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The Hell with Love: Poems to Mend a Broken Heart
This heart-wrenching collection of poems expresses the anger, hurt, depression of loss - asking why, analysing rifts and striving for explanation.
236 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
December 11, 2023
The best poem was the first and the one by Elizabeth Bishop (the art of losing isn’t hard to master) Oh, and “wishes for sons” was pretty good too. Marge Piercy’s selection about the bonsai tree was also good. Not sure how it fit into the theme though. And of course, Dorothy Parker. But that’s it out of about 80 poems.
Meh. I hate most poetry, but that’s a me problem and I accept it. Poetry is so personal, I have to really resonate with what the poet is saying to appreciate it.
This book was helpful during and after my divorce, but it’s time on my shelf has passed.
3, I wish you nothing but happiness in the relationships you choose, stars.
Meh. I hate most poetry, but that’s a me problem and I accept it. Poetry is so personal, I have to really resonate with what the poet is saying to appreciate it.
This book was helpful during and after my divorce, but it’s time on my shelf has passed.
3, I wish you nothing but happiness in the relationships you choose, stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2012
A mediocre collection. The curators of the collection clearly had a couple of favorite poets that re-appeared time and again through the book, and even some of my own favorite poets or pieces seemed shoe-horned into the categories for their assigned chapter. I took to skipping the chapter intros, as it felt too much like when someone spends ten minutes telling you all the things their favorite song makes them feel. If it's a good song, let me draw my own conclusions.
February 19, 2013
It's still broken.
September 12, 2008
Picked this up in 2003 when I was bitter about my first love coming to an end. As I started reading, I realized that this was not some silly little chick-lit book of sappy guys-suck rants, but one of the best poetry anthologies I've ever read. It includes some moving verses by May Swenson, along with William Carlos Williams, Margaret Atwood, Donne, Auden, and good ol' Bill Shakespeare.
This book won't mend a broken heart, as it claims. If you want to do that, slash the dude's tires and sleep with his brother. If you want a kick-ass collection poetry divided into the categories of age, Sadness, Self-Hatred, False Hope, Resolve, Relapse, Real Hope and Moving On, this is the book for you.
This book won't mend a broken heart, as it claims. If you want to do that, slash the dude's tires and sleep with his brother. If you want a kick-ass collection poetry divided into the categories of age, Sadness, Self-Hatred, False Hope, Resolve, Relapse, Real Hope and Moving On, this is the book for you.
March 2, 2024
I have really enjoyed the anthologies these ladies put together! I don’t always agree with their selections (a whole poem about testicles, come on ladies) but the poems are accessible and widely varying. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
July 7, 2020
A different kind of advice for the lovelorn, this book is divided by 'stages of recovery' when your heart has been broken: Rage, sadness, self-hatred, false hope, resolve, relapse, real hope, and moving on. Each phase has a short introduction that talks about the feelings people go through at such times, and links it to the chosen poems. Some poems provide empathy, some provide kick ass advice, and some are for a good laugh at the craziness of love.
I myself am not currently recovering from a broken heart, but I have gone through it in the past (who hasn't?), and I thought the book was pretty insightful. The poets are great choices: among others, there is Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Auden, Billy Collins, Dorothy Parker, Lucille Clifton, and my new find, Yehuda Amichai, whose poem, "Quick and Bitter' was brilliant. The bios at the end say he is the most translated Hebrew poet in the world. Must read more!!
I myself am not currently recovering from a broken heart, but I have gone through it in the past (who hasn't?), and I thought the book was pretty insightful. The poets are great choices: among others, there is Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Auden, Billy Collins, Dorothy Parker, Lucille Clifton, and my new find, Yehuda Amichai, whose poem, "Quick and Bitter' was brilliant. The bios at the end say he is the most translated Hebrew poet in the world. Must read more!!
July 24, 2019
The poems are collected are organized under different feelings and emotions the person who has lost in love would go through in the aftermath of it. Many poems were interesting but I also liked the editors’ commentary that contributed to a lot of insightful reading.
