War of the Foxes

I’ll start by saying I did not finish reading it, nor do I intend to. After discovering and reading Richard Siken’s first book - Crush - I was so excited to discover he had another published work. I fell in love with Crush immediately to the point where I still carry it in my daily bag to re-read whenever I have some time to kill. It spoke to me in ways that no book or art ever has. I started reading War of the Foxes the second I received it, and stopped just a few pages in. It’s beautifully written, profound, and clearly monumental in the revelations within - which, as you’ll see, I can’t understand. It didn’t speak to me like Crush did, and several other reviewers mentioned something similar. The thing is, Crush was published when the author was in college. War of the Foxes came out over a decade after. Of course I felt so moved by Crush, because maybe I’m in the same place now as Siken was when he wrote it - too young to be so old, and too young to be anything other than angry about it. But Siken took that pain and turned it into something achingly magnificent. I have no doubt that War of the Foxes will move me in a similar way - I just haven’t grown up enough yet. So I put it lovingly on my shelf of favorites, where it will be waiting when I’ve lived a bit more life, and have another perspective, as Siken did when he wrote it. I really look forward to that day, but I’m rating this 5/5 because I know the wait will be worth it.

Richard Sikens second publish is just as awe inspiring and unique as his first. As an avid poetry reader, I believe some authors seem to disappoint when compared to their first big publish. Crush was groundbreaking, and I assumed a follow up release wouldn’t hit the same, but his second book is just as intense and new. Richard has such a unique voice through his writing that I have never experienced before. The emotion is so intense, I found I needed to be in a certain mood for his words to not completely wash over me into my daily life. In his first book Crush, I found his writing was very specific, you could feel the inner turmoil and pain and you knew it was his. In War of the Foxes, he leaves his writings more open, I’m assuming for the interpretation of the reader. These writings all had a theme like in his last, which was painting. Overall, Sikens blows it out of the water yet again, he absorbs his reader, and keeps them captive with his addicting prose. Give him a shot, I assure you, you’ve never read poetry like this before.

I've had this book for a while now and never got around to reviewing it. I am a fiction writer with a frustrating relationship with poetry. I want to love it, but a lot of it comes difficult to me. Something about this book is different. The poems still feel kind of like puzzles that I can't quite solve, but the way that they're braided with heavy art themes pull me in and make me want to read them over and over and over. The diction is stunning--it's like taking a museum tour and all the beautiful, indescribable art is here, in this book, in words. On the other end of the spectrum, the art is contrasted with heavy war themes, highlighting the beauty all around. This book makes me want to pull it out and analyze it as much as I want to just read through and take it all in. Surprisingly, I give it a spot in my top favorite books of all time (usually reserved for fiction) and recommend it as often as I can (even though it's really one of those books that I want to keep to myself, like it was made for me.)

War of the Foxes had some amazing lines and imagery. I'm very interested in painting and art, and was excited to see how the metaphors or descriptions here are taken from art in general. Some of the poems made me pause and contemplate. They're good, certainly, and written beautifully. I will say they're a little... sad, or maybe panicked, or maybe fatalistic. I read this book after Devotions by Mary Oliver, and the 180° turn just about made my head spin. Even so, it was a good read, and I have it on the bookshelf to eventually read again.

Siken is an incredible poet. I don't follow poetry as closely as I once did, but I'll always make sure to follow Siken. His work has the power to make me think and feel deeply in equal measures, and War of the Foxes asks a lot of important questions about the function of art and the nature of simulacra.

I think this volume is going to stay with me, much like Crush did. War of the Foxes is in some ways more subtle, and the poems here took me longer to digest, but they lingered with me. The imagery is quiet, powerful, strong. If you like Siken, you already know you'll have to read this.

The cover tricked me. I have read a lot of anthologies about nature. I thought this was going to be another one. This poet knocked me off my feet. The collection is so raw and vulnerable. It's a soft panic that put me through a quiet ringer. Well done!

Fans of Siken, both old and new alike, will not be let down with his latest release. It's just as powerful and bone aching as Crush, but with a lingering touch that lasts long after you've set this book down.

Like the blank canvas slowly being coloured, this book takes you by surprise, moving you, touching you, haunting you. I can't wait to read more of Siken.

Super!

Raccolta interessante. Decisamente più allegorica rispetto a Crush, meno grafica e letterale ma sempre molto bella e affascinante. Siken si riconferma uno dei migliori poeti dei nostri anni.

It feels very different from Crush - and it was delightful. A good read with some ideas that really stay with you

Libros como Crush son aquellos que, o te son indiferentes, o cambian tu vida (sin exageraciones), cuando terminé de leer este libro estaba anonada porque definitivamente no era como Crush. Me dediqué a buscar entrevistas en las que Siken explicara a dónde se fue ese tono desesperado en sus poemas y es muy simple: no se ha vuelto a enamorar. War of the Foxes es más introspectivo que Crush, pero igualmente no deja de ser bueno. Cuatro estrellas porque me gusta la poesía angsty ngl.