9780063032583
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Dearly audiobook

  • By: Margaret Atwood
  • Narrator: Margaret Atwood
  • Category: Canadian, Poetry
  • Length: 1 hours 47 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: November 10, 2020
  • Language: English
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Dearly Audiobook Summary

A new book of poetry from internationally acclaimed, award-winning and bestselling author Margaret Atwood

In Dearly, Margaret Atwood’s first collection of poetry in over a decade, Atwood addresses themes such as love, loss, the passage of time, the nature of nature and – zombies. Her new poetry is introspective and personal in tone, but wide-ranging in topic. In poem after poem, she casts her unique imagination and unyielding, observant eye over the landscape of a life carefully and intuitively lived.

While many are familiar with Margaret Atwood’s fiction–including her groundbreaking and bestselling novels The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, Oryx and Crake, among others–she has, from the beginning of her career, been one of our most significant contemporary poets. And she is one of the very few writers equally accomplished in fiction and poetry. This collection is a stunning achievement that will be appreciated by fans of her novels and poetry readers alike.

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Dearly Audiobook Narrator

Margaret Atwood is the narrator of Dearly audiobook that was written by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, now an award-winning TV series, her novels include Cat’s Eye, short-listed for the 1989 Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam TrilogyThe Heart Goes Last; and Hag-Seed. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in Great Britain for services to literature and her novel The Testaments won the Booker Prize and was longlisted for The Giller Prize. She lives in Toronto.

About the Author(s) of Dearly

Margaret Atwood is the author of Dearly

Dearly Full Details

Narrator Margaret Atwood
Length 1 hours 47 minutes
Author Margaret Atwood
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date November 10, 2020
ISBN 9780063032583

Subjects

The publisher of the Dearly is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Canadian, Poetry

Additional info

The publisher of the Dearly is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780063032583.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Emily May

November 12, 2020

You could get waylaid here, or slip amazedinto your tangled head. You couldjust not come back. Most good poetry, in my opinion, is a little bit open to interpretation, but one thing is quite clear with this one: the 80-year-old Atwood had death on her mind when she put together this collection.If that sounds morbid and depressing-- it is. While I enjoyed this book of poems very much, I felt disquieted reading them. I did not cry, but I felt almost constantly like I might. Most, if not all of them, have an air of sadness and loss. Atwood moves from the traditional human kind of death and grief, to zombies, to digging up dead Scythian women, to a dying planet, to words that are dying out of use. Like 'Dearly'.Seemingly unrelated topics weave their way toward death, loss, and the sadness which comes with the passing of time. For example, a poem about a coconut becomes a meditation on the nature of Heaven, which is nowhere near as silly as it sounds. Atwood is nothing if not a master wordsmith, after all. Atwood herself receives comparison to a "cold grey moon", while memories are described as "mirages", followed by: Though over your shoulder there it is,your time laid out like a picnicin the sun, still glowing,although it’s night. Warmth is in short supply here. Even such as love, when it does receive a mention, is described as a “demented rose-red circus tent whose half-light forgives all visuals”. I guess it's been a long year for Margaret Atwood, too. A long four years, maybe.I'm not sure exactly when all these poems were written, though I know some have been previously published in various periodicals and anthologies. This particular collection, though, is a gathering of Atwood's words on loss and dying, on what we are leaving behind. The world that we think we seeis only our best guess. Words like these can be expected throughout: late, gone, withering, remember me, vacancy, emptiness, candle guttering down, corpse, fading, dusk, rotting, end, obsolete, melting away, lifeless, dissolving, festering, erase, Devil, Heaven.I liked it in that special way reserved for books that make me really miserable.

