Dear Felicity,
I will not look at nature the same way again. I feel connected better to the magic and wonder of the world, thank you!
With Love,
Hannah
P.S. Book Details
Author: Mary Oliver
Book Length: 85 pages
Book Genre: Poetry
Publication Date: October 2015
Awards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Poetry (2015)
Synopsis: “If I have any secret stash of poems, anywhere, it might be about love, not anger,” Mary Oliver once said in an interview. Finally, in her stunning new collection, Felicity, we can immerse ourselves in Oliver’s love poems. Here, great happiness abounds.
Our most delicate chronicler of physical landscape, Oliver has described her work as loving the world. With Felicity she examines what it means to love another person. She opens our eyes again to the territory within our own hearts; to the wild and to the quiet. In these poems, she describes—with joy—the strangeness and wonder of human connection.
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Mary Oliver has the unique ability to highlight the everyday and make it spectacular. I left this book with the urge to go outside and enjoy the beautiful Autumn colors.
Felicity is the perfect title for this collection of poems. The experience of reading this book brought deeper meaning to the words. In need of a digital detox, I turned off all technology for 24 hours on the weekend. No noise, no alerts, no connection outside those I live with. I assumed I would experience peace right away, but I found instead a low-grade anxiety rise up in me. Yet, reading Felicity brought a sense of peace and joy, in fact my feelings greatly reflected the title.
“The holy becomes visible …” what a fantastic way to describe the beauty of nature. I went on a walk recently, on this walk I marveled at the beautiful changing of the colors. Honestly, the world looked like a piece of art. In the moments of my walk, without distraction (apart from nature itself), I found I understood what Oliver was talking about in her poems. As humans there is a unique relationship with nature, one which can be so transcendent. Reading this collection of poetry was like going on a long walk with a good friend. Content in the silence. Marveling at nature. Connected to something deeper within ourselves.
This short collection of poems will bring joy into any reader. With simple sweet poems, I am confident each reader will leave with something new to bring into their life, even if it is a bit of calm or serenity. I recommend this book to absolutely everyone, it somehow comes up in many conversations I have with friends.
To Books, With Love 