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Vertigo: Of Love & Letting Go
In this modern epic poem, poet Analog de Leon (Chris Purifoy) offers an empowering message to anyone who has loved, lost, or yearned for freedom.
Inspired by the life of Syrian Saint Simeon Stylites, a 4th-century Monk who lived for many years on a small platform atop a pillar, Vertigo encourages introspection, contemplation, and self-love.
Inspired by the life of Syrian Saint Simeon Stylites, a 4th-century Monk who lived for many years on a small platform atop a pillar, Vertigo encourages introspection, contemplation, and self-love.
- GenresPoetry
176 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
February 5, 2018
There are poetry books, such as this, that will make readers really contemplate the meaning behind the words. Those who will read the enthralling collection of poems in this book could be able to understand the love lost, the process to self-healing, and loving oneself.
The illustrations are absolutely captivating and dramatic representations to some of the poems that wants to impart. This is just one of those books that you want to read again after some time, because you want to devour again those lovely verses.
The illustrations are absolutely captivating and dramatic representations to some of the poems that wants to impart. This is just one of those books that you want to read again after some time, because you want to devour again those lovely verses.
December 19, 2020
“I can't explain the halls
that lead a mind from love to hate,
but I can see the miles in my shoes.”
This is by far the best written poetry that I've ever read. It truly is a fantastic piece of art.
Most of the poetry I read, that I like, is something I can relate to on a direct level. Something about love and loss and the journey from love to loss and how you are stuck in this 'loss,' this book is not that. This book is open. By that I mean it gives you the option to interpret the meaning; My meaning was completely different than my mom's, hers was freedom, while mine was the love I have for myself. Drastically different meanings, but both were found within the words of this book.
I did already say that this is for sure different than the poetry I read and typically enjoy. This one felt more distant, not as direct and upfront and in your face. I mean this in a positive way. I like that these words are up to your interpretation, rather than telling you exactly what they mean. There are metaphors in here that speak brilliance into existence.
I cannot express enough that everyone should pick up this book.
Your takeaway from it will be different from mine, it will be different from my mom's, but it will be yours.
I'm going to have to come back to this book in the future and see if my interpretation of it has shifted.
that lead a mind from love to hate,
but I can see the miles in my shoes.”
This is by far the best written poetry that I've ever read. It truly is a fantastic piece of art.
Most of the poetry I read, that I like, is something I can relate to on a direct level. Something about love and loss and the journey from love to loss and how you are stuck in this 'loss,' this book is not that. This book is open. By that I mean it gives you the option to interpret the meaning; My meaning was completely different than my mom's, hers was freedom, while mine was the love I have for myself. Drastically different meanings, but both were found within the words of this book.
I did already say that this is for sure different than the poetry I read and typically enjoy. This one felt more distant, not as direct and upfront and in your face. I mean this in a positive way. I like that these words are up to your interpretation, rather than telling you exactly what they mean. There are metaphors in here that speak brilliance into existence.
I cannot express enough that everyone should pick up this book.
Your takeaway from it will be different from mine, it will be different from my mom's, but it will be yours.
I'm going to have to come back to this book in the future and see if my interpretation of it has shifted.
November 13, 2017
"I climbed to the edge of terror to free myself."
This is more like a short story that is broken down into stanzas to resemble poetry with pictures interspersed. Although there are a few powerful lines, written it seems sparse and choppy; however, I could see this making a great short film where they use cutout animation to help tell the story. In that media I feel it would be more emotive.
This is more like a short story that is broken down into stanzas to resemble poetry with pictures interspersed. Although there are a few powerful lines, written it seems sparse and choppy; however, I could see this making a great short film where they use cutout animation to help tell the story. In that media I feel it would be more emotive.
March 30, 2018
Sadly, didn’t really like this at all.
November 27, 2017
The book has got a gorgeous, gorgeous cover and some surreal illustrations. The poems are still cold for me. They don't bring me back to the present nor send me into a spiral of introspection. The poems are just there and I wish they were better.
She.
Is.
Too.
B r i g h t.
A poem like the aforementioned one is not going to steal my heart. I need more and Vertigo doesn't offer that.
(Thank you, Netgalley, for the copy!)
She.
Is.
Too.
B r i g h t.
A poem like the aforementioned one is not going to steal my heart. I need more and Vertigo doesn't offer that.
(Thank you, Netgalley, for the copy!)
