Milk and Honey (stylized in all lowercase) is a collection of poetry and prose by Rupi Kaur. The collection is about survival. It is divided into four sections, with each section serving a different purpose and relevance to Kaur’s experience. The sections explore the themes of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. They are titled:
the hurting the loving the breaking the healingKaur’s writing style stems from her cultural background and desire to be accessible to the audience. However, her style and intentions have also been a target of negative controversies and rumors.Milk and Honey was published on November 4, 2014. This poetry collection was sold over 3 million times. As of June 7, 2020, it has been listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for 165 weeks.Kaur has a large following on social media. Critics have called Kaur's work Instapoetry; "Instapoets" are poets who have risen to …
Milk and Honey (stylized in all lowercase) is a collection of poetry and prose by Rupi Kaur. The collection is about survival. It is divided into four sections, with each section serving a different purpose and relevance to Kaur’s experience. The sections explore the themes of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. They are titled:
the hurting the loving the breaking the healingKaur’s writing style stems from her cultural background and desire to be accessible to the audience. However, her style and intentions have also been a target of negative controversies and rumors.Milk and Honey was published on November 4, 2014. This poetry collection was sold over 3 million times. As of June 7, 2020, it has been listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for 165 weeks.Kaur has a large following on social media. Critics have called Kaur's work Instapoetry; "Instapoets" are poets who have risen to fame by using social media to leverage their work.
If you want to read sad yet beautiful poetry that brings out the emotion in you, try "Essential Rumi" by Coleman Barks.
🌻Some thoughts on Rupi Kaur🌻
So I just finished both of Kaur's books (Milk and Honey; The Sun and Her Flowers).
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Overall, I'm just unimpressed with her work and don’t understand a lot of the hype surrounding her books-- which I'm sure people would gasp at. But the thing is, this doesn't feel like poetry, and I'll tell you why.
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This is supposed to be poetry and not prose, but it seems to be only classified as poetry because of the rhythm and enjambment. And that, to me, isn't enough to make it poetry (on paper that is-- performed this would be very effective content).
To me it seems that when you decide to write poetry, you're sacrificing the telling and replacing it with the showing, if that makes sense. And Kaur wants to have her cake and eat it too, that is, have the rhythm of poetry …
🌻Some thoughts on Rupi Kaur🌻
So I just finished both of Kaur's books (Milk and Honey; The Sun and Her Flowers).
•
Overall, I'm just unimpressed with her work and don’t understand a lot of the hype surrounding her books-- which I'm sure people would gasp at. But the thing is, this doesn't feel like poetry, and I'll tell you why.
•
This is supposed to be poetry and not prose, but it seems to be only classified as poetry because of the rhythm and enjambment. And that, to me, isn't enough to make it poetry (on paper that is-- performed this would be very effective content).
To me it seems that when you decide to write poetry, you're sacrificing the telling and replacing it with the showing, if that makes sense. And Kaur wants to have her cake and eat it too, that is, have the rhythm of poetry without having to use the concrete images that I think poetry requires.
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That's not to say that her content isn't valid or "good," but if I were to ask someone who their favorite poet was and they were to reply with Rupi Kaur, I would give some more suggestions and hope that they don't think Kaur is the be all end all of contemporary poetry.
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And don't get me wrong, there are contemporary poets who miss the mark completely to me for being TOO abstract with their concrete images to the point where I'm just lost and expecting someone to be like "Well that's the POINT. You're supposed to feel lost. The author wants to convey the feeling of being lost."
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Kaur, to reiterate my point, actually HAS to plop in concrete images every 20 or so lines because she runs the risk of losing her reader in her, albeit hypnotic, pep-talky rant. Her hyper-enjambed style compels one to just ZOOM through her books, with the occasional concrete image there to slow you back down.
Gripping collection of poetry exploring neglect, abuse, loneliness, love, and oneself.
I enjoyed her writing and how the poems captured different emotions and experiences in her life. Some of the poems were very telling of her young age and the angst of that time. Still, there were some poems that really touched a nerve and reawakened certain feelings that I could have gone a lifetime without feeling again.
