I definitely agree that the poetry in this book is lazy. However, the thing about people writing in a language that isn't their first language, especially English, is that using creoles and dialects and other "incorrect" forms of English can be a form of resistance against white supremacist and colonialist systems. It can be a way of carving out space for your culture. Cathy Park Hong's Dance Dance Revolution is an amazing poetry collection that touches on this idea if you're interested.
Oh I completely agree that it can be done well and with purpose like you say! I’m a huge fan of when someone like Grace Nichols or John Agard use their dialects in writing because it’s always with a purpose! They are using language as a tool to create art and send a real message. To me it doesn’t matter at all that it’s not standard English, it matters that they have mastery over the language they’re using to create something powerful. Mixing languages and dialects in poetry and purposefully showing mistakes can also be incredibly powerful if you’re trying to portray a message about being bilingual or living in a world where you don’t speak your language day to day. Sadly none of this is done in this book and I’m just very confused as to what the point in anything was. :(
@@desperadox7565 "I don't like poetry for the sake of a political agenda." Would you say the same for say, the political poems of Greek lyric poets, or Wordsworth's sonnets on liberty, or much of William Blake's poetry? How about the Aeneid? Ask yourself that. I would venture to guess that you do not dislike *those* examples because of their political content. So why would you disregard modern poetry for its political content? Poetry has been used since the beginnings of language for political purposes. All art has. There is no escaping that. Whilst not all art must be political, it would be a dull world if none of it was.
@@flashmanfred What I think Desperadox meant was that writing about a political topic does not automatically make the final piece a good poem; yes, there are amazing, timeless poems that are undoubtedly political, but there are just as many bad, ham-fisted or misinformed poems on those same topics.
As someone who's spent 5+years reading sanskrit poetry through school and university in India... I can safely say that thats not anywhere close,if that's what he was attempting. Sanskrit poetry is filled with smilies and dual meaning words. Most of it relies heavily on that. The language itself has 3 different meanings for 1 word, plenty of homonyms. So there's a lot of wordplay. And figures of speech,.. Oh gods... You'll be sick of the amount of figures of speech tbh xD (Same applies with poetry in other Indian languages) Looking forward to your next poetry review, Rachel!
Wow, Sanskrit poetry sounds fascinating, though it seems like it would be harder to translate. Still I think I might look up a few later. Do you have any good suggestions?
"it's not jokes, that's why it's not done in the context of jokes. But it's a joke, so you can't be mad. My profile used to say Nick Foster jokes, so it's a joke, but it's not now. It's a joke guys." -Nick Foster
"it wasn't meant to be a poem, but i appreciate your feedback" man i wish i had even one ounce of this man's sheer unadulterated confidence. perhaps his response was a form of art itself. the ultimate expression of poetry. king shit.
honestly, it should’ve just been marketed as a book of helpful reminders for people in a bad place or something. this could all be excusable if it wasn’t masquerading as poetry, something it clearly isn’t.
She's being critical of poetry that is a book you have to pay money to read. If you just send her free poetry, I think she may be a bit more forgiving :) (Though I don't speak for her.)
I don't agree with you there, even small things can help people out of dark places. That said, the book was even a bit more competently written, it might help people and leave them with a specific message.
Got the notification and had to come on here so I could immediately say that your outfit is stunning. And with the hair? Honestly. The whole thing is an absolute look.
Also the cover of his book is stolen from an independent artist! Her name is Siobahn O'Dwyer and she's absolutely fantastic. But she did this specific piece for a collab with a company called "Paper Gang". COMPLETELY STOLEN!!!! Disgusting
I wouldn't give him the benefit of doubt because in India, English is taught almost from the first day of school and thus being mediocre in English or not following grammar even after attending a University is just plain incompetence.
@@kayhaven4710 I hope all countries would focus on language learning, being bilingual really opens your eyes and mind to so much more, literature, education and even pop culture!
It's the same in my country (Bangladesh), English is taught since the first day of school, but even as someone who is reading in English medium, I have an awfully lot of classmates who are still really bad in English (we're in 11th grade). However, I think it's not just the students' incompetence, but also of the education system, and the way English is taught to us, which is not very effective I would say. Those who can catch the system well become better English speakers than half of America themselves, while those who can't just stay where they were back in like 4th grade.
