Sometimes I Never Suffered: Poems

by Shane McCrae

Spanning religious, historical, and political themes, a new collection from the award-winning poet

I think now more than half
Of life is death but I can’t die
Enough for all the life I see

Sometimes I Never Suffered is Shane McCrae's seventh collection of poems. Here, an angel, hastily thrown together by his fellow residents of Heaven, plummets to Earth in his first moments of consciousness. Jim Limber, the adopted mixed-race son of Jefferson Davis, wanders through the afterlife, reckoning with the nuances of America’s, as well as his own, racial history.

Sometimes I Never Suffered is a search for purpose and atonement, freedom and forgiveness, imagining eternity not as an escape from the past or present, but as a reverberating record and as the culmination of time’s manifold potential to mend.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2020

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCrae's collection is magnificent. It tackles big themes in intimate ways. There are four sections. Two feature the Hastily Assembled Angel, who was created and cast down to Earth by other Angels, and two feature Jim Limber. Jim Limber was the 'adopted' mixed-race son of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

The Hesitating Angel shows us a world in general and the Jim Limber sections show us heaven and hell and look at the issues of race in America. Particularly brilliant in the Jim Limber sections is the long play poem 'Old Times There', which sees Jim Limber in heaven watching Jefferson Davis in hell, where Davis refuses to accept that is where he is.

Read this. It's fab.

[Pouya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only worthwhile words I have for this threnodic book would be to read it once, take it in, then read it again. A transformative work where the author wrestles and writes through so much in so little.

A fitting book to end 2020.

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

An angel has fallen from heaven, and we see time and history through his eyes. Our other perspective is a man who was born mixed race in the 1800s but is now experiencing freedom for the first time—not on earth, but in heaven. Very interesting premises. I don’t understand the connection between the two, if there even is a connection; the only thing I see in common is some relation to heaven. I really enjoyed following the stories, particularly the one about the angel, but the style of the poetry lacked clarity for me. I was reading this out loud, as you should do with poetry, but I had a really hard time understanding some sentences because of how they were worded.

[Sophia Mautz · Rating 4 out of 5]

mystical, haunting... the first section of this book is some of my favorite poetry I've ever read. McCrae nails the tone and cadence and some of the lines are just so achingly beautiful, makes me reimagine all of our creation myths from his voice and point of view, and the huge subjects he tackles - heaven, afterlife, hell... brings these age-old abstractions into a contemporary present where racism and politics are center stage, but always done in a way that feels so nuanced and subtle, not sensational. the last two sections felt less masterful, like the poems were underformed or too much of the same structure, rhythm, voice, where most of the poem's body was narrative and then the final line was poetry. but as someone who struggles to *really* love a lot of poetry books I've been reading lately, I really did love this one.

[Juliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I think now more than half / Of life is death / but I can’t die / Enough for all the life I see”. Shane McCrae’s poetry collection Sometimes I Never Suffered is a sequel of sorts, the third part in a trilogy he calls ‘A Fire In Every World’, which began in his earlier books — in fact, ‘The Hell Poem’, which I loved so much the other day, is the second + preceding part; McCrae notes that this whole book is the final part of a single poem, though each can be read on its own. It’s just as shimmering and stunning as The Gilded Auction Block, though it is much less rooted in the present, instead weaving an overarching narrative thread together via two disparate strands/characters, a fallen, ‘hastily assembled angel’ and the historical figure Jim Limber, who finds himself in a Heaven “full of white folks”. Moving in and out of Heaven and Hell, both figures bear witness to the past; for the angel, it’s as if he watches history through a view-master, automated, dizzyingly quick. McCrae’s work is lyrical, dark, spiralling: “The cloud as the crowd followed him or followed / The darkness in the pillar / though it was / The only flaw in the pillar they could see”. Overall, it reminds me of Autobiography of Red, Anne Carson’s incendiary verse novel, especially its speculative bent and renaissance vividness, “a black cloud like the black clouds I’ve seen / In the far Heaven I’ve seen from Limbo / like / The clouds [...] from which I’ve seen stars born / Such storms as are the glory of the dark”.

[Mansi V · Rating 4 out of 5]

... and so it learned to fly by falling
It learned to fly near to the Earth
By falling to the Earth as terror taught
it how to fly....

As someone who is relatively new to poetry, this collection felt pretty accessible in terms of the language, but also not completely accessible in the fact that I think some of the poems probably went over my head a bit. It was however an interesting read and one that has encouraged me to read more poetry.

The first part took a bit of time to get used to for me, especially regarding the structure as there were a lot of run-on words, however the middle section on Jim Lumber is when I started to feel more engaged and was probably my favourite section. The final section then did start to feel a bit repetitive but still had some good poems. The collection also felt quite personal (I'm intrigued to read his autobiography) and seemed to have a story flowing through it, making it feel like a well thought out collection, rather than just some random poems thrown together.