s.penkevich

April 05, 2021

Happy National Poetry Month! I'm going to boost a few poetry favorites all month so we can all celebrate!‘The world’s burning up. It always did.’‘The late poems are the ones / I turn to first now, wrote poet W.S. Merwin, ‘it is the late poems / that are made of words / that have come the whole way.’ Margaret Atwood’s 2020 collection of poetry, Dearly, is a really beautiful collection that is keenly aware of itself as her ‘late poems’. The opening poem, in fact, is titled ‘Late Poems’, which appears in this collection that has been released just following the writer’s 81st birthday. Dearly in good company, with recent poetry collection releases from Mary Ruefle, Charles Simic and Jane Hirshfield that address end of life and accepting the inevitability of death (Hirshfield being the Queen of poetry of ephemerality turning her sights towards her own finality is especially existentially harrowing). As someone that personally prefers her poems to her novels (read The Moment for example), this collection was a balm on my soul during a year where such a thing was yearned for. Despite the constant reminder of death lurking within the collection, the playfulness and earnest acceptance of the way life and death go hand-in-hand make this a cozy companion that will touch your heart as much as your intellect. Simply put: Margaret Atwood destroys me and I am here for it.'The hand on your shoulder. The almost-hand: Poetry, coming to claim you.'Death casts a long shadow over this collection, though Atwood does not fear it and instead sets the table to welcome it in and converse with Death. ‘If there were no emptiness, she begins a poem titled the same, ‘there would be no life.’ Showing life and death as forever intertwined and part of the same emotion weaves its way through much of the collection, such as the amusing and lively poem The Aliens Arrive--yes, she graces us with several poems bearing sci-fi-esque themes--which concludes: The Aliens arriveWe like the part where we get saved.We like the part where we get destroyed.Why do those feel so similar?Either way, it’s an end.No more just being alive.No more pretend. She reminds us to live in the moment and not simply go about ‘just being alive’ but to enjoy life, whether it is carving pumpkins, having sex or simply remembering to go see the September mushrooms sprout. With death on the horizon its a reminder to take stock of what we have, but also remember we are merely guests in this world. ‘Everything was real, / but didn’t always love you she writes in Improvisation on a First Line by Yeats, ‘you needed to take care.’. 'You could get waylaid here, or slip amazedinto your tangled head. You couldjust not come back.'We must enjoy what we have while we have it, because soon much will be gone. ‘Who was my sister / Is now an empty chair,’ she says reminding us of our temporality, and tha t she misses ‘the missing, those who left early.’ She does not shirk from acknowledging our future absence, which is most gloriously addressed in Invisible Man where she pictures our future absence akin to the way cartoonists drew invisible characters with a dotted outline only the reader could see. ‘That’s who is waiting for me:,’ she writes, ‘an invisible man / defined by a dotted line’. There is hope though, that the ways in which we are remembered leave our residue on this mortal earth, which is made more impactful by the way she specifically addresses you, the reader, as the one who will have departed life:It’s you in the future,we both know that.You’ll be here but not here,a muscle memory, like hanging a haton a hook that’s not there any longer.’This is a really moving and tender collection, one that seduces you with its wry charms in order to curl up within your heart and unpack its messages of life and mortality. By the time her words have their talons in you, they have become so ensconced within you for them to hurt but instead cradle your soul towards our inevitable demise like a grandparent singing lullabies as the world ends. There is an old saying about how the closer we are to death the more we feel alive, and Atwood has us bravely stand on that division line and drink it all in. 'Little dollface robotwhat will you make of yourselfin this world we are making?What will you make of us?'There is a warning, though, as she still reminds us of the darkness that cowers in the hearts of men and threatens us all. 'There is some danger in this,' she reminds us of our living. ‘Do we have goodwill?To all mankind?Not any more.Did we ever?’There is a sharp feminism that runs through many of the poems as well, which is quite wonderful yet also reminds us of the horrors in society. ‘So many sisters killed / over the years, thousands of year,’ she reminds us in Lost, ‘Killed by fearful men / Who wanted to be taller.’ Atwood is a master of dystopian storytelling and while reminding us to embrace life also apprises us of its sinister side:What did they hear in our human worldof so-called light and air?What word did they send back downbefore they withered?Was it Beware? For fans of Atwood’s fiction, they will find similar themes done up in poetic packaging that sinks as deep and effectively as the best of her novels. Those familiar with her poetry will welcome this new chapter of verse and continue to be dazzled by her heart and words. This is a very dear collection--as the title implies, which comes from a poem about how dear the word ‘dearly’ is to her despite its waning of modern usage--that, despite being collected over several years of writing, seems to have been published at an optimal time when it is most needed. She reminds us of our magic--'our dark light magic'--as much as she reminds us of our faults and evils. It is a fierce yet endearing collection all at once with a playful array of topics from fairy tales, Frida Kahlo, aliens, cats with dementia and more. Honestly, I am always down for sci-fi poetry, and Atwood delivers. More of this please. Atwood looks the end of life in the eye and does not flinch, but instead arms us all to roar with dignity and honor.4.5/5‘I held your hand an maybeyou held mineas the stone or universe close inAround you.’Late PoemsThese are the late poems.Most poems are lateof course: too late,like a letter sent by a sailorthat arrives after he’s drowned.Too late to be of help, such letters,and late poems are similar.They arrive as if through water.Whatever it was has happened:the battle, the sunny day, the moonlitslipping into lust, the farewell kiss. The poemwashes ashore like flotsam.Or late, as in late for supper:all the words cold or eaten.Scoundrels, plight, and vanquished,or linger, bide, awhile,forsaken, wept, forlorn.Love and joy, even: thrice-gnawed songs.Rusted spells. Worn choruses.It’s late, it’s very late;Too late for dancing.Still, sing what you can.Turn up the light: sing on,sing: On.

