Milk and Honey (poetry collection)
| Author | Rupi Kaur |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | Rupi Kaur |
Publication date | 2014 |
| Publication place | Canada |
| Pages | 226 pp (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9781449496364 |
Milk and honey (stylized as milk and honey) is a collection of poetry and prose by Rupi Kaur. The collection is about survival and it is divided into four chapters, with each chapter serving a different purpose. The reader experiences violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. The book deals deals with the most bitter moments in life, but it tries to show that one can find sweetness in everything, if you are willing to look.
"Milk and Honey"was first published on November 4, 2014. This poetry collection was sold over 2.5 million times, and it was listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 77 weeks. it has been translated into 25 languages[1][2]
Themes
The book is divided into 4 chapters, that each represent a different theme. The first chapter, '"the hurting" is about the author's experience with sexual assault, abuse and struggles of family issues. It has been found to be difficult to read and it was compared to the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why.[3]
The next chapter called "the loving" brings upon a more positive feeling. The poems have been described to be sweet and they are supposed to remind couples of the good things in a relationship.[3]
"The breaking" brings the reader back to a dark place in the author's life. These poems relate to the sad feeling after a breakup, a "heartbreak", but are very realistic.[3]
The last chapter, "the healing" tries to comfort and show women that they should embrace who they are and that they are valuable, no matter what they had to endure.[3]
Style
This collection of poetry generally uses evocative and accessible language and Kaur jumps between first-person and second-person pronouns in her free-form poems. She breaks conventional rules of traditional poetry, as she chose to honor her mother tongue Punjabi. This language only writes with lower-case letters, hence the grammar and punctuation mistakes. Her style is very direct, which enables the reader to develop a personal relationship with the author.[4]
Analysis
The reason Rupi Kaur's poetry has had such a major success, is because it does not need a heavy analysis. Kaur describes her poems as easy and simple, and many people are not used to that. She is changing people's look on poetry, because, similar to a rapper, she tells it how it is.
Critical Reception
Contents
- the hurting
- the loving
- the breaking
- the healing
References
- ^ Roy, Nilanjana (23 Feb 2018). "Voices of the new 'Instagram poets': Love them or hate them, thy hold the stage". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 Dec 2018.
- ^ Mzezewa, Tariro (5 Oct 2017). "Rupi Kaur Is Kicking Down the Doors of Publishing". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 Dec 2018.
- ^ a b c d Tiede, Jessica (April 2017). "Book Review: Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur". Her Campus at University of Washington.
- ^ Singh, Simran (May 2018). "Review of Rupi Kaur's 'Milk and Honey'". owlcation.