I took part in an exchange trip between our school, a partner school and a German school, and it was easy to tell which students were German and which were English, because the Germans all spoke perfect English. It was a bit embarrassing, really. "Est-ce que la ristorante esta loin da aqui, para favor? Sollen wir taxi rufen, au nous peut la marcher?"
Same here in Nepal. English and Nepali go hand in hand in school (with Hindi from cartoons). All of our subjects aside from Nepali are taught in English. That being said, people are not really perfect in English. As the person from Bangladesh said, if they grasp it, they’re better than half of the US and if they don’t, broken English all the way.
This video reminds me of something Krimson Rogue once said in his review for the Titus Uno book with the long title I won’t repeat: “Every time I say there can’t be a worse book out there, the universe takes that as a challenge!” You’re a saint for putting up with such literary torture, Rachel. Thanks for warning us about this “poetry”.
Dhiman: "Rachel, I'm gonna have to ask you to get alllllllllllllllll the way off my back about the deep fake poetry thing..." Rachel: "Sorry. I am not gettin' off of that thing. Nope."
It’s so easy to make arrows with text! Even if you can’t use special character/text for formatting reasons you can still use a couple dashes to turn > into -> , or add an extra > to make > into >> to make it read less like an equation! I knew how to do that when I was eight, this pretentious wilted douche has no excuse. Also hi Rachel, great video as always :) seeing you in my sub box always makes my day ten times better!
As someone whose depression leaves me immune to cute little uplifting platitudes, this book is rendered meaningless to me. Just from the few poems you've shown, I can tell that I would be very, very bored. To Half Price Books!
the colonizers left way too much of their legacy behind. You can't call the English language the second language for educated people in India. The best schools don't even teach Hindi(our native language) so his grammatical errors are pretty much him being careless.
Yep. India and Pakistan both have more English speakers than the UK. Plus I've noticed that people who speak English fluently after learning it as a second language are actually more aware of grammar rules.
@@mrdunnepoetryreallifetvuk1934 That's just untrue. It's English or Mandarin (depending if you're just looking at native languages or if you're counting second languages). And then Spanish and Arabic are up there. I'd say French is maybe fifth or sixth. 🙂
English is not my first language either. Even though I’m no expert, I’d say I wrote more complex and thought provoking poetry in English ( for myself, in private, never intending to show it to people), than what this guy sells for actual money . Also, that outfit is amazing 🤩
English isn't my first language either, although I'm more competent in writing English than German simply because I grew up in Canada. And I can tell you without bragging that writing better poetry than this loon is one of the easiest tasks ever. Like, even something without any depth like: "The child looked left The child looked right The child looked left The child crossed the street" Is way better. And I literally just described how to cross the street with repetition. Wow. Such poem, much award.
@@Nerobyrne Agreed. Blows my mind he sells this and even worse, some people pay for it when they could get something of value if they paid for a book that doesn’t feel and look like an inspirational instagram feed.
@@allegedlyni6939 I've literally read deeper quotes from Inspirobot, an AI designed to create inspirational messages. Some are actually surprisingly on point with current niche cultural trends. I think my favourite that I've seen so far was a photo of a pregnant woman's belly with the sentence: "Men are great" next to it.
@@Nerobyrne Continuation game? The child looked left; The child looked right; The child looked left; The child crossed the street. The child looked left; The child looked right; The child stepped in The puddle with both feet.
Right? I’m quite sure he meant to write something about how you first feel discomfort when you try to heal from something, then you accept that the thing you are healing from happened and then you grow from that incidence and that growth eventually leads to you being healed. But, if you try to use mathematical signs, and use it incorrectly, it becomes real stupid real fast.
