Fire to Fire

Fire to Fire cover
Good Books rating 4.5
Technical
  • ID: 411
  • Added: 2025-09-10
  • Updated: 2025-09-10
  • Reviews: 2
Reviews
thegreatramble.wordpress.com · Unknown · 2025-09-20
beautiful 4.50

Fire to Fire is a beautiful and intimate collection of poetry by Mark Doty, spanning 318 pages and covering themes of love, grief, and personal growth. The reviewer appreciates the depth and interconnectedness of the poems, which create a rich portrait of Doty's life and experiences.

Fire to Fire is a stunning collection of poetry that offers an intimate look into the life and emotions of Mark Doty. The reviewer finds the book beautiful and impactful, highlighting the way Doty's poems weave together to create a cohesive narrative. The collection spans various themes, including love, grief, and the devastation of AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s. The reviewer particularly appreciates the interconnectedness of the poems, which dialogue with each other and with the world, creating a rich tapestry of Doty's experiences. The length and depth of the poems make it a unique and immersive reading experience, one that the reviewer plans to revisit often.


Quick quotes

    The richness of these poems is their relation to each other, and their relation to Doty, and their relation to the world and the various subjects of his poetry.

    What I love about language is what I love about fog: what comes between us and things grants them their shine.

    Life is always blooming and freezing all at once.

capecodtimes.com · Unknown · 2008-04-27
insightful 4.50

Mark Doty's 'Fire to Fire' is a powerful retrospective of his poetry, showcasing his best work and new poems. The collection explores themes of beauty, loss, and human connection, with a strong sense of place and personal experience.

Mark Doty's 'Fire to Fire' is a compelling collection that brings together highlights from his previous works along with 23 new poems. The book is a retrospective that allows readers to discover a narrative thread through Doty's life and work. The poems delve into themes such as the nature of beauty, the experience of loss, and the transient nature of human existence. Doty's writing is deeply personal yet universal, resonating with readers through his exploration of these profound themes. The collection is arranged chronologically, starting with his newest work and moving through his previous collections, which allows for a cohesive reading experience. Doty's poems are not just descriptive but also push beyond the surface to ask deeper questions about why things matter. The title poem, 'Fire to Fire,' reflects the book's central theme of connection and the desire to respond to the beauty and spirit in the world around us.


Quick quotes

    The old words are dying, everyone forgets them, pages falling into sleep and dust, dust and sleep, burning so slowly you wouldn't even know there's a fire.

    I have joined a student theater group, an insurrection in the motherly gray capital battered by invasion and occupation - exhausted somnolence, dreary romance.

    You're saying to the world, this is how I want to be read, this is how I want to be seen, and those are hard decisions to make, but I'm reasonably happy with the product.