April 24, 2019
I think it would be uncontroversial to say that new poetry is in a pretty bad way, and this book is never going to help.
In a 1945 essay, George Orwell wrote of a phenomenon called 'good bad books'. These are books that are objectively bad, but have either enough good qualities, or be just good enough, to make them worth reading despite their overall low quality. Discussing the quality of books can become an exercise in almost existential futility - because what one critical reader thinks will be different to another critical reader's opinion on the same book. This is, of course, to say nothing about the differences between a critical reader and someone who is not very critical. I don't really like giving books a score because I just don't think a complex opinion can be represented as a single, simple number. There are plenty of books I could give ratings to that I know objectively are good works, I just happen to not like them; my personal dislike has influenced the rating I gave it. I know I would be a better reader if I had more of a taste for Gertrude Stein, for example. There are other books I know are not as good, but I enjoyed, and so did not quite deserve the rating I could give it. Ratings give the appearance of a perminance, a solidity to the quality of a book that will be either completely illusory or will leave out everything important.
I was thinking about all this as I was reading through this book. Although, I will have to emphasize the word 'bad', try to imagine it about the size of Big Ben or something. Because this book is bad. This book is very bad, and I think all it's faults can be condensed into two great crimes that could be levelled against many poets, many newer poets in particular, and one fault is being a bad wordsmith, the second is being irritatingly pretentious. Yet despite how bad I think this book is, there are lines in here that when taken out of context could be interesting as ideas.
In reverse order. The poet is on the cover and in the forward as Analog de Leon, and it ostensibly is an epic poem of 'love and letting go'. And an epic poem about a break up and a coming to terms with it is actually a clever idea, especially if it was done in free verse. However, this subtitle is a lie. This poem is also partly didactic, it is also trying to be instructive about live in general - although what the lessons this book has are about being turning away from the digital world of computers and embracing the real. This by itself would also make a good subject for an epic poem, but this poem is trying to do both at the same time, and as such it spreads itself too thinly.
There is no 'Analog de Leon' anyway, it's a moniker for someone called Chris Purifoy. Quite why Chris used such a French-sounding name should be left up to the reader (my guess is because hacks often, for some reason, think everything in high culture must be French) and the most important part of the moniker is the 'Analog', because in the poem we people are Analog entities in a digital world - and it is better we unplug ourselves and experience reality objectively. The 'de Leon', Leon is French for Lion, a traditional symbol for courage, strength and/or dominance in art. Just the name the author is using reeks of overreaching pretension.
The book opens with the words 'There is a secret/written in the stars and in the mountains'. I have no idea what this means, specifically, as the 'secret' in the poem is more in the stars than in the mountains. And then, rather amusingly, there are two pages pointing to the website for the book. One says 'learn clues to the secret/and take an interactive journey/through the rabbit hole'. Why the clues are not in the book, I have no idea. Then there is a link to the GoingVertigo website again, and a soundtrack the poet wishes the reader to listen to while reading this book. It's Coldplay, Radiohead, music that is moody, mellow and smug. Whatever the intended intention, the impression I got from this is that this book would be enjoyed by people who think music is an exercise in snobbery.
The forword to the book is dreadful. It basically diminishes every chance this poem has of being in any way subtle or making it worth reading again. If I was 'monsieur Analuuogue de la Léon' I would have removed it completely. Essentially, all this forward does is flag up the three important aspects of the book, the colours blue and red (which are recurring symbols in the poem of coming together and drifting apart, something that would have been very clever had this forward not made things embarrassingly obvious), the religious aspect of the book, and the image of a light being a reflection for the girl who is only partly the subject of this poem.
Related to this forward, and before I move on to the poem itself, there is a series of notes at the end of the poem that seem to be modelled on the notes at the end of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, and these notes are wonderful for pointing to where Purifoy/'de Lion' embrasses himself. In the forward he describes the girl as being 'an idea that could launch a thousand ships'. The notes, without shame, comment on this with 'an allusion to Helen of Troy' as if no one would know this. There is also an allusion to Whitman's poem 'Song of Myself' slightly later on which again is painfully obvious. This is characteristic of the notes in general, literally every line in the poem that feels out of place in both tone, content, and vocabulary, is a quotation or allusion to some great work of literature; but most of the time it is either Homer, Shakespeare, or The King James bible. This is the equivalent of a new musician saying their biggest influences are Queen, The Beatles, and Nirvana - there's just something either too trite or too cute about all this to be of any real interest.
