Book Review-Talking To The Sun (collected by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell)

The fearful night sinks

Trembling into the depth

Before your lightening eye

And the rapid arrows

From your fiery quiver

With sparkling blows of light

You tear her cloak

The black cloak lined with fire

And studded with gleaming stars—

With sparkling blows of light

You tear the black cloak.

-Fang people, Africa

 

I chose this book because I was looking for a good poetry book and my language arts teacher suggested that I read Talking To The Sun. I really enjoy reading poetry so I was very excited about reading this book; also I had to read at least one poetry book this year for Language Arts.

This a poetry collection book, so I’m going to pick one poem that tells a story and speaks to me. I chose Hymn To The Sun by the Fang people, in Africa. It is a fictional poem but it is very vivid. Hymn To The Sun is talking about the light that pierces the darkness in the morning; or in a more fictional way: a great warrior defeats her/his enemy, the night, with blazing arrows of light.

One of the characters in this book is The Night. I meet her everyday-I mean night-and I like her :). So I would like to meet her again. I like meeting her because I love The Night she’s so beautiful and calming! NOTE: I know this paragraph sounds kind of strange; it was the hardest paragraph to write in this post. 🙂

I would definitely recommend this book because Talking To The Sun is truly a fantastic collection of poetry from all around the world; I’m not just talking about Europe and the U.S., I am talking about Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. My rating of this book is 4.5 stars, I really think everyone should read Talking To The Sun collected by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell.

I think the main idea of this poem is that Night has always come and gone. I think author is trying to tell us that The Night is strong and that we have to face her together, to survive her wrath. I get a strong sense of fear from The Night and a strong sense of bravery and compassion from whoever dares to take her on and to rise the sun.

Thanks For Reading! Please comment below if you have any questions, thoughts or ideas. 🙂

Questions answered:

Why did you choose this book?

Explain the plot of the book/poem, or if it is a non-fiction book/poem, what topics are covered.

Describe one of the characters in the book. Would you want to meet this character? Why or why not?

What is your opinion of the book? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

What do you think the main idea or theme of this poem is? What is the author trying to tell you about life or our world with this poem?