How the End Begins

by Cynthia Cruz

How the End Begins juxtaposes the world s seductions and incessant clamoring for more with the invisible world: the quiet, the call of the desert, and the pull to faith. The book chronicles this move toward faith and away from the dingen (things or stuff). Within the worlds of these poems are Orthodox monks, Emily Dickinson, anorexic patients inside a hospital ward, Larry Levis, Ingeborg Bachmann, Thomas Bernhard, Captain Beefheart, Henry Darger, Jean Genet, Goya, Karen Carpenter, Joan of Arc, and, of course, God. How the End Begins is a burning down, a kind of end of the world while, at the same time, a new, triumphant beginning."

Genres: Poetry

92 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Cynthia Cruz is the author of Ruin (Alice James Books) as well as The Glimmering Room, Wunderkammer and How the End Begins (all from Four Way Books). She is the recipient of fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and a Hodder Fellowship. An essayist and art writer, her first collection of essays, Notes Toward a New Language is forthcoming. She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and is currently a doctoral student in Germanic Language and Literature.

Reviews

[Kasey Jueds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cynthia Cruz's poetry is completely itself - it feels easy to call it unique, but I think that's one of those things that's actually "simple but not easy." Her work feels powerfully alive in the way some rare people are: captivating by virtue of being absolutely true to their deepest selves.

[Jerome Berglund · Rating 1 out of 5]

Objectively bad, cringe-worthy rubbish. Sent my copy down the garbage shoot so no one ever has to suffer through it again. Homages to Sylvia Plath border on downright plagiaristic. "To a Tragic Poetess" springs immediately to mind.

I wouldn't wish this book upon my enemies.

[Eli Tubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How the End Begins" felt a lot like "Wunderkammer" but not greatly executed. I still thoroughly enjoyed it and regard it as a wonderful follow up to "Wunderkammer"though. In the past we've seen Cruz evolve through each book, from "Ruin" to now, and in this one it seems as if she's plateaued, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just that I think there should be time between now and her next book (who am I to say though?). I think "How the End Begins" is phenomenal and worth the read and a re read. Cynthia Cruz is an undefinable force and every poem she writes in undoubtedly hers. There isn't anyone like her.

[hh · Rating 4 out of 5]

insistent, incessant.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, Cruz manages to pull off a book that seems like a collection that is really one long poem. Here, the poems seem slightly more surreal and the "Letters to Emily" section absolutely stuns. I love seeing Cruz in conversation with others who seemed equally concerned with the "ghosts" of the living and the gone.

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read much poetry for my own interest when I found this and I was a little surprised by just how much I loved it. The recurring theme of bees worked with the subject Cruz was approaching in a very unique way, at least one that I'm not sure I would've thought of. I look forward to reading it again.

[Dirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems could just as easily be title, "Pain Pills," except that after ingesting a couple, the reader experiences the pain instead of being relieved of his or her own, which is to say that I can't prescribe Cynthia Cruz to everyone, and to those I do, only in measured doses. Cruz's poetry is dark, brutal, uncompromising, and necessary.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

incessant and nagging, like a childhood trauma. we may bury ourselves halfway in the snowfall, but the singed nerves cannot yet cool in this land of lingering hurt. the commitment has not been made; the body unsheathes itself but the bones linger, gasping for breath.

[Melissa Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of "vast cathedrals." A little wild, a lot heavy.

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thin in terms of substance, but I liked some of the images and language.

[Veronica Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this was beautifully written but it felt monolithic and depressing in a way that didn’t speak to me. I just couldn’t connect with it. DNF for now

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

a pretty good book of poetry despite the absolute dogshit cover design

[hjh · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Terror marks the body and/ Then becomes invisible./ I don’t remember/ Anything” (10)

[anon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite. Breezy, ferocious, erudite, epic. Fierce fire!

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by a poetry professor ages ago, and man, what a special treasure it is to have someone who has read my writing make a recommendation that hits just right. A hauntingly beautiful collection. I loved Cruz’s imagery, her ability to remake words using repetition. How the End Begins thrusts this world into the underworld, recognizes all the nightmares of living. Shivers.

[Ellie Botoman · Rating 4 out of 5]

really love her writing and her portrayals of suffering, ecstasy, mental illness, and loss. however her poems run the risk of all sounding the same after a while. she has a very distinct poetic style but i wish that the longer poems in the collection were broken up by shorter ones, make it a little less unrelenting - that being said, love her violently beautiful writing

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, heavy--
-`-`-give me a Blue Pill, Please--

[Jessica]

“They are removing / my beautiful costumes from me, / Scouring clean the sweet / Smear of dream. / And now I see / The damaged animal / As it begins / To stir / From beneath / Its chrysalis / Of freezing ice.”

—From “How the End Begins”