Onto the poem itself, and the way Chris Purifoy fails as a wordsmith. To cut all my thoughts on this poem down into a sentence: this is every terrible, unbearable 'too deep for you' undergraduate who writes long, rambling 'poems'. Hardly an example needs to suffice, an example of such underwhelming clumsiness can be found on almost any page you can turn to:
'I am the narrow gate
that leads inward
and the tower
standing beacon in seperation.'
Reads one page
'The mark is half past the line
on the horizon
and the dark side
of her vast reflected island.'
Reads another.
'Don't blink
The light is getting louder'
Reads another still.
Anyone who cares for poetry as a form of communication, and not simply an exercise in attempted elitism, will not fail to see how painfully self-involved, and completely uninteresting such pages are. It is also amusing how after a while, words have macrons over seemingly random letters. There are also words split into their individual letters, such as t h i s, in a style oddly reminiscent of ee cummings. What this means I have no idea, but this leads to a case on page 119 where the word 'violently' is represented as 'VIOLEnTLY'. Just why the letter N does not get to be capitalized, I have no idea - and for all I know this could simply be a typo. Either way, I do not care, mostly because the poem itself stops me from caring about it with both its sophomoric pretension, and its complete lack of other interesting qualities.
That's said, there are some very interesting passages in this book - and there are some that if they are completely extracted, context and all, would serve as good lines in other poems. There are admittedly a handful of examples, but one or two would suffice I think:
'I climbed
to the edge of terror
to free myself.
How did she
find me here?'
And
'I changed everything for her
I have nothing in common
with the man I have become'
These lines by themselves are decent, and could be the basis of good poems. However, they are like little rays of sunshine on the dark and wet day that is this poem.
This poet, then, is not without talent. I think, however, this poet will waste whatever talent helped create such lines on being 'smart' and 'deep', rather than being smart and deep.
This is, honestly, the main reason I dislike this book - you can see, under the terrible surface, something like potential here. This could have been good with more, clearer, better thought and work. A lot more work seems to have gone into the artwork in the book, which I have not mentioned before. The artwork in this poem is beautiful. The cover, too, is very attractive. It is such a shame such visual beauty is wasted on such a god-awful poem.
The book ends with an 'Open Letter to the Lost', which is advertising some sort of artist-collective initiative. It honestly feels, however, like an invitation to join some obscure cult. Perhaps this cult would be full of people who speak in faux-French accents, talk about the 'genius' of books they've never read, and pronounce the word 'spaghetti' as 'SPah-GHEEETTT-teh', I wouldn't know, I wouldn't honestly want to know either.
In short, this book is dreadful and its author is a hack.
In a 1945 essay, George Orwell wrote of a phenomenon called 'good bad books'. These are books that are objectively bad, but have either enough good qualities, or be just good enough, to make them worth reading despite their overall low quality. Discussing the quality of books can become an exercise in almost existential futility - because what one critical reader thinks will be different to another critical reader's opinion on the same book. This is, of course, to say nothing about the differences between a critical reader and someone who is not very critical. I don't really like giving books a score because I just don't think a complex opinion can be represented as a single, simple number. There are plenty of books I could give ratings to that I know objectively are good works, I just happen to not like them; my personal dislike has influenced the rating I gave it. I know I would be a better reader if I had more of a taste for Gertrude Stein, for example. There are other books I know are not as good, but I enjoyed, and so did not quite deserve the rating I could give it. Ratings give the appearance of a perminance, a solidity to the quality of a book that will be either completely illusory or will leave out everything important.
I was thinking about all this as I was reading through this book. Although, I will have to emphasize the word 'bad', try to imagine it about the size of Big Ben or something. Because this book is bad. This book is very bad, and I think all it's faults can be condensed into two great crimes that could be levelled against many poets, many newer poets in particular, and one fault is being a bad wordsmith, the second is being irritatingly pretentious. Yet despite how bad I think this book is, there are lines in here that when taken out of context could be interesting as ideas.
In reverse order. The poet is on the cover and in the forward as Analog de Leon, and it ostensibly is an epic poem of 'love and letting go'. And an epic poem about a break up and a coming to terms with it is actually a clever idea, especially if it was done in free verse. However, this subtitle is a lie. This poem is also partly didactic, it is also trying to be instructive about live in general - although what the lessons this book has are about being turning away from the digital world of computers and embracing the real. This by itself would also make a good subject for an epic poem, but this poem is trying to do both at the same time, and as such it spreads itself too thinly.