I love writing poetry My first poem was about tyranny and revolution inspired by Pink Floyd's "Animals" album where it portrays different social classes as animals and I wondered why there was no rooster . so I scribbled up a poem about people in power like kings or presidents who get arrogant and corrupt and they were symbolized by roosters and chickens Also THE SHIP
I'm a 17 year old Indian girl and I promise you luv that when I write my first poetry book I'll make you beam with pride because you're basically my tutor🥺🥰
This is a little something I wrote in 5 mins a few months ago, it's very unedited and rough rn but I hope you enjoy it 🥺 Have you seen a dying fire? As it breathes its last in a whiff of smoke A spark ignites, a flame comes alive And dances till it can't anymore Dances till it's breath runs out I wonder where it hides it's lungs Its heart, does it have one? They burn cigarettes, I prefer incense For the trance of nothingness To get a high through every inhale But in the end we are all searching for the same thing
Every time I see poetry collections of this kind being sold to people, with little to no creative effort, I tell myself I should self-publish my poems too! But then... what if Rachel finds it? Lol
"Think positive thoughts!" "Hardships can also be opportunities for growth!" Wow. Much very deep wordings. I'm sure he's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people like him!
I learned sanskrit in school and even though i had a hard time deciphering poems in school, they often had really interesting imagery and unique metaphors, it's a shame he couldn't be more creative about them
Atticus, Beau Taplin, RH Sin, would love your perspective on these guys. So much they out doesn't feel swoon worthy to me and yet ovaries are bursting internationally it seems.
Seconded! I haven’t read Taplin but I have read a book each from the other two and had to DNF both because I’ve never felt more like I’m just wasting my time. When a hallmark greeting card is more fulfilling and worth its price than your work, you have failed in my book.
I've read one RH Sin book and he basically wrote one poem, put it through a word jumble, and wrote the same poem, but like fifty pages further in. I can't believe that gets published but I'm struggling
why should writing poetry in a second languague take you off the hook for anything? if youre confident enough to publish it you basically enter the arena and should be judged accordingly
WIDOWER Long shadows on a cold winter’s day are hiding the cracks of an ageing pavement. Pathways of life now filled with unwanted weeds have choked the beautiful blooms of a lonely soul… my days are bleeding. The gardener is sleeping, her tender heart with gentle hands that once kept my land free from thistles is now preparing my pastures in heaven high … …the sky cried.
The cover reminds me of that one time my mom bought something she thought was a wool coat, which turned out to be a piece of very cheap stinky fabric with a blurry picture of wool texture printed on it.
I've been writing poems in English for the past 5 years, it's not my first language, and I don't think it being your second language is an excuse for writing bad poetry. I know this sounds harsh, but I see so many people who choose to write in English and they don't put in the work to make it good. I've seen people self-publish and sell books full of grammatical errors and incorrect sentence structure and it frustrates me. When you write in a language that's not your mother tongue, it's especially important to edit very thoroughly and get beta readers who are fluent in English.
I swear to god every single video like this have the same unoriginal, unthoughtful poems in them The red apple is on the counter The red apple is in my mouth There is no more red apple Like, the fuck, dude??
I feel like a lot of male writers are very rarely challenged on the quality of their writing. I don't have any evidence of this but my point is like THANK YOU FOR CRITIQUING MALE POETS TOO!! XD
Would’ve been hilarious if you’d been like “here’s how he could’ve explored this theme better?” And shown something like a Gabby Hannah “poem”. As in “this is still utterly horrible, but better than what we have here” I’m so sorry you read that book. I can only imagine it feels like wasted hours that you’ll never be able to get back or compensate for.
There is a definite pattern with this kind of poetry. The authors almost always speak in the second person. The use of form (sestina, villanelle, triolet, sonett) is nonexistent. Poetry is nothing more than a transfer of emotion which is achieved through figurative language. The world at large triggers emotion in the poet who then uses poetics to transfer that emotion to the reader. When the author simply tells the reader how they should think and feel the poem becomes shallow. The deepest water in the ocean of literature is poetry. There are many poets operating today who seem to have overlooked this. The question then becomes why?
I don’t think it’s fair to make the leap from ‘his prose sucks’ to ‘he’s ESOL’ and then analyzing his name for a possible ethnic background. It feels. Idk skeezy. If I write a shit book id rather ppl call me a shit writer than blame it on my being Hispanic and having a bad grasp of English. He tried something and it failed. Judge what’s on the page, don’t speculate about it being possibly an homage to Sanskrit because his pen name is Dhiman.
I talked to my mom about this - we’re both bilingual - and I have to say Rachel the leaps of logic you make in this video don’t come across well at all.
