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The Inability of Words
Harnidh Kaur is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Policy from St. Xavier's, Mumbai. Her first collection is called 'The Inability of Words', because, for all that she's written, she hasn't found the exact words she's looking for. 66 poems spread across 6 sections, straddling contexts and topics both uncomfortable, and familiar.
- GenresPoetry
112 pages, Hardcover
Published June 20, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 10, 2016
In the start of the book, you'll see that the publisher has written "Every WW book is a hand-crafted artifact." And that stands as true for the wonderfully crafted content of this book as the beauty of the binding itself.
The poems are simple, yet their reach is complex as they spread arms into a variety of crevices to draw out a plethora of emotions and thought-stirrers. As i read the book, I felt like I was out on a ride over hillocks in the country. It has poetry that makes you smile, that makes your heart heavy with quietness and even poems that, like the road across the flatland, gives you peaceful time and fodder for your thoughts to reorganise.
My favourite poems were 'A Tall Sip Of Water,' 'Literary Devices,' 'Punctuation,' 'The Church of No One' and 'Advice to the Annoying Fourteen-Year-Old Who Hounded Me For Some.'
The poems are simple, yet their reach is complex as they spread arms into a variety of crevices to draw out a plethora of emotions and thought-stirrers. As i read the book, I felt like I was out on a ride over hillocks in the country. It has poetry that makes you smile, that makes your heart heavy with quietness and even poems that, like the road across the flatland, gives you peaceful time and fodder for your thoughts to reorganise.
My favourite poems were 'A Tall Sip Of Water,' 'Literary Devices,' 'Punctuation,' 'The Church of No One' and 'Advice to the Annoying Fourteen-Year-Old Who Hounded Me For Some.'
August 1, 2016
I first found Harnidh Kaur’s poetry on her blog, and suffice it to say, I absolutely loved every one poem that she put up. It was only inevitable that I get a copy of her first book. Harnidh has been an inspiration to me for such a long time that it felt a bit surreal to be holding her book in my hands - with a “love, Harnidh Kaur” signed on it! Also, just look at that gorgeous cover: it's hand-bound with an Indian handloom sari cloth!
Moving on to matters the most, I devoured the book all in one day because I just couldn’t stop reading. The thing about Harnidh’s poetry is that it might not be the kind of poetry Dickinson wrote, or the kind of poetry Plath wrote, or the kind of poetry Kamala Das wrote (those are some of my favourite poets), but it’s the kind of poetry that Harnidh writes. And what’s special about it is that not only is her poetry easy to analyze, but it makes you want to write poetry. Have you ever come across such poetry? Poetry that both boggles your mind, making you doubt you could ever write like this, and makes the creative juices simmer inside of you in anticipation of what they’d be transformed into by you? That is what Harnidh’s poetry does to me.
Although her poetry is easy to analyze, don’t believe for a second that that diminishes its excellence in any way whatsoever. You don’t read Harnidh’s poetry like you would any other poet’s. You’re not even a tiny bit distanced from the poetry. The poetry is you, and you are the poetry, and that makes reading it the most wonderful experience ever. You live her poetry. “Diving in headfirst’ - I use this metaphor quite a lot when I talk about books, but in the case of Harnidh’s poetry, it really is true. I dive headfirst in a poem, and I live a life in there that I might have already lived outside of it but it passed right by me without me being aware of it even existing; inside her poetry, however, there’s this déjà vu of such intensity that you can’t help but swoon a little.
Harnidh says that she writes poetry because she literally thinks in verse, and that is so visible in her poetry. Her poems are rhythmic without having any set tune to them. They are melodious chirpings of thunder. They fall, high and low, as she wishes them to, just like ocean waves do under the reins of the moon. They don’t rhyme, and yet they do, because in their essence is a rhyme that only poetry that flows all diaphanous and poised as hers does, possesses. You see where this poetic review is coming from, right?
To conclude: you should read The Inability of Words. I highly recommend it.
Moving on to matters the most, I devoured the book all in one day because I just couldn’t stop reading. The thing about Harnidh’s poetry is that it might not be the kind of poetry Dickinson wrote, or the kind of poetry Plath wrote, or the kind of poetry Kamala Das wrote (those are some of my favourite poets), but it’s the kind of poetry that Harnidh writes. And what’s special about it is that not only is her poetry easy to analyze, but it makes you want to write poetry. Have you ever come across such poetry? Poetry that both boggles your mind, making you doubt you could ever write like this, and makes the creative juices simmer inside of you in anticipation of what they’d be transformed into by you? That is what Harnidh’s poetry does to me.
Although her poetry is easy to analyze, don’t believe for a second that that diminishes its excellence in any way whatsoever. You don’t read Harnidh’s poetry like you would any other poet’s. You’re not even a tiny bit distanced from the poetry. The poetry is you, and you are the poetry, and that makes reading it the most wonderful experience ever. You live her poetry. “Diving in headfirst’ - I use this metaphor quite a lot when I talk about books, but in the case of Harnidh’s poetry, it really is true. I dive headfirst in a poem, and I live a life in there that I might have already lived outside of it but it passed right by me without me being aware of it even existing; inside her poetry, however, there’s this déjà vu of such intensity that you can’t help but swoon a little.
