From Upstream to Downhill Really Fast!

Posted On February 12, 2023

Hi Readers! Finished my third book of the month. You know how I am a hard-core fiction reader? Well, I think I forgot and tried to venture into something new. It was a truly surreal experience. I had read only one of Mary Oliver’s poetry books before and I had not enjoyed it all. Now that I read these selected essays, I am pretty sure, I did not understand the poetry to appreciate or criticize it. Reading Upstream was a different experience altogether.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

Comprising a selection of essays, Upstream finds beloved poet Mary Oliver reflecting on her astonishment and admiration for the natural world and the craft of writing.  

As she contemplates the pleasure of artistic labor, finding solace and safety within the woods, and the joyful and rhythmic beating of wings, Oliver intimately shares with her readers her quiet discoveries, boundless curiosity, and exuberance for the grandeur of our world. 

This radiant collection of her work, with some pieces published here for the first time, reaffirms Oliver as a passionate and prolific observer whose thoughtful meditations on spiders, writing a poem, blue fin tuna, and Ralph Waldo Emerson inspire us all to discover wonder and awe in life’s smallest corners.

~~THOUGHTS~~

When I started reading the book, I was fascinated by the ingenious beauty of the writing. The first section was about nature yet also about life. The vivid writing implores you to go on a journey of self-exploration. It’s like watching the nature in slow motion through the pages but also ironically feels like you are actually there and not just reading about it. Be it the flowers that dance with the wind or the stream that glides gracefully or the springtime trees that emote wondrously. It is all such a treasure to read and behold. Every chapter in the first section is a masterpiece and then to end it with ‘Of Power and Time’ in which she is relentlessly truthful is simply otherworldly.

Then comes Section Two, reading which you will feel that its leaps and bounds different than the first one. This is more directly about nature wherein she talks about fish, birds, turtles and so forth. This one was the hardest to read with one bizarre story after the other. It took me the longest time to read through this part.

Section Three, simply put, was Mary Oliver reviewing her favorite authors and poets’ works and quoting a few of their lines once in a while to fill the pages. Because the writing style was academic and insightful, I enjoyed a few of the chapters, but I am not a person who reads Classics so I had no idea about the prose or the second, third and fourth level meanings behind those prose.

After reading two not-so-great sections, I was prepared to just read through the rest in an afternoon, which I did. But, Section Four made somewhat of an average comeback. This part was again about nature, but not in the gross manner as section two was. In this one, we actually read stories of spiders, crickets, birds, owls & bears. This actually was thought provoking and though these were nature stories, they were also about observation, patience, learning, perseverance and aging.

Lastly, I have not much of a comment on Section Five. It was not long enough to have any kind of impact.

To summarize, I think that when you are an established prominent poet and author, you really do get the freedom to right whatever the hell you want, because readers will always find their own meanings from the twisted stories, rambling essays and pointless information. When I read the first section, I thought this would be a five star read, but alas. I should perhaps read Blue Iris, from where Upstream was selected. Anyway, I had my ups and downs with this book, in the extreme with high highs and low lows. I have rated Upstream by Mary Oliver at 3.5/5 stars!

Until next time,