She could’ve been trying to make it make sense. If I was reviewing a poetry in my language written by someone whose language and style of poetry I didn’t know, I’d try to research on it as well in case they were trying to write it in their style. But, that doesn’t mean he gets to get off the hook for writing shitty stuff.
When I reviewed Rupi Kaur's book people said I didn't take into account her background and the type of poetry she was trying to emulate enough, so I tried to correct that in this video but now it's not ok? I'm really confused about what people want from me. It's like I can't do anything right. Should I try and understand a poet's background and influences or not?
@@RachelOates I see what you were going for, I guess what rubbed me the wrong way was that in the video you state you don’t know Dhiman’s background and are instead guessing based on his name. Making the leap that someone’s first language isn’t English because they have a foreign name and write bad poetry came across as a bit xenophobic. There’s a difference when an author is open about their inspiration and background. The fact is, Dhiman might not be Indian. He might have grown up speaking English at home. He might be fully fluent. He’s still a bad poet and banal as hell, but I actually bought the book and nothing in it read to me, someone who has taken classes on how to work with non-fluent English speakers, as broken or rudimentary English. It just read like really dull or bad poetry. I guess my point is that while it’s important to understand a poet’s influences, if you don’t know where they’re from, don’t speculate because you may be wrong and when you make assumptions like this, people might get confused as to the reasons behind why your making these leaps of logic. I’ve been a fan for a few years now and I know you don’t ever come from a place of hate, and I’m sorry if my comments have distressed you. It’s very hard to modulate tone through this medium and I hope I made sense.
Sometimes I watch videos of bad reviews of books, and I feel bad watching them... Because... We are judging these artists and picking on super small details, and we don't know if these videos are helping anything. I think it's not. I see a lot of people commenting on how they are scared to write poetry after watching these reviews, because they are not good enough. I agree. I write poetry everyday. And, before watching these videos, I would get deeply in touch with my perceptions... but now, after watching a lot reviews on trashing poetry and trashing writers, I'm mostly erasing what I have written. I feel like every verse of mine is an absurd mistake. Or worse, mediocre. And I should be ashamed. And in this era of chatgpt and midjourney, calling poetry the worst book, or lazy, looks like a nail in the coffin. Even worse, people are reading less and less. And the youtube book community makes bad reviews for entertainment. It's a whole genre. Can you imagine a whole video attacking a painting? Or attacking a painter? That's why the art community tends to be healthier than the book community. I feel bad watching these videos because, we are killing future writers. I really like Rachel. She is so well-spoken. I really love the coziness of her videos. But I'd love if her videos were a celebration... even of bad poetry. Because even bad poetry are made of gold. They are human expression, even if short, or lacking, it's still the human voice from a time and place. And what is bad poetry? What is bad art? I used to dislike Rothko with a passion. Now, on my 30's I adore him. And I regret ever bad mouthing his art. I don't know... I see a lot of reviewers burying the book alive and, when they get a bad response from the author, they get offended. And people go after the author, as if they should accept every bad criticism ever made on the internet. But people don't realise that authors get bad criticism everyday, in every possible way. The most famous, the harsher. In time, bad criticism hinders you from creating. It's not constructive. It's destructive. Art is made from fragments of our souls. Cristicism only works on technicalities, but technicality is a process. Artists create throughout their whole life, as they learn how to be more technical. A poet is not born. A poet grows within the initial desire to write. But a large amount of criticism can hurt phisically. So, it worries me. Is it fair to create an entertainment from the 'lacking' or the 'badness' of an artists? Are we good evaluators? I used to think Rothko was bad. Rachel has a beautiful channel and I'm thankful for her creations. But I'd like to propose videos of celebration. Especially in front of AI taking over.
I am sooo happy i found this video!! I decided to try some poetry (inspired by your enthusiasm for the form) and i went to the Amazon top 10 list assuming it would be a trustworthy source. I ended up with this book and was feeling really down that i was so bad at reading poetry that I didn't understand this super popular book. Now i feel a lot better
For me, good poetry sticks in your mind because it makes you see normal concepts in an abnormal way, or contains lines that stick in your mouth because of the language play. You want to say them over and over again. This book feels like hallmark cards.