There is no 'Analog de Leon' anyway, it's a moniker for someone called Chris Purifoy. Quite why Chris used such a French-sounding name should be left up to the reader (my guess is because hacks often, for some reason, think everything in high culture must be French) and the most important part of the moniker is the 'Analog', because in the poem we people are Analog entities in a digital world - and it is better we unplug ourselves and experience reality objectively. The 'de Leon', Leon is French for Lion, a traditional symbol for courage, strength and/or dominance in art. Just the name the author is using reeks of overreaching pretension.
The book opens with the words 'There is a secret/written in the stars and in the mountains'. I have no idea what this means, specifically, as the 'secret' in the poem is more in the stars than in the mountains. And then, rather amusingly, there are two pages pointing to the website for the book. One says 'learn clues to the secret/and take an interactive journey/through the rabbit hole'. Why the clues are not in the book, I have no idea. Then there is a link to the GoingVertigo website again, and a soundtrack the poet wishes the reader to listen to while reading this book. It's Coldplay, Radiohead, music that is moody, mellow and smug. Whatever the intended intention, the impression I got from this is that this book would be enjoyed by people who think music is an exercise in snobbery.
The forword to the book is dreadful. It basically diminishes every chance this poem has of being in any way subtle or making it worth reading again. If I was 'monsieur Analuuogue de la Léon' I would have removed it completely. Essentially, all this forward does is flag up the three important aspects of the book, the colours blue and red (which are recurring symbols in the poem of coming together and drifting apart, something that would have been very clever had this forward not made things embarrassingly obvious), the religious aspect of the book, and the image of a light being a reflection for the girl who is only partly the subject of this poem.
Related to this forward, and before I move on to the poem itself, there is a series of notes at the end of the poem that seem to be modelled on the notes at the end of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, and these notes are wonderful for pointing to where Purifoy/'de Lion' embrasses himself. In the forward he describes the girl as being 'an idea that could launch a thousand ships'. The notes, without shame, comment on this with 'an allusion to Helen of Troy' as if no one would know this. There is also an allusion to Whitman's poem 'Song of Myself' slightly later on which again is painfully obvious. This is characteristic of the notes in general, literally every line in the poem that feels out of place in both tone, content, and vocabulary, is a quotation or allusion to some great work of literature; but most of the time it is either Homer, Shakespeare, or The King James bible. This is the equivalent of a new musician saying their biggest influences are Queen, The Beatles, and Nirvana - there's just something either too trite or too cute about all this to be of any real interest.
Onto the poem itself, and the way Chris Purifoy fails as a wordsmith. To cut all my thoughts on this poem down into a sentence: this is every terrible, unbearable 'too deep for you' undergraduate who writes long, rambling 'poems'. Hardly an example needs to suffice, an example of such underwhelming clumsiness can be found on almost any page you can turn to:
'I am the narrow gate
that leads inward
and the tower
standing beacon in seperation.'
Reads one page
'The mark is half past the line
on the horizon
and the dark side
of her vast reflected island.'
Reads another.
'Don't blink
The light is getting louder'
Reads another still.
Anyone who cares for poetry as a form of communication, and not simply an exercise in attempted elitism, will not fail to see how painfully self-involved, and completely uninteresting such pages are. It is also amusing how after a while, words have macrons over seemingly random letters. There are also words split into their individual letters, such as t h i s, in a style oddly reminiscent of ee cummings. What this means I have no idea, but this leads to a case on page 119 where the word 'violently' is represented as 'VIOLEnTLY'. Just why the letter N does not get to be capitalized, I have no idea - and for all I know this could simply be a typo. Either way, I do not care, mostly because the poem itself stops me from caring about it with both its sophomoric pretension, and its complete lack of other interesting qualities.
That's said, there are some very interesting passages in this book - and there are some that if they are completely extracted, context and all, would serve as good lines in other poems. There are admittedly a handful of examples, but one or two would suffice I think:
'I climbed
to the edge of terror
to free myself.
How did she
find me here?'
And
'I changed everything for her
I have nothing in common
with the man I have become'
These lines by themselves are decent, and could be the basis of good poems. However, they are like little rays of sunshine on the dark and wet day that is this poem.
This poet, then, is not without talent. I think, however, this poet will waste whatever talent helped create such lines on being 'smart' and 'deep', rather than being smart and deep.
