David Isaacson Isaacson itibaren Marbau, North Labuhanbatu Regency, North Sumatra, Endonezya
whenever i read this book, i feel like i am in the room with ted hughes and sylvia plath and i can feel the electricity coming off them like sparks. it's so intensely personal and lovingly rendered...the kind of book only he could write and only about her. i love the stark contrast between the way they see each other through their poetry. if you ever think your relationships are tragic and shakespearean, just remember you have NOTHING on ted and sylvia.
Interesting information, a little dry reading.
I wanted to give this book at least another star, but something fell apart in the middle. A series of well-written short stories, Bynum gives voice to Beatrice Hempel, a young teacher of 7th graders wants to fit in and be liked by the staff, but mostly with her students. She allows them to read This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolf, which has "swear words". She becomes engaged to someone she's known for a long time. The story leaps backwards to her childhood, and forward to later adulthood, and assumes that your seatbelt is fastened. I missed many of the popular culture references from another generation. Still, I'd like to read her previous book. A fresh voice, and the book was under 200 pages.