August 26, 2017
Witty and attention hooking. Best part is when they explain the poems.
April 30, 2011
I bought this book in my 20's because the black cover with pastel candy hearts declaring, "THE HELL WITH LOVE" seemed so giddily and ironically and self-consciously emotionally confused as to be irresistible. It elicited a kind of geeky, quirky, pathetic chortle - don't you instantaneously want to protect something you are so embarrassed to be curious about, that places its vulnerability so completely on display, and that (worst of all) you might potentially (or even probably) identify with?
Anyway, its first poem is so painfully raw that I have never forgotten it but could read no further for years:
you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
Now, it just seemed time to read it and figure out if it was worth the hype. Plus, despite not having any noticeably open wounds at this juncture, I found myself wondering if it were worth loaning to friends who might benefit from an artistic formulation of their current turmoils. So, I took the plunge and raced through it in a way poetry should not be run. There was no savoring, and although I know epsilon about poetry, it seems savoring improves its flavor just as many dishes containing subtle blends of spices improve over time. So, it may be that this book deserves higher marks.
It is, in case you had not guessed, an anthology of break-up poetry. It is empathetic and humorous, has an intuitively appealing temporal organization of grieving, and explains the rationale behind the selections clearly. It moves from Rage ("When hatred isn't strong enough"!), through Sadness, Self-Hatred, False Hope, Resolve, Relapse, Real Hope, and Moving On. The emotions are all sincere, and acknowledges the natural-but-at-times-disorienting oscillation among many of them. And, despite its baring its teeth a bit on the cover, it is not jaded. It does not say: fie, fie on all members of my dating pool, who are clearly an Other and Evil species! It says: break-ups are emotionally numbing and make you question yourself in the most basic ways, but most are survivable and they let you grow into a more deliberate, compassionate, and yourself-like person if you let them.
Except it says that better :).
Anyway, its first poem is so painfully raw that I have never forgotten it but could read no further for years:
you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
Now, it just seemed time to read it and figure out if it was worth the hype. Plus, despite not having any noticeably open wounds at this juncture, I found myself wondering if it were worth loaning to friends who might benefit from an artistic formulation of their current turmoils. So, I took the plunge and raced through it in a way poetry should not be run. There was no savoring, and although I know epsilon about poetry, it seems savoring improves its flavor just as many dishes containing subtle blends of spices improve over time. So, it may be that this book deserves higher marks.
It is, in case you had not guessed, an anthology of break-up poetry. It is empathetic and humorous, has an intuitively appealing temporal organization of grieving, and explains the rationale behind the selections clearly. It moves from Rage ("When hatred isn't strong enough"!), through Sadness, Self-Hatred, False Hope, Resolve, Relapse, Real Hope, and Moving On. The emotions are all sincere, and acknowledges the natural-but-at-times-disorienting oscillation among many of them. And, despite its baring its teeth a bit on the cover, it is not jaded. It does not say: fie, fie on all members of my dating pool, who are clearly an Other and Evil species! It says: break-ups are emotionally numbing and make you question yourself in the most basic ways, but most are survivable and they let you grow into a more deliberate, compassionate, and yourself-like person if you let them.
Except it says that better :).
May 11, 2015
Oh, wow. I picked this book up from the library on a whim, and didn't think too much of it at the time. I'm leaving for France tomorrow (well, it's 3 am, so later today really), and right before bed I decided I wanted to read something to help me sleep. I didn't realize how much I needed this book. (I'm not over him yet.)
It's one of those books whose charm is pretty situational, but I don't think that should necessarily devalue my review. There were certain poems I just identified with so strongly I had to pause and regain my equilibrium. Hopefully, the trip to France will help clear my mind; if not, I have this book to return to and revisit.
It's one of those books whose charm is pretty situational, but I don't think that should necessarily devalue my review. There were certain poems I just identified with so strongly I had to pause and regain my equilibrium. Hopefully, the trip to France will help clear my mind; if not, I have this book to return to and revisit.
