The Land Of Bliss

Reviews / Votes

In Cathy Song's poetry I keep recognizing my own various approaches to and avoidances of the writing job: the just claims which keep me from it, my need to hide my meaning at the same time as I reveal it, the need to go, 'deeper into the darkest room,' trying to reach 'the core of something permanent,' and what always accompanies that need-'distraction itself . . . obstacles to keep her from entering the last room,' wanting and not wanting to arrive there. . . . Houses and the imagery of houses-doors, curtains, kitchens, windows, rooms-are important in Song's work. I am tempted to think this is a natural outcome of a female take on experience, though maybe it's only my own desire for security and shelter. * Phyllis Hoge * To read poems as true on the tongue and the eye as these is a deep, transcendent sweetness. I feel transported, restored to gravity-ground, melodious mind. * Naomi Shihab Nye * To follow Cathy Song's collection of poems over the years is to reach, in this season, 'The Expense of Mildew'; from daughter, to wife and mother, to the daughter of aging parents, Song has arrived full spiral. This is bliss. * Kimiko Hahn * Song writes culturally fascinating work that at its best displays a superb mastery of craft...she magnificently intertwines the harsh reality of her aging parents (including a mother frequently hospitalized for depression) with memories of her grandparents. * <i>Library Journal</i> * In a collection displaying mastery of language and imagery, Cathy Song's 'The Land of Bliss' explores with often painful clarity the yin and yang of living our humanity. * <i>Honolulu Star Bulletin</i> * Cathy Song ... is rapidly becoming a major poet. Her new poems have a genuine hard edge as she explores the multicultural voices of Hawaii. * <i>Isthmus</i> * In its entirety, 'The Land of Bliss' actively reformulates received notions of culture (dominant and 'minority') as well as of language. . . .Song's powers of description, as well as her range of poetic rhythms . . . enable her to fully integrate the autobiographical, the social, and the spiritual enlightenment in the form of compassion. * <i>American Book Review</i> *