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Product Description
Where singer-songwriter Ryan Adams' critically acclaimed first book Infinity Blues was characterised by the bitterness of heartbreak, this is a graceful, sensual assertion of the other side of the emotional coin. This is a fever dream - inside his heart and mind - replete with unforgettable verse that will shock and delight readers. Hello Sunshine will establish without a doubt that he is as eloquent and evocative with a typewriter as he is with his guitar and microphone.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ryan Adams is probably my favourite artist. He is a superb songwriter who is able to absorb influences from all genres and produce something unique but with a flavour of all those influences that he has absorbed. I bought this and his other book and because I thought they would have the same poetic beauty that his songs possess. How wrong I was. I found both books totally unreadable. They appeared to me as if he had cut a load of words out of a newspaper, thrown them in the air and then assembled them in to a line and printed it in a book. I just found it impossible to persevere with. I have tried dipping in and out throughout the books but they just do nothing for me. Sorry Ryan. Stick to what you do best and that's writing and performing beautiful music.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I must admit, when I bought both IB and HS, I was not very well educated in poetry; and inevitably, that threw me off both collections almost immediately.
Developing patience and a knowledge for literature, I returned to these poems. I'll put that down to watching a discussion between the poet himself and actress Mary Louise Parker at the NY Public Library (check it out, if you haven't, think it's available to download on the NYPL website).
I should say, if you are new to the man's art, try Infinity Blues first. This will help you familiarise with his writing style, and his (often absurd) imagery. If you have the patience to work your way through the first book, picking up Hello Sunshine should not present itself as a challenge, and in fact, you might be surprised by the much more mature writing.
Having said that, the poems in Hello Sunshine are still some of the most off-the-cuff free verse poems you may ever read, but taking them slowly and reading them over and over may do wonders.
In the NYPL discussion on poetry, the two quoted poet Mark Strand to have said something along the lines of, "You don't have to necessarily 'get' a poem straight away... you should let it wash over you." And never could a quote be more true of a collection of poetry.
The first poem that I heard/read from this collection was 'White Diamond'. At first, I dismissed it as simply a series of words slung together in a rhythmic pattern. Then I re-read it, listened to him read it at the NYPL discussion, and eventually, I got it. The lines "staring blankly into screens", "unaware of how pretty it is to be out walking in all these amazing places" and "we always loved each other this much, before the screens went on" all seem' to point towards it being about technology taking over, and our emotions being numbed by this 'unhappy voice' that seems to surround us now.
And what a message that was...
So on initial reading, this may seem 'half-hearted', and perhaps some of it is; but if you familiarise yourself with free verse poetry (perhaps read some E.E. Cummings), then eventually, the imagery might decode itself.
Re-read, re-read, re-assess. And perhaps the reward might be worth it.
Developing patience and a knowledge for literature, I returned to these poems. I'll put that down to watching a discussion between the poet himself and actress Mary Louise Parker at the NY Public Library (check it out, if you haven't, think it's available to download on the NYPL website).
I should say, if you are new to the man's art, try Infinity Blues first. This will help you familiarise with his writing style, and his (often absurd) imagery. If you have the patience to work your way through the first book, picking up Hello Sunshine should not present itself as a challenge, and in fact, you might be surprised by the much more mature writing.
Having said that, the poems in Hello Sunshine are still some of the most off-the-cuff free verse poems you may ever read, but taking them slowly and reading them over and over may do wonders.
In the NYPL discussion on poetry, the two quoted poet Mark Strand to have said something along the lines of, "You don't have to necessarily 'get' a poem straight away... you should let it wash over you." And never could a quote be more true of a collection of poetry.
The first poem that I heard/read from this collection was 'White Diamond'. At first, I dismissed it as simply a series of words slung together in a rhythmic pattern. Then I re-read it, listened to him read it at the NYPL discussion, and eventually, I got it. The lines "staring blankly into screens", "unaware of how pretty it is to be out walking in all these amazing places" and "we always loved each other this much, before the screens went on" all seem' to point towards it being about technology taking over, and our emotions being numbed by this 'unhappy voice' that seems to surround us now.
And what a message that was...
So on initial reading, this may seem 'half-hearted', and perhaps some of it is; but if you familiarise yourself with free verse poetry (perhaps read some E.E. Cummings), then eventually, the imagery might decode itself.
Re-read, re-read, re-assess. And perhaps the reward might be worth it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Reviews from actors = Red flag
7 July 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If I were to sit down, drink a fifth, let it sink in until my handwriting was almost completely illegible, then I would start writing things that sounded like what is found in this book.
Of course, I suppose I could avoid the alcohol altogether and, instead, cut and past lines from "The OC" and then break them up into one- or two-word lines.
I am glad there is one more poetry book in the poetry section, and I'm ecstatic if Mr. Adams' poetry turns on a few folks that had previously written off or never considered poetry. I also think it's great that a singer/songwriter cares enough about literature to write a book of poetry.
However, what bothers me is that any poet who is not already established as an actor/singer/anchorperson/political figure/Oprah guest that writes poetry like this would never get one, let alone two, books of poetry published in one year. This is not groundbreaking, this is not exploratory - this was published not because of literary merit, but star power. As a book of poetry, it is better than a high schooler could do, but at times incoherent and at other times repetitive and at other times a diary entry.
But hey, if I can buy it on Amazon for less than ten bucks (including S&H), it's worth it. You can't read the Norton Anthology every day.
Of course, I suppose I could avoid the alcohol altogether and, instead, cut and past lines from "The OC" and then break them up into one- or two-word lines.
I am glad there is one more poetry book in the poetry section, and I'm ecstatic if Mr. Adams' poetry turns on a few folks that had previously written off or never considered poetry. I also think it's great that a singer/songwriter cares enough about literature to write a book of poetry.
However, what bothers me is that any poet who is not already established as an actor/singer/anchorperson/political figure/Oprah guest that writes poetry like this would never get one, let alone two, books of poetry published in one year. This is not groundbreaking, this is not exploratory - this was published not because of literary merit, but star power. As a book of poetry, it is better than a high schooler could do, but at times incoherent and at other times repetitive and at other times a diary entry.
But hey, if I can buy it on Amazon for less than ten bucks (including S&H), it's worth it. You can't read the Norton Anthology every day.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
it's alright
6 Dec 2010
Format:Paperback
I am a fan of Ryan Adams, but these two books don't compare to his music. I read Infinity Blues and Hello Sunshine from the library. Hello Sunshine is the same style as you get in Infinity Blues.People are correct in saying that these are basically journal entries. It's like listening to someone talk to themselves, it's incoherent, confusing, and only the person saying it knows what they're talking about, but the reader doesn't often get much of an idea of what its about. I found it a bit too abstract. There were a handful of poems in each book that I liked and were interesting to me, I enjoyed reading it, though not as soul stirring as his music. I'm sure fans will get more out of it, it's interesting to see another side of him through something other than his music, and I'd be willing to read another book if he wrote one.
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