May 25, 2011
The number one best book of poetry I've ever come across. Years ago, I was lucky enough to have my best friend in B&N with me right after a messy broken engagement that left me a complete wreck. She picked out this book for me and I fell in love with anger, the angst, and the terrible beauty of it immediately. The second part of the book's title says it all very truthfully - these are poems to mend a broken heart.
June 1, 2007
This is by far the most contemporary take on the painful experience of heartbreak that I've found. Broken up into stages- Rage, Sadness, Self-Hatred, False Hope, Resolve, Relapse, Real Hope and Moving On, it contains a few poems in each vein that actually dare to point out the messiness, the deep emotions, the anger and dark side of love.
May 26, 2013
I just picked this up on a whim when I saw it on the library staff's picks for the month. I didn't like how at the beginning of each chapter the authors tried to "explain" how the poetry fit the different stages of breaking up. I only pushed myself to finish it because I wanted to read something else next.
August 27, 2013
This book came to me at a time I needed it most, I had just been dumped by my first boyfriend, and was having a horrid time dealing with it. I've shared it with best friends, thrown it across the room in rage, and held it tightly sobbing like the angsty teenager I was at the time. And now, 12 years later, I still turn to this little black book, thumb to my favorite poems and read.
August 1, 2007
This cute little poetry is the perfect thing when you are going through a breakup or have been dumped. All the emotions are there--anger, rage, sadness. My friend John has a poem in this book. It would be a good gift book for a birthday or a pick-me-up.
March 16, 2008
I started reading this simply because it features Robert Frost but I ended up really liking it. It covers emotions you feel when 'broken hearted' anger, resentment, denial, then moves into funny poems with hope for the future. Cute book.
June 7, 2009
this is a funny book that keeps up with your stages of what feel after a long break up it has some great poems that help u cherish memories, as well as to get over the significant other that u loved so much.
November 29, 2009
I received this book as a present after I went through a hard break up. These poems really helped me through a hard time because I could connect with the poets. The poems go through a range of emotions typically felt after a break up, and they really hit the nail on the head.
March 15, 2012
This book has poetry broken down into all the processes of a heartbreak. This is one of my favorite poetry books, because of the actual healing it helps you with. This is the best book if your heart is broken.
September 7, 2012
well... this is okay, but i suspect its meant for a different reader. I started to feel the selections weren't as inspired, and were awfully 20th-century-centric, instead of being lost in the beauty or profundity of the poems. But this might be just the ticket for somebody else.
July 29, 2013
This wonderful collection of poems helps a reader combine the stages of grief with a breakup through the art of poetry. The title is a bit misleading since the last section is more about hopeful poetry. But either way, fantastic collection.
January 31, 2015
Not my favorite collection. I kind of expected something differently. So, maybe if I had gone into it not thinking about what I'd be getting I would have liked it more.
Too many repeated poets. I would have preferred a bigger selection.
Too many repeated poets. I would have preferred a bigger selection.
July 30, 2021
This is an interesting collection of poetry about sadness and lost love. A great way to experience various poets. My issue was the profane language in a couple of poems. Not a book that I would read again, and not one I could recommend for my mother or friends. I do think others would enjoy it.
April 25, 2007
This book is excellent. A collection of poems for every stage of getting out of love. My favorite poem out of it is called "Promises for sons".
April 27, 2009
A great little collection of poems. I return to it time and time again.
June 17, 2020
A clever little collection. We need more anthologies to make people see poetry again. It's a balm in hard times.
February 22, 2011
Shut it. I don't care how cliche it is. I need this book & will buy it after the library lending time is over.
December 15, 2012
The poems are fine. The commentary is not.
January 5, 2016
Tiny little book, but great poetry included. One in particular was unfamiliar and very timely.
March 5, 2025
This book is an absolute gem. I read it years ago and give it to everyone I know going through a bad breakup.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews