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Averno

By Louise Glück
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Averno by Louise Glück is a collection of poems exploring themes of myth, mortality, and the human condition. Through the framework of the Persephone myth, Glück delves into the complex relationship between life and the afterlife, offering profound reflections on existence and personal introspection. This evocative work ties personal experience with universal themes, creating a richly layered narrative within the realm of poetry.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
Elsewhere:
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're drawn to profound explorations of myth and memory, with a focus on the descent into and return from the underworld. This work beautifully intertwines ancient mythological themes with personal reflection, offering a lyrical and thought-provoking experience for those interested in deeply resonant, evocative poetry.

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Averno

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A widely revered collection from the Nobel prize-winning poet, publishing in Penguin Modern Classics for the first time.

This startlingly original reworking of the Persephone myth takes us to the icy shores of Averno, the crater lake regarded by the ancient Romans as the entrance to the underworld. Here, the consolations of rebirth and renewal are eclipsed by the immediacy of loss - by a mother's possessive grief, an abducted girl's equivocal memories, a farmer's lament for a lost harvest.

This chorus offers neither comfort nor solace but deepened understanding, its sorrow textured by the poet's luminous wit. Together, the poems of Averno swell to a staggeringly powerful lamentation, through which the reader glimpses the ecstasy of the inevitable, only to find it resisted by the insistent, impersonal presence of the Earth.

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

This collection is celebrated for its complex and haunting power, showcasing Louise Glück at the peak of her literary prowess. Reviewers praise her ability to weave myth with insight, combining a poet's perspective with a human touch. The poems carry a balance of wry humour and fragments of hope, while also engaging in an intense dialogue between belief and scepticism. The collection is described as both epic and tender, resonating deeply with readers.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241526002

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 August 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 7.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 199.0mm

Weight: 79g

Pages: 96

Collections

Arts & Culture Louise Glück Non-Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics Series: Penguin Modern Classics

About the Author

Louise Gl ck is the author of twelve books of poems and two essay collections. Her many awards include the Nobel Prize in Literature, the National Humanities Medal, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Bollingen Prize, and the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. She teaches at Yale University and Stanford University and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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    Elsewhere:
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