This is, honestly, the main reason I dislike this book - you can see, under the terrible surface, something like potential here. This could have been good with more, clearer, better thought and work. A lot more work seems to have gone into the artwork in the book, which I have not mentioned before. The artwork in this poem is beautiful. The cover, too, is very attractive. It is such a shame such visual beauty is wasted on such a god-awful poem.
The book ends with an 'Open Letter to the Lost', which is advertising some sort of artist-collective initiative. It honestly feels, however, like an invitation to join some obscure cult. Perhaps this cult would be full of people who speak in faux-French accents, talk about the 'genius' of books they've never read, and pronounce the word 'spaghetti' as 'SPah-GHEEETTT-teh', I wouldn't know, I wouldn't honestly want to know either.
In short, this book is dreadful and its author is a hack.
November 8, 2017
Vertigo reads like voices inside my head and a storm of clashing emotions in my heart. You could as easily analyse this epic poem into set truths as your existence. It's meaning runs deep into the very marrow of the ink with which these words are written. I read it twice within a frame of of two hours and was surprised at how the experience changed. This is the kind of work which provides the reader something more with each visit,
These words feel like home.
Like a release after being trapped for long.
Like an explosion in the cosmos giving birth to a star.
These words feel like YOU.
These words feel like home.
Like a release after being trapped for long.
Like an explosion in the cosmos giving birth to a star.
These words feel like YOU.
December 14, 2017
First things first: I received this book through NetGalley.
I requested this because of the cover. Let's be real about this for a second. I just love beautiful covers that much. I mean, look at it!!!!
The poetry itself was pretty good. I didn't love it but I liked it enough to keep going and finishing it. In the beginning I found so many parts that I just had to highlight and I thought this was going to be my new favorite things. It didn't.
The farther I went into the book, I didn't feel anything anymore. The words were beautiful but they just didn't speak to me and didn't move me in a way that I wanted them to. So this is once again a 'It's not you, it's me' book, cause it's beautiful (the words and the pictures!!!), it just didn't work for me, but I totally see how this would work for other people.
I requested this because of the cover. Let's be real about this for a second. I just love beautiful covers that much. I mean, look at it!!!!
The poetry itself was pretty good. I didn't love it but I liked it enough to keep going and finishing it. In the beginning I found so many parts that I just had to highlight and I thought this was going to be my new favorite things. It didn't.
The farther I went into the book, I didn't feel anything anymore. The words were beautiful but they just didn't speak to me and didn't move me in a way that I wanted them to. So this is once again a 'It's not you, it's me' book, cause it's beautiful (the words and the pictures!!!), it just didn't work for me, but I totally see how this would work for other people.
October 26, 2017
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this epic poem and would definitely recommend it to people that are not familiar with poetry and want to delve into it. This book was more than just a simple read. There is a corresponding website and a playlist created that goes along with reading this book, which adds so much to your reading experience, while the illustrations within the book manage to build up the world, thus creating an almost palpable atmospheric setting.
Through this poem we experience the journey of a man that falls in love and struggles not only with his loved one but also with himself. Love, loss and God are the three main themes woven with his existence, and the narration allowed me to feel his thoughts and emotions while reading them. This poem served like a journal to his experience, and it managed to take me along for the ride. While reading this, I saw love depicted as something greater that the narrator, as if he himself becomes a channel to this vast power that love has, a power that calls to him, and a force that he utilizes so as to get close to his object of affection, searching for relief. The parallel between the human existence and the cosmic universe is extraordinary to me, simply because I am interested in everything that has to do with space. There are also annotations at the end of the book, which helped me make sense of what some words symbolized or where the poet derived his inspiration from.
I would definitely recommend this book and see myself rereading it.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this epic poem and would definitely recommend it to people that are not familiar with poetry and want to delve into it. This book was more than just a simple read. There is a corresponding website and a playlist created that goes along with reading this book, which adds so much to your reading experience, while the illustrations within the book manage to build up the world, thus creating an almost palpable atmospheric setting.
Through this poem we experience the journey of a man that falls in love and struggles not only with his loved one but also with himself. Love, loss and God are the three main themes woven with his existence, and the narration allowed me to feel his thoughts and emotions while reading them. This poem served like a journal to his experience, and it managed to take me along for the ride. While reading this, I saw love depicted as something greater that the narrator, as if he himself becomes a channel to this vast power that love has, a power that calls to him, and a force that he utilizes so as to get close to his object of affection, searching for relief. The parallel between the human existence and the cosmic universe is extraordinary to me, simply because I am interested in everything that has to do with space. There are also annotations at the end of the book, which helped me make sense of what some words symbolized or where the poet derived his inspiration from.