Harnidh says that she writes poetry because she literally thinks in verse, and that is so visible in her poetry. Her poems are rhythmic without having any set tune to them. They are melodious chirpings of thunder. They fall, high and low, as she wishes them to, just like ocean waves do under the reins of the moon. They don’t rhyme, and yet they do, because in their essence is a rhyme that only poetry that flows all diaphanous and poised as hers does, possesses. You see where this poetic review is coming from, right?
To conclude: you should read The Inability of Words. I highly recommend it.
September 9, 2016
Before I review: I know the author and have even met her and have been a fan of her poems even before the book came out. I might sound bit biased.
Six sections, each containing eleven poems. I rarely read poems but this girl made me read poems everyday through her #nidhscraps and I'm loving it everyday. But these poems are totally on a different level than I usually read. Such simplicity and amazingly woven poems that I'm spellbound. I'm myself making a point to mention this lovely handcrafted book wherever I can, that amazed I am with this lovely kid. Her simplicity and down to earth nature reflects in the poems of the book. I cried a bit, laughed and had an amazing time whenever I picked up the book. Surely on the levels of Lang Leav, Maya Angelou or Sylvia Plath.
Six sections, each containing eleven poems. I rarely read poems but this girl made me read poems everyday through her #nidhscraps and I'm loving it everyday. But these poems are totally on a different level than I usually read. Such simplicity and amazingly woven poems that I'm spellbound. I'm myself making a point to mention this lovely handcrafted book wherever I can, that amazed I am with this lovely kid. Her simplicity and down to earth nature reflects in the poems of the book. I cried a bit, laughed and had an amazing time whenever I picked up the book. Surely on the levels of Lang Leav, Maya Angelou or Sylvia Plath.
September 15, 2016
I think I should use the "hide entire review because of spoilers" option because it feels like anything I say about this beautiful book will spoil it for you.
Let me start with the cover. It's beautiful, and the feel of the cloth cover on your hands lends it a certain sense of character, a character that weaves its way throughout this collection.
The first and most obvious thing I should say about this book is the title is misleading. In my opinion, it should honestly have been "The Imagery of Words" because good God, there are so many amazing evocative images in every poem it's like I came out of an art gallery where the images are seared onto your eyes.
And Harnidh has used those images to take us on a journey, where I find myself having connecting to poems and forming ideas that were not there a moment ago. I've known some to argue that lyricism is being lost in poetry because of the loss of rhyme, but in "The Inability of Words", there is a sort of easy flow to the words in free verse, a flow that makes you want to read more and more poetry.
While a lot of the poems are about love, they aren't overtly sentimental, often employing a light touch otherwise missing in contemporary romantic poetry.
A lot of poetry also managed to capture a very clear sense of place, which was breathtaking, as if I had suddenly been dropped into a new city, these words floating in my head as I turned round and round to try and get a sense of this strange land that I was in.
All in all, I would say that this book's words have the ability to make the reader feel and dream.
Let me start with the cover. It's beautiful, and the feel of the cloth cover on your hands lends it a certain sense of character, a character that weaves its way throughout this collection.
The first and most obvious thing I should say about this book is the title is misleading. In my opinion, it should honestly have been "The Imagery of Words" because good God, there are so many amazing evocative images in every poem it's like I came out of an art gallery where the images are seared onto your eyes.
And Harnidh has used those images to take us on a journey, where I find myself having connecting to poems and forming ideas that were not there a moment ago. I've known some to argue that lyricism is being lost in poetry because of the loss of rhyme, but in "The Inability of Words", there is a sort of easy flow to the words in free verse, a flow that makes you want to read more and more poetry.
While a lot of the poems are about love, they aren't overtly sentimental, often employing a light touch otherwise missing in contemporary romantic poetry.
A lot of poetry also managed to capture a very clear sense of place, which was breathtaking, as if I had suddenly been dropped into a new city, these words floating in my head as I turned round and round to try and get a sense of this strange land that I was in.
All in all, I would say that this book's words have the ability to make the reader feel and dream.
March 7, 2021
When I first started reading this book, I was definitely not ready for the flurry of emotions I was about to experience. I read a lot of pieces twice (sometimes, thrice) just because the piece demanded it. "Doubt" connected to me on a very personal level and "Panic" hit me right in the heart. "Anger Management", "Bedouin", "Retrouvailles", "Live//Love", "Relativity", and "Adventures" were others that struck home. A must read for all.
January 3, 2017
Simple words spinning around in a way that makes so much sense.
I especially loved the parts Rummaging and Articulations.
Pretty, Nice, Peaceful Poetry.
I especially loved the parts Rummaging and Articulations.
Pretty, Nice, Peaceful Poetry.
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December 4, 2016Beautiful! (:
February 7, 2017
If you are looking for a portal to different world which makes you happy,fall in love then this the one. Collection of brilliant poems. Hard to choose a favorite.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews