Advantages: Easy to read, Funny in places, original (as far as i know!) Disadvantages: Very anti-men and does not include notes about who these women actually are
...overly enthusiastic; having suffered through the terribly depressing poems of hers that we studied at GCSE. However, I was pleasently surprised as many of them are funny and seem a lot easier to 'analyse'. Ok now here's the review of the book itself:
The World's Wife is a clever take on popular characters from mythology, fairytales and real people (all male, of course!) Duffy takes the tales and subverts them so we see these famous stories from ... ...have not had the chance to tell their stories before, including Mrs Midas, Queen Herod and Delilah to name but a few.
The poems themselves range from downright funny ('Mrs Faust' and 'Elvis's Twin Sister' to shocking (such as 'The Devil's Wife', which gives a sympathetic view of Myra Hindley) to poignantly sad (See 'Mrs Quasimodo'). In short it covers a wide range of emotions to suit whatever mood one is in.
My favourite poems were 'Mrs Aesop' ...
SilentLamb 01.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy
Advantages: funny, different point of view, entertaining, deep Disadvantages: can get repetitive
I'll be the first person to admit I'm not a fan of poetry. Especially compulsory poetry for the school curriculum. Especially one where we have to pick apart every single poem and find double meanings when there are none. BUT! I quite enjoyed reading this book and I'm surprised that the stuffy exam board chose it for us; it's definitely not all hearts and flowers! However, I did receive an A grade for the unit in my A-Level exam, so it can't be all ... ...the perspective of a woman in history. All the famous sidekick women, spanning from myths and legends to semi-modern literary characters and even criminals, finally get their say. A few amusing poems come to mind, such as Frau Freud's mockery of the concept of "penis envy", as well as Elvis' sister being just that - Sister Elvis in a convent. The Kray twins get a sex change, and Mrs Faust talks about how her husband didn't have a soul to sell in ...
leciel 22.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy
Advantages: Brilliant styles of writing, turns around old legends and fables, witty, clever Disadvantages: A little pro-feminist and anti-male, but still enjoyable for both sexes
...for his "intelligence" on "discovering" the theory of evolution, Mrs Midas pines for her selfish husband who wished for everything to turn into gold, and we discover a perhaps sympathetic view to the most hated woman in England - Myra Hindley.
With such a controversial list of characters', this book was bound to be interesting, and it surpassed (for me) all of my expectations. I expected it to be another boring poetry book - but it's so lively and ... ...intelligently written, but some of the poems are very deep and thoughtful - "The Devil's Wife", "Queen Herod", and "Anne Hathaway" to name a few are chilling poems that were so brilliant and entertaining to read.
If you enjoy reading good bits of writing then I would certainly suggest "The World's Wife" to anyone - whether you just enjoy a different edge on old legends or love to read quirky styles of writing. "The World's Wife" is a must. ...
Sonic4290 30.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy
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Elvis's wimpled sister rocks on in a convent she calls Graceland; Nancy Sinatra gets out ... more
her boots made for walking with the Kray Sisters; Mrs Midas misses the touch of her now dangerous golden-handed husband; and Queen Herod decrees the killing of e...
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