I can't believe that I was always sooo fucking anxious about showing my poetry to the world that I spend 6 years slowly bringing myself to even post something on a stupid Instagram and then there are poeple like this who are selling their own shits and don't feel (surprisingly enough) ashamed of it and on top of that (more surprisingly enough) have actual profit from it and (most surpisingly enough) earn good reviews. Seriously, what is wrong with this world?
Looked up "Dhiman" and it's "a Boy/Male baby name and origin is Buddhist, Indian, Sanskrit. Dhiman, Boy/Male means: Knowledgeable; Wise." Tried the translation page, and it recognised it as Somali for "Die!" Yeesh. Told it to go from Hindi, and it comes up with a sound somewhere between "Deemaan" and "Diimaan."
8:42 Rachel, you're not understanding. These aren't poems, these are calculus equations. Completely understandable that he calls himself a poet, he's a poetcalculator, carefully crafting generic sentences into poems that are as in depth as a blank piece of paper.
I love your style, every video you have on some wonderful looking clothes and I really like your critiques as well. They’re very informative and interesting
THIS GUY GIVES ME GABBIE HANNA VIBES!! he's SOOOO defensive, can't take criticism, and when you criticize his work he says it's because you "don't understand" lol
this has nothing to do with the video but I’m just curious: what do you do with shitty books like these after you’re done with reviewing them? do you keep them on a shelf of shame, or give them away, or idk? you do so many of these videos that i wonder about this sometimes 😂 thank you for the amazing video as usual!!
@@CipherDorito that would make sense (although I pity the people who’d end up buying and reading them, but I guess someone out there is bound to like it!)
Just started the video but have to comment that I love this outfit 😍 Edit: I completely agree. I found his Instagram and basically his profile is his whole book lol interestingly enough, he has a very strong and dedicated following.
I would say the sales on Amazon of this poetry book are largely down to the cover design. Yes, I know... all a bit shallow... especially when the cover is more important than what is inside, but way too many people are attracted by striking or pretty book covers. Images of flowers, blue sky and words that infer you, or a specific subject 'matters' are extremely powerful at drawing attention... that cover contains all three of those elements! Once a book is purchased it's a sale regardless of any Amazon feedback... so it moves up the success list to number eight. More authors should take advantage of that than they do!! The content comes across more as quotes to me, like those uninspiring endless quotes you find on social media. But strangely, a lot of minds seem to connect to those dull obvious statements. I have heard it said that the majority of society are not bright, but I've not counted myself... it's too vast! But if it is true, it makes a lot of sense to the popularity of low grade thinking when it comes to books, films, art and music. Which might explain why the deeper thinking creators often fail to gain success or take many years to be discovered. Vincent van Gogh would be a good example of that. I would be a little cautious on criticism of Amazon reviews, unless they don't make any coherent sense... for two reasons... 1) If it genuinely meant something to the reader, even if we find it empty of inspiration, how can any of us question what it meant to someone else? 2) Some reviews are not genuine... possibly paid for by the author... in which case, they are meaningless.
i would almost think this book would be better suited as like a collection of affirmations to make you feel great or little tips to acceptance because at least that’s closer than calling it poetry...
This wouldn't bother me except for the fact that it reads more like a scam because it's being sold as a work of poetry..of which it is not..and the author is profiting from a work which seems not to be created in earnest.
Sometimes I wonder if 'poets' like this just have a Pinterest board somewhere where they just collect these 'inspirational quote' boards/tiles/prints what have you, you know? And just type them over with some 'interesting' line breaks and call it a day. It's just soooo uugghh, cheap? Lazy. And makes me feel like they don't give a crap about art, any kind of art. They just see it is as a quick way to make a buck. And while I fully understand that we all need to make a living, nobody appreciates a fake, let alone a lousy fake. Especially when you know there are so many artists out there who struggle to put their art into the world and make ends meet at the same time, and then a plonker like this comes along and just makes everyone look bad and lazy.
I definitely agree that the poetry in this book is lazy. However, the thing about people writing in a language that isn't their first language, especially English, is that using creoles and dialects and other "incorrect" forms of English can be a form of resistance against white supremacist and colonialist systems. It can be a way of carving out space for your culture. Cathy Park Hong's Dance Dance Revolution is an amazing poetry collection that touches on this idea if you're interested.
Oh I completely agree that it can be done well and with purpose like you say! I’m a huge fan of when someone like Grace Nichols or John Agard use their dialects in writing because it’s always with a purpose! They are using language as a tool to create art and send a real message. To me it doesn’t matter at all that it’s not standard English, it matters that they have mastery over the language they’re using to create something powerful.
Mixing languages and dialects in poetry and purposefully showing mistakes can also be incredibly powerful if you’re trying to portray a message about being bilingual or living in a world where you don’t speak your language day to day.
Sadly none of this is done in this book and I’m just very confused as to what the point in anything was. :(
I don't like poetry for the sake of a political agenda. As admirable that agenda might be, it doesn't change bad poetry into good one.
@@RachelOates my thoughts exactly!
@@desperadox7565 "I don't like poetry for the sake of a political agenda." Would you say the same for say, the political poems of Greek lyric poets, or Wordsworth's sonnets on liberty, or much of William Blake's poetry? How about the Aeneid? Ask yourself that. I would venture to guess that you do not dislike *those* examples because of their political content. So why would you disregard modern poetry for its political content?
Poetry has been used since the beginnings of language for political purposes. All art has. There is no escaping that. Whilst not all art must be political, it would be a dull world if none of it was.
@@flashmanfred What I think Desperadox meant was that writing about a political topic does not automatically make the final piece a good poem; yes, there are amazing, timeless poems that are undoubtedly political, but there are just as many bad, ham-fisted or misinformed poems on those same topics.
This comment
Is poetry. But
if you criticize it,
it magically becomes
Prose. #Inspirational
Ok but this is really cool. I think this is solid poetry (prose. Poetry. I'm really enjoying this.)
I criticized it so it became prose. and as a prose piece, it was emotional
that's deep 😔😔😔
This really challenges the reader. Like really challenges us. We cannot win haha.
You’re dumb...
Because you should be selling this as poetry in a £8 book online... not writing it for FREE in a RUclips comment section duh
As someone who's spent 5+years reading sanskrit poetry through school and university in India... I can safely say that thats not anywhere close,if that's what he was attempting. Sanskrit poetry is filled with smilies and dual meaning words. Most of it relies heavily on that. The language itself has 3 different meanings for 1 word, plenty of homonyms. So there's a lot of wordplay. And figures of speech,.. Oh gods... You'll be sick of the amount of figures of speech tbh xD (Same applies with poetry in other Indian languages)
Looking forward to your next poetry review, Rachel!
Wow, Sanskrit poetry sounds fascinating, though it seems like it would be harder to translate. Still I think I might look up a few later. Do you have any good suggestions?
**sigh** if only I could read Sanskrit
@@r.t.7288 sure.. Maybe you can try reading Subhashita s? They're a type of poetry..
@@harrywater456 haha yes Sanskrit is hard
Exactly!! I didn’t slog my butt off in school trying to understand poetry for this. It would take 10 minutes to fully explain one stanza of the poem
"inner beauty that exists within us" where else is inner beauty supposed to be?
Same energy as "Mmm yes this floor is made of floor"
Inner beauty is stored in the balls
Yes, and the wall is made of wall.
I get mine at IKEA
@@thejellybeanbois5881 I think I accidentally peed out mine the other day
Rachel's voice: 💗🥰🎀🌺⚘
Rachel's scathing reviews: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
"I wrote a poetry book!"
"This doesn't really look like poetry though."
"That's because it's not."
"I don't understand."
"You just don't understand."
The poetry exists in the duality of calling it poetry and it not actually being poetry
@@psychopathetic5341 haha, wow brilliant xD
"it's not jokes, that's why it's not done in the context of jokes. But it's a joke, so you can't be mad. My profile used to say Nick Foster jokes, so it's a joke, but it's not now. It's a joke guys."