Glenn

December 04, 2020

This is Margaret Atwood's first poetry collection in over a decade, and there's something soothing about reading her beautifully precise words during a pandemic, when we all seem stuck in a perpetual, uncertain present.Atwood's fiction has always been infused with poetry – she clearly loves words and wordplay. But it's relaxing not to be tied to a plot and narrative. Here, she can take on a subject – examining a lifetime of accumulated passports, for instance, or viewing mushrooms in September – and produce startling images captured in a few seconds that last forever.She weaves in some of her familiar concerns: sex and gender, the precarious state of the earth and its species. Some of the most powerful poems deal with birds, animals and other wildlife. (My edition features a gorgeous illustration of birds on the cover.)But the most deeply felt poems confront mortality and death. Perhaps it's because her partner, Graeme Gibson, died in 2019 (the collection is dedicated: "For Graeme, in absentia"). Many poems look back at life, like Lot's wife. In the beautiful poem "Salt," Atwood writes: Were things good then?Yes. They were good.Did you know they were good?At the time? Your time?No, because I was worryingor maybe hungryor asleep, half of those hours.Once in a while there was a pear or plumor a cup with something in it,or a white curtain, rippling,or else a hand.and then at the end: Don't look behind, they say: You'll turn to salt.Why not, though? Why not look?Isn't it glittery?Isn't it pretty, back there?The collection's last poems are especially moving, yet never sentimental. The title poem, "Dearly," reflects on the fact that the word is old-fashioned, fading from use. The expression "Dearly beloved" leads the narrator to think of other antiquated words: "Polaroid," "sorrow" and (one soon to be swept away) "newspapers." Another poem called "Flatline" begins with the line "Things wear out" and ends with a haunting scene perhaps set at a hospital room, with equipment monitoring someone's heart:No more hiss and slosh,no reefs, no deeps,no throat rattle of gravel.It sounds like this:Wow. To have just that empty, silent space after the colon is haunting. The final poem, "Blackberries," takes the act of an old woman picking fruit in the shade to think about generations of women in her family doing this activity ("Once, this old woman / I'm conjuring up for you / would have been my grandmother. / Today it's me. / Years from now it might be you, / if you're quite lucky.")These are deep and wise poems written by an artist in her later years. I know I'll return to them many times.

Dannii

May 16, 2021

I was highly impressed with this collection of Atwood's poetic creations. I have long been a fan of her novels, short story anthologies, and the woman herself, and am so glad I found as much to praise, here.This collection was split into five sections and each had a distinct theme that tied its cont

Atri

November 27, 2020

Mirages, you decide:everything was never.Though over your shoulder there it is,your time laid out like a picnicin the sun, still glowing,although it's night.Don't look behind they say:You'll turn to salt.Why not though? Why not look?Isn't it glittery?Isn't it pretty, back there?***I'm always there for a reason,so the dreamers tell me;I wouldn't know.This is what I've brought back for youfrom the dreamlife, from the alienmoon shore, from the place with noclocks.***If there were no emptiness, there would be no life.Think about it....That room has been static for me so long:an emptiness a void a silencecontaining an unheard storyready for me to unlock.Let there be plot.***...and close by, a she like a withered ear,a shed leaf, brown and veined,shivers in sync and moves closer.This is it, time is short, death is near,but first, first, first, firstin the hot sun, searing, all day long,in a month that has no name:this annoying noise of love.This maddening racket.This-admit it-song.***By daylight something's got to give.Or someone. Some onehas got to give. A given.That's how we carry on.***Yes, it was a betrayal,but not of you.Only some idea you'd hadof them, soft-lit and mystic,with snowfall sifting downand a mauve December sunset...***I'm going away, you tell meOn a long journey.I have to go away.No, stay, I call to youAs you grow smaller:Stay here with me and play!But suddenly I'm olderAnd it's cold and moonless And it is winter...***When I am singing this song for youYou are not empty airYou are here,One breath and then another:You are here with me...***Where is it? you sayto the last blue asters,to the yellow leaves floating in the poolof the round stone birdbath.Where is that wisdom?Not to mention the music.It must be around here somewhere.Now that I need it.***It's almost next year,it's almost last year,it's almost the year before:familiar, but we can't swear to it.What about this outdoor bar, the onewith the stained-glass palm tree?We know we've have been here already.Or were we? Will we ever be?Will we ever be again?Is it far?

Nursebookie

July 25, 2021

I enjoyed this quirky collection of poetry by Margaret Atwood. Carefully crafted with each word forming beautiful thoughts and musings, love and cruelty of nature, and simply whimsical and fascinating! I enjoyed this and will be re- reading this time and time again. Brava!!

Lizzie

January 30, 2022

4.5 stars. Some of these poems were deeply haunting, others I liked a bit less.

Medhat The Fanatic Reader

January 01, 2021

This is the very first collection of poetry that I read on my own, since poetry is not a genre that I gravitated towards or even enjoyed, but the name Margaret Atwood was enough to let me take a leap of faith.Margaret Atwood's writing is entrancing. She can write about anything, and I will still read it and feel embraced by her words.In Dearly: New Poems, she dives and explores a variety of topics, and the ones that touched me the most were those that were about aging, memory, loss, climate change, and the passage of time. And in these poems, you can almost taste the emotions and pain that deepened with the loss of her partner, the late Graeme Gibson.And for this very reason, my favorite poem was the second to last piece titled Dearly, a tribute to her late lover.

Gerhard

November 15, 2020

That room has been static for me so long: an emptiness a void a silence containing an unheard story ready for me to unlock. Let there be plot.Review to follow.

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