I would definitely recommend this book and see myself rereading it.
December 15, 2017
Originally posted on: The Quirky Book Nerd
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I was intrigued by the description of this work when I first discovered it, but I also was not quite sure what to expect from it going in. The whole concept of a modern epic poem sounded very unique, and I was eager to see what a present day take on this classic form of literature would be like. I assumed I might end up being sort of skeptical and critical given not only my general pickiness when it comes to poetry, but also because of the unconventional nature of this particular work. However, I ended up enjoying every aspect of this far more than I could have anticipated—it definitely exceeded my expectations.
As this is an epic poem, it is all one connected story rather than a collection of individual poems. Because of this style, it is broken up into small, simple sections of text, punctuated by beautiful and surreal illustrations that work to enhance the overall atmosphere the poem gives off. Everything comes together to radiate the enormity of the world of human emotion, as well as the vast expanse of universe itself compared to us as humans. Each little piece is quite straightforward, and they slowly build on each other to create the journey of the narrator as he acknowledges the pain of loss and the great power of love. As a whole, there is so much depth and positivity to be found within the full message that this work conveys. Personally, the strength in the text and the accompanying imagery really made quite an impact on me.
One other extremely interesting and unique aspect of this poem is the online media that can be viewed in connection with it. The book provides links to a website that takes you on a virtual tour through the same emotions and message that the actual text does. With animations in the style of the illustrations in the poem and atmospheric music to listen to as you read, this becomes a very distinctive reading experience. Overall, this is the type of modern poetry that I have come to love—poetry that uses fairly simple and easily accessible language to express much deeper emotions and cause significant personal introspection. Everyone will have a truly personal journey with this poem.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I was intrigued by the description of this work when I first discovered it, but I also was not quite sure what to expect from it going in. The whole concept of a modern epic poem sounded very unique, and I was eager to see what a present day take on this classic form of literature would be like. I assumed I might end up being sort of skeptical and critical given not only my general pickiness when it comes to poetry, but also because of the unconventional nature of this particular work. However, I ended up enjoying every aspect of this far more than I could have anticipated—it definitely exceeded my expectations.
As this is an epic poem, it is all one connected story rather than a collection of individual poems. Because of this style, it is broken up into small, simple sections of text, punctuated by beautiful and surreal illustrations that work to enhance the overall atmosphere the poem gives off. Everything comes together to radiate the enormity of the world of human emotion, as well as the vast expanse of universe itself compared to us as humans. Each little piece is quite straightforward, and they slowly build on each other to create the journey of the narrator as he acknowledges the pain of loss and the great power of love. As a whole, there is so much depth and positivity to be found within the full message that this work conveys. Personally, the strength in the text and the accompanying imagery really made quite an impact on me.
One other extremely interesting and unique aspect of this poem is the online media that can be viewed in connection with it. The book provides links to a website that takes you on a virtual tour through the same emotions and message that the actual text does. With animations in the style of the illustrations in the poem and atmospheric music to listen to as you read, this becomes a very distinctive reading experience. Overall, this is the type of modern poetry that I have come to love—poetry that uses fairly simple and easily accessible language to express much deeper emotions and cause significant personal introspection. Everyone will have a truly personal journey with this poem.
January 20, 2018
I really didn’t like this one. I felt no emotion when reading it. Quiet frankly I was just bored.
February 8, 2018
no one tells you
when you fall in love with a star,
one day it might burn out
and leave behind a black hole
when you fall in love with a star,
one day it might burn out
and leave behind a black hole
June 11, 2018
I was looking for a poetry collection that I could connect with. I could identify with. I could relate to.
That was what this was.
Vertigo hit home hard.
In the best ways.
And the worst.
I'm amazed by how this collection was also crafted, it is truly an experience. This is now a part of my list of favourite poetry collections. One of the best.
That was what this was.
Vertigo hit home hard.
In the best ways.
And the worst.
I'm amazed by how this collection was also crafted, it is truly an experience. This is now a part of my list of favourite poetry collections. One of the best.
