War of the Foxes

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.

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.

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.