[Emily]

"If I've earned my reward where is the life where I can spend it" --Jim Limber Refuses to Enter Heaven Until He Has Lived a Happy Life

Love the continuity of characters in this collection. Other favorite poems:
-The Wings of the Hastily Assembled Angel
-The Hastily Assembled Angel Considers What It Means to Be Made in the Image Of ("and to resemble God / Is to resemble light the way a bed / Resembles sunlight when sunlight is spread // Across it")
-The Hastily Assembled Angel on Care and Vitality
-Jim Limber on the Gardens of the Face of God
-Jim Limber on Continuity in Heaven

[Anna van Rossem]

Een collectie zoals deze kan denk ik niet geplaatst worden binnen een rating systeem. Ik denk trouwens dat een groot deel van deze collectie over mijn hoofd is gegaan, dus ik ga dit boek sowieso nog ooit opnieuw lezen als ik iets meer ervaring met poezie heb opgedaan. Ik vond het wel heel interessant om te lezen hoe deze collectie uit twee delen staat bestaat en dat deze twee delen samen een 'verhaaltje' vormen.

[Charissa Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

- i was kinda lost at the begin cuz i didnt know what the angel was doing but then it turned out to be about history? sorta, also what was the ladder poem?
- what is the poem about jesus and the dog. rly liked that one but still feel a lil lost
- jim limber poems were highlights/ esp. Jefferson Davis' dream. still felt like i have problems rushing when i read rather than being patient n reading slowly

[D.J. Desmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read many of Shane McCrae's collections and they all feel connected. I like that. Otherwise, the topics never seem to stray far from historical or religious (Christianity) connections. "God" is probably his most used "word", and features in more than half of all his poems. So yeah, just not for me. If you are uber Christian and like poetry, go for it. He has a skill in writing, but the topics were not of any interest to me.

[Margaryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two astounding parallel journeys -one moving directionally down, the other up - that intersect at many points. McCrae's use of language and imagery is unparalleled in this collection. There are so many moments where one wants to linger, to visualize the lines (especially in the closing poem, "The Ladder to Heaven") but also let the words sink in in their beauty and terror.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very glad I read these poems. This collection grew on me. Grew and grew and grew. These poems reflect life in this world by spending time with an angel and the dead son of Jefferson Davis. I was slow to pick up on it, but as I did I began to see some of what the poet was seeing. A miracle before him. And a perspective from which to see the world true. Excellent.

[tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

hmm… not bad. i’d rate it a 3.5… or a 3.7… if i could out of 5.

i like the dif types of fonts and italics used. the play format is strong yet i don’t understand it quite yet… grasping the essence of play directing theater formats are not my strong suit. yay i finished this book wiwiwiiwo

[Jayant Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good disguise or disguises that needn’t an effort in being. These are such poems—they talk about things and talk about other things (sometimes disguised) at once. These are important—historically, and faith-wise.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Absolutely stunning.

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another masterpiece from McRae. He takes some big swings in this collection and they pay off. The final poem floored me. Read it out loud.

[RJ Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

oracle book. extremely interesting use of punctuation. 💞

[Risha Bigelow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read a book of poetry because April is National Poetry Month.

[Tryn Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review available in The Adroit Journal:

https://theadroitjournal.org/2021/04/...

[John Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is so much (in a good way). I really need to re-read it when I have more time to linger. And read his previous books as well.

[Carisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would give it six stars if I could.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and beautiful meditations on history, forgiveness, and redemption, through the narratives of his characters (fallen angel, mixed-race son of Jefferson Davis) in heaven.

[Benjamin Bartu · Rating 5 out of 5]

mccrae's books make me more considerate, thoughtful, deliberate, they make me weigh my history against my present and yeah there's just not a lot like this out there please read it

[gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lovely collection to read not once, but continue indulging & finding new meaning with each pickup. a shame i received it from the library.

[Bia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional.

[Sidddyyyy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was literally just words
Maybe it was just too much to ask of me when I’m reading before bed, with no brain energy

[Tyler Stitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never read anything quite like this. Modern poetry with the substance of a mythical, mystical story, but also familiar and deeply personal. The table of contents alone is worthy of extended reflection, as it hints at a chiastic unity. A total, spellbinding whole. Without giving anything away, the journey of the Hastily-Assembled Angel was a transformative experience. Must be read to be believed.

[Cooch · Rating 3 out of 5]

31/2 stars

I thought that this was a great idea, though it didn't fully work for me. It could be that I'm missing something. Perhaps I'm not the target audience.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written book of poetry. I think this would be a good read for poetry fans and non poetry fans alike.