-Nick Foster
Black shirt and yellow bra is such a vibe and im living for the color combo🤩🤩🤩
With the hair too!!
the LOOK 😌
She is the most gorgeous person inside and outside❤❤
I am looking respectfully 👀
Reminds me of batman... she's super gorgeous lol
"it wasn't meant to be a poem, but i appreciate your feedback" man i wish i had even one ounce of this man's sheer unadulterated confidence. perhaps his response was a form of art itself. the ultimate expression of poetry. king shit.
this man is all confidence no skill.
A very dangerous combination
XD
honestly, it should’ve just been marketed as a book of helpful reminders for people in a bad place or something. this could all be excusable if it wasn’t masquerading as poetry, something it clearly isn’t.
Dhiman should've written his non poem poem like this:
Rachels critiques + hair + makeup + outfit = perfection > my poetry
This book is the epitome of 'I'm fourteen, and this is deep.'
Exactly what I was saying.
This Poem="True"
If("Good Poem"="False")
Then "This Poem"=("False")
Cute
Wow * this is so good = nice + nice >= amazing
Half of me wants to send my poetry to Rachel, half of me is utterly terrified.
Of what, her ‘opinion’ ??
She's being critical of poetry that is a book you have to pay money to read. If you just send her free poetry, I think she may be a bit more forgiving :) (Though I don't speak for her.)
This book is poetry
Like froth alone
Is a cappuccino
This comment didn’t get the attention it should have.
this hits hard
if u say that this book of badly written inspirational quotes was there for you during dark times, times clearly wasn't that dark
Isn’t that the truth. It seems like for them, dark times = times when they were feeling unmotivated.
I don't agree with you there, even small things can help people out of dark places. That said, the book was even a bit more competently written, it might help people and leave them with a specific message.
Maybe it helped them realize, 'I may not be the best writer, but damn I'm not this bad.'
The ''healing'' non-equation is basically what I wrote down in my notes of my first psychology class in college.
Got the notification and had to come on here so I could immediately say that your outfit is stunning. And with the hair? Honestly. The whole thing is an absolute look.
Also the cover of his book is stolen from an independent artist! Her name is Siobahn O'Dwyer and she's absolutely fantastic. But she did this specific piece for a collab with a company called "Paper Gang". COMPLETELY STOLEN!!!! Disgusting
I wouldn't give him the benefit of doubt because in India, English is taught almost from the first day of school and thus being mediocre in English or not following grammar even after attending a University is just plain incompetence.
Huh. I wish the USA would follow suite in making sure we spoke two languages.
@@kayhaven4710 I hope all countries would focus on language learning, being bilingual really opens your eyes and mind to so much more, literature, education and even pop culture!
It's the same in my country (Bangladesh), English is taught since the first day of school, but even as someone who is reading in English medium, I have an awfully lot of classmates who are still really bad in English (we're in 11th grade). However, I think it's not just the students' incompetence, but also of the education system, and the way English is taught to us, which is not very effective I would say. Those who can catch the system well become better English speakers than half of America themselves, while those who can't just stay where they were back in like 4th grade.
I took part in an exchange trip between our school, a partner school and a German school, and it was easy to tell which students were German and which were English, because the Germans all spoke perfect English. It was a bit embarrassing, really.
"Est-ce que la ristorante esta loin da aqui, para favor? Sollen wir taxi rufen, au nous peut la marcher?"
Same here in Nepal. English and Nepali go hand in hand in school (with Hindi from cartoons). All of our subjects aside from Nepali are taught in English. That being said, people are not really perfect in English. As the person from Bangladesh said, if they grasp it, they’re better than half of the US and if they don’t, broken English all the way.
I love how you went from covering Hasley’s book (arguably one of the best you’ve covered on here) to this shit
This video reminds me of something Krimson Rogue once said in his review for the Titus Uno book with the long title I won’t repeat: “Every time I say there can’t be a worse book out there, the universe takes that as a challenge!” You’re a saint for putting up with such literary torture, Rachel. Thanks for warning us about this “poetry”.
Dhiman: "Rachel, I'm gonna have to ask you to get alllllllllllllllll the way off my back about the deep fake poetry thing..."
Rachel: "Sorry. I am not gettin' off of that thing. Nope."
Writing a “book of poetry” is super easy, barely an inconvenience
@@MrIrishlad98 yeah, couldn't agree more. books of 'poetry' are tight
It’s so easy