The World is God's Language is full of beautiful thought provoking prose that any poetry lover would enjoy. I could not put this book down!

This book was sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However, all opinions are of my own.
This read more to me like short stories instead of poems, they were long and descriptive.
Many were filled with a sexual nature, however, this made me feel somewhat uncomfortable and I felt they should not have been made into poetry.
I understand the author has tried to put together a collection of poems but it felt unnecessary.

Several last sentence of these prose poems are beautiful. "[...] this sweet doubt, the way it lingers over every happiness.", "[...] the shape of loss, its sweet curve.", and poetic. But for the most part this reads like a disjointed, attempt at a autobiography lacking poetry. And more than anything, I think he should give this style up and write a book, even short stories. What's here is unfulfilled and longing to be explored, it never satisfies. It's also, for this reason, too long. You're basically thrown the thesis of a story over and over again, and it's hard to grasp any of it or enjoy it because nothing concludes. You read something you like then it's suddenly over and you're thrust into another story that starts nowhere and goes nowhere. Very few satisfy (Broken Desire, The Dreams of Antelope, etc) and so I too was left unsatisfied. The writing is great, the format is bad.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sixteen Rivers Press for the opportunity to read this and provide my honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4158264898?book_show_action=false

My rating for this is 3.5 stars, to be exact.

This is a book of prose poetry, which to me read more like the latter than the former. There are some truly thought-provoking and emotion-evoking pieces, but it's not a general feature. I also liked the second half of the book better because it seemed more substantial?

I don't really have a lot to say about this beyond that - the author is a good writer but this book may have benefited from being shorter.

Each prose poem is a moment - an experience, a feeling, an understanding - so brevity is at the heart of this collection but that isn't at the expense of depth or meaning.
Often wry and insightful, crossing a number of themes from Trump to the environment, I enjoyed reading this collection. I particularly liked The Embrace and Union which were beautiful, musical pieces.
Thank you to the poet and publisher for an advanced copy.
3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Sixteen Rivers Press for the copy!

The collection reads more like a collection of short life stories than a collection of poems/haikus. It was a nice read all in all and the stories were refreshing and interesting.

This book has some really nice pieces in it. I think you could use elements of it in worship to create beautiful moments and experiences. I also think you could read these to grow deeper or more creative in your theology and understanding of the world and the flexibility of language.

This reads to me like 75 to 100 short stories instead of poems. They appear to be mostly about the author's experiences, but I am not sure they should be classified as poetry. Many of the poems are just too sexual in nature for me, but I did enjoy some of them, especially "Angels," "The Unseen," and "Dreams of Antelope."

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

If you are looking for a non traditional book of poetry that may not fit your preconceived ideas of poetry then this is definitely a book for you to check out. This book was a interesting book for me to read. It took me quite a few chapters for me to get immersed in the book and the stories that the author was telling. I am more of a traditional iambic poetry reader, but the stories and ideas that Dane put into their work is really interesting. I did end up enjoying the book overall and I give it 3/5 stars.



3 out of 5 stars

Dane Cervine shares thoughtful and inventive examples of the prose poetry form. There is much to enjoy in The World Is God’s Language.

this collection seems to feature mostly vignettes of the author's life and his travels. although the first few poems about his childhood were compelling, i quickly found myself tired by the meandering and referential prose. i struggled to finish the collection, the prose felt bloated and the poetic language more there to be ornemental and obscure the meaning rather than enhancing it. all of the vignettes didn't really add up to anything for me and i felt uncomfortable about the way the author wrote about other cultures, in a way reminiscent of the "white gaze". the travel diary tone of it reminded me of gauguin's writings and the worst parts of kerouac's on the road.
overall it wasn't a badly written collection, but it's not for me.

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review