The Long Home

by Christian Wiman

Winner of the 11th annual Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize, "The Long Home" is Christian Wiman's

Genres: Poetry, Literature

88 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Christian Wiman is an American poet and editor born in 1966 and raised in West Texas. He graduated from Washington and Lee University and has taught at Northwestern University, Stanford University, Lynchburg College in Virginia, and the Prague School of Economics. In 2003 he became editor of the oldest American magazine of verse, Poetry.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wiman pursues several of his familiar motifs here--quickenings and unremembered things and histories and Holy Ghostings--but this one isn't my favorite. The titular narrative poem, which accounts for more than half of the collection's pages here, is good for what it is, but long narrative poetry isn't my bag. Looking at you here, Virgil.

That said, I'd read 200 pages of poetic narrative for the chance to read "In Lakeview Cemetary", "Afterwards", and "Elsewhere", all of which are holywow.

[M Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small collection of lovely poems in an elegiac mood, this slim volume features many short pieces and one long work (the title poem) apparently based on Wiman's memories of stories his recently deceased grandmother had told of her life in West Texas. The mystery of death and of memory is predominant in this collection.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this poetry book and it was the kind of reading I needed. It was lyrical and prose and it was the kind of narrative that spoke of a lifetime of learning, love, and loss. It was lovely and beautiful and I am glad I picked this book up by chance.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic collection. It includes the eponymous short story--or novella--in verse. The poems and story are set largely in West Texas. Wiman manages to wed the stories of people with passionate evocation of the sights, sounds, and even smells of the land that forms the sometimes brutal home of the woman who narrates the *The Long Home.*

[Michael Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more properly 3.5 stars. This book is actually very, very good.

I have decent familiarity with Wiman's recent works of both prose and poetry, and it's amazing to go back to his first book and see the beginnings of his style that was to come, to see the profundity of his work and the strength of his style before he was a well established poet.

If I had encountered this book before Every Riven Thing or Once in the West, I may have given it 4 stars. But knowing whereWiman goes, what he becomes, makes it difficult to do so.

I'll say - I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the final part which is a long, 5 part epic poem I believe about his grandmother. I think this may be the best example of such a poem I have seen, and it's chock full of amazing imagery, ideas, and poetic forms; but here I feel like he's no longer giving me poetry, he's telling me a story that is more difficult to understand, and doesn't have as good of a payoff, as a prose story does. At the same time within this framework he delivers incredibly impactful poems that I would have enjoyed more broken out of the storyline - especially the fifth part.

[ANNA fayard · Rating 4 out of 5]

so impressed.

excerpts:
"Revenant" - "She loved the fevered air, the green delirium / in the leaves as a late wind whipped and quickened --"

"Hearing Loss" - "she lies resting, resisting / sleep like a small child / who has stayed up too long, who half dreams / the arms that hold her, the room full of voices / and laughter, but cannot bring herself wholly into the world where they are" (wow- very specific, precise account of consciousness and unconsciousness fusing -- semi-real state of being)

"In Lakeview Cemetery" - "How can I learn to grieve?" (these very real moments where you're walking, wandering and are confronted by these big questions -- the overarching how's? of life -- how can I do this, how do I do this, how does this make sense now in this point of time, so many)

"Clearing" - "the leaf-screened / light of green clearing in the trees" (sitting outside under a canopy of leaf-screened light - i love this)
"you could believe / that standing in a late weave of light and shade / a man could suddenly want his life, / feel it blaze in him and mean, as for a moment I believed, before I walked on" (small moments/points of time where you pause and are struck by the full reality of life -- acknowledgement, realization)

[Marshall A. Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read a couple of Wiman’s poetry books as well as one and a half of his other non-fiction books which are collections of essays. This, being his first published book of poetry surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. The first half is filled with poems - none of which I disliked - and the second half is a long poem broken up into parts, following the life of a girl as she grows up as a grandchild into becoming a grandmother. The descriptions are lovely, the story is beautifully woven and the insights are aplenty. I do not usually enjoy long poems, but this was a treat.

My favourite poems from this collection where:

In Lakeview Cemetery
Clearing
Afterwards

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply one of the most beautiful books of poetry I have ever read.

[Steve Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[John Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title poem (a long narrative biography of a Texas farmer's daughter) is the highlight.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry magazine editor Christian Wiman's first book, recently reissued by Copper Canyon. Lots of poems about mortality and family--and the mortality of family members. Two-thirds of the book is a long poem (the title poem), the life story of Wiman's grandmother. Amazing life! Okay poetry. Wiman loves blank verse.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, more than his Every Riven Thing. The second half of the volume consists of one long story poem by the same title as the volume, in the vein of a first person memoir of the poet's grandmother in Texas. Very evocative nature poetry and an emphasis on human physiognomy that is striking too.

[Vanjr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer-this author is a relative of my wife. But i do not recall meeting him at any family reunions. Second disclaimer-I know almost nothing about poetry. This is a short book, half is short poems and half is one long poem. The longer one is a very accurate portrayal of mid 20th century rural west Tx.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done from Wiman. Not my favorite of his works, but the lengthy poem that makes up the final two-thirds of this volume is rich with imagery and laced with feeling. Of the shorter poems, In Lakeview Cemetary and Clearing are both favorites.

[Zack Clemmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the titular long poem, which carries more narrative and emotional freight than many novels in a thirtieth of the length. gorgeous.