains an excellent selecton of his works, that span the changes in his writing style. Including his famous poem 'death of a naturalist' the reader is introduced to one of Irelands greatest poets with one of my favourite poems of all time. For love of nature and its rythms, it's cruelties and victories the themes of our human questions about life, ...
...adore the use of the english laguage simply for its phonetic interplay, Heaney explores the links between his native gaelic and the english tongues. A treasure to keep, I would recommend this boook to any student of language, literature or poetry and to the layman would further recommend the purchase of a study guide to enhance the reading pleasure. ... Read review

Advantages: Funny, childish, funny...
Disadvantages: Childish, funny, childish...

...since been moved to purchase These Were Your Father’s for £4.99 from Waterstones, published by Mandarin. ****************************************************** The collection is illustrated by Hegley himself in a memo-jottings style of relatively few lines in thick felt-tip pen (my interpretation). They are used with great effect to compliment the silly, the inane, the meaningful and the insightful poems alike. On the cover is a sketch of what ...
...glasses to an upturned dog in a cradle. Why? I have no idea, we're all going to have to make up our own little stories for this one! I have it on good authority that more often than not the children’s section of any good booksellers will have a full compliment of Hegley's work: and I can see the appeal. Simple, short, funny and insightful, his poems always enjoy a simplicity that must certainly appeal to children in their direct approach. Indeed, ... Read review