My review;
First, a quote from a definition of the term Asylum as applicable to Jill Bialosky’s search for answers; “a place of retreat and security: a shelter from strife.”
The collected elements this renowned poet and essayist has included in this work intensely reveal her pain and agony as she searches for answers after her sister’s suicide. In her search for answers to her shock, disbelief, her denial and grief, she creates a canvas painted in “blood, dirt, leaves, tears, fog, sky, historical accounts of great suffering” and recent horrific events depicting a visual form in her reach for asylum, a sense of peace. It is a book of such force from the ugly to the sublime. I recommend this book to all who will read and reread passages, sometimes out loud to savor their strength, rhythm and true purpose in appearing in print; A quote from the NYT Book Review of ASYLUM, by Jill Bialosky. (Knopf, $27.) “Haunted by her sister’s suicide and by political and environmental collapse, Bialosky finds refuge in nature and language, all the ways the mind seeks / to keep itself from torture.”
“Reading Jill Bialosky’s poems feels like taking a slow and lone journey into the depth of the human heart, yet all the while being accompanied and guided by an intimate voice. “An urgent and expansive book, Asylum is a must-read for anyone who ponders over life and death and all that comes in between.”
I read this book during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we were all seeking answers and refuge from the unbelievable course of daily life. Grief, shock and the search for solace have been ongoing since those days as demonstrated by the vast number of essays, articles, documentaries and the methods of trying to cope offered daily in the world if news, books, film, psychology and self help and the road to a new future world for the human race.
If you wish to learn more about this poet, a search will offer a plethora of information. And as always, I seek your feedback, comments and recommendations for reading or viewing.