November 22, 2017
Great book
November 4, 2017
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very interesting, and very beautiful read. Poetry can always swing wildly, either way, depending on how each reader interprets the poem. For me, this poem was beautiful. It truly can be enjoyed as the epic poem it was written as or individually, both ways worked for me. There is also more to this than just the poem. There is interaction so that one can connect with the poetry and find their own way. There's a website and a playlist that goes along with this read. Both are definitely worth checking out.
This description states: "This modern epic poem offers an empowering message to anyone who has loved, lost, or yearned for freedom." What I noticed most, or at least what I connected with, was that lostness. The constant search trying to find oneself and gaining freedom from that feeling.
The poem makes cosmic connections, there are even religious nods. There is also an indication to older works that incline us to more introspection. Throughout the poem, there are beautiful, simple photos to accompany the journey, making it visually appealing and easier to connect with.
Overall, it was an alluring and thoughtful read.
This was a very interesting, and very beautiful read. Poetry can always swing wildly, either way, depending on how each reader interprets the poem. For me, this poem was beautiful. It truly can be enjoyed as the epic poem it was written as or individually, both ways worked for me. There is also more to this than just the poem. There is interaction so that one can connect with the poetry and find their own way. There's a website and a playlist that goes along with this read. Both are definitely worth checking out.
This description states: "This modern epic poem offers an empowering message to anyone who has loved, lost, or yearned for freedom." What I noticed most, or at least what I connected with, was that lostness. The constant search trying to find oneself and gaining freedom from that feeling.
The poem makes cosmic connections, there are even religious nods. There is also an indication to older works that incline us to more introspection. Throughout the poem, there are beautiful, simple photos to accompany the journey, making it visually appealing and easier to connect with.
Overall, it was an alluring and thoughtful read.
November 3, 2017
4.5/5
Vertigo is a beautiful work combining words and images.
We are reading the thoughts of a man struggling with the love for an other as well as for himself. Love and loss are the main themes, as well as the cosmic world, the highness of the mountains that help depicts the feelings and emotions of the writer.
Definitely a gorgeous read I would recommend to poetry and illustrations lovers.
I received a free copy via NetGalley.com in exchange of an honest review
Vertigo is a beautiful work combining words and images.
We are reading the thoughts of a man struggling with the love for an other as well as for himself. Love and loss are the main themes, as well as the cosmic world, the highness of the mountains that help depicts the feelings and emotions of the writer.
Definitely a gorgeous read I would recommend to poetry and illustrations lovers.
I received a free copy via NetGalley.com in exchange of an honest review
October 14, 2017
Vertigo is an example of beautiful verse juxtaposed with images. The book worked for me as a series of individual poems, or as an entire series of poems, arranged into shorter sections. I was drawn immediately by the lovely artwork, combined with these words. I would recommend Vertigo for any reader looking for a well done collection of verse, which reaches for more than simply a series of disconnected poetic titles. There was a symmetry and thoughtfulness here that was evident.
January 27, 2018
I had high hopes for this collection; the cover art is beautiful, and I’ve found few poets disappoint me entirely. This collection, however, did disappoint... the poems come across as cold, existing to exist, rather than to evoke or express. They read simply, like Rupi Kaur, which is fine, if you like that sort of thing... for me it’s too generic and easy to read. I prefer to unpack, for images to strike me.
The images here were very Petrarchan... the unnamed She is constantly referenced to the wild, untameable nature that the male author seeks to experience and potentially tame. I feel like this collection is great for those interested in too-common social media poetry; de Leon here will blend well, nearly indistinguishable among instagram poets and tumblr writers. Fair enough if you enjoy said style, it just doesn’t grab me personally - I will admit I appreciate the work going into the references here, to writers like Shakespeare, and Fitzgerald, amid other greats.
The images here were very Petrarchan... the unnamed She is constantly referenced to the wild, untameable nature that the male author seeks to experience and potentially tame. I feel like this collection is great for those interested in too-common social media poetry; de Leon here will blend well, nearly indistinguishable among instagram poets and tumblr writers. Fair enough if you enjoy said style, it just doesn’t grab me personally - I will admit I appreciate the work going into the references here, to writers like Shakespeare, and Fitzgerald, amid other greats.
June 11, 2023
I’ve been holding off this book for some reason. I needed to clear out my TBR because it’s piling up. So, now I’ve discovered what it’s like to love a poem. I remembered how enthralled I was reading Wilder’s work. This one didn’t have a root for me as Wilder has done. Sadly, I did not enjoy this. It felt cold.
“No one tells you when you fall in love with a star. One day it might burn out and leave behind a black hole.” I loved the concept and the metaphor but as a woman it feels off-putting like we all are volatile beings. Would be a better metaphor if pronouns were neutral. I think I realize that I have preference towards female poets.
The extra star was for the cover. I have a weird thing for lighthouses. So, I loved the cover and thought it was immaculate.
“No one tells you when you fall in love with a star. One day it might burn out and leave behind a black hole.” I loved the concept and the metaphor but as a woman it feels off-putting like we all are volatile beings. Would be a better metaphor if pronouns were neutral. I think I realize that I have preference towards female poets.
The extra star was for the cover. I have a weird thing for lighthouses. So, I loved the cover and thought it was immaculate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2018
I earnestly love the idea and the structure of this sort of modern epic poem. However, the execution is a bit spotty. The beginning and end were both fairly gripping, at times even inspiring the titular vertigo. However, there was something lacking in the middle third of the book where I fell off the ship and was left behind. The book itself is artful and you can tell it means a lot to the author. It kills me that I didn't enjoy it more. But I can also say that I am looking forward to seeing how this author continues to grow--a small adjustment in trajectory and I think their work will hit the mark for me.
November 8, 2017
This book talks about loving someone, finding yourself, and God. I feel really connected about the lostness, in finding oneself.
Vertigo was a magical read for me, as I read along the lines I can see it clearly through my imagination, I can feel the emotions deep in my bones. It was a fascinating journey reading, looking at the website and listening to the playlist while reading.
Highly recommended!
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Vertigo was a magical read for me, as I read along the lines I can see it clearly through my imagination, I can feel the emotions deep in my bones. It was a fascinating journey reading, looking at the website and listening to the playlist while reading.
Highly recommended!
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 10, 2017
i’ve read a hell of a lot of poetry in the last few months and this book real sticks out. it wasn’t the monotonous angsty complaining i’ve become accustomed to. this wasn’t a collection of poetry either. it was one long poem about personal growth and finding your place within the universe. of course like all other poetry books it dealt with heartbreak but that was only one aspect of it, not the focus of the majority of the book.
February 16, 2018
I wanted this to be more. Didn't like the choppiness of the passages. I enjoy poetry that tells a clearer story and draws me in. Just when I would be engaged by a line or two, it would end abruptly and the direction would change. It was odd.
A few lines were very powerful, but most of it was really a throw away for me.
A few lines were very powerful, but most of it was really a throw away for me.
March 9, 2018
I really only go this book for the cover and the fact that on the front cover, it says "of love & letting go." I thought it was going to be a book of falling in love and experiencing heartache and letting go of the past of that experience to start anew. I found it hard to really connect with the poems but I still really liked it.
February 18, 2019
First time reading poetry book, had so much trouble understand it.
I'm not religious so that played a part.
I liked the illustrations and the overall voice the poem created.
There were also some brilliant lines that I really like.
Overall, I couldn't connect with it because it made no sense to me.
I'm not religious so that played a part.
I liked the illustrations and the overall voice the poem created.
There were also some brilliant lines that I really like.
Overall, I couldn't connect with it because it made no sense to me.
November 20, 2021
The cover of this collection is beautiful. The message of the collection is also beautiful. I had a very hard time connecting with the poem myself. It might just be a personal preference of what voice and what structures I connect to in poetry.
I still recommend giving it a read. It is a quick read
I still recommend giving it a read. It is a quick read
January 16, 2018
Vertigo of love and letting go analogue de leon Chris purifoy.
In this modern epic chris purifoy weaves together a collection of puers into one rich story about star-crossed love and the turbulence of letting go.
A good read. Different. 4*.
In this modern epic chris purifoy weaves together a collection of puers into one rich story about star-crossed love and the turbulence of letting go.
A good read. Different. 4*.
April 9, 2018
I really enjoyed parts of this book of poetry. It is to be read as an epic poem, but I found parts of it spoke to me and parts of it seemed to drag? ... part of my decision to read may have been because of the pretty cover...
July 11, 2020
I picked this up based solely on the beautiful cover. I liked that there were multiple ways to experience the piece - playlist, art, words. But the story didn’t quite speak to me. I found the poetry somewhat alienating, and it was as if meaning was trying too hard to be conveyed.
September 8, 2020
Very quick read! There are parts of it that I did find beautiful and worth pondering. But overall, I was left kind of confused. It could just be that I don’t like how much room is left for interpretation in some poetry/I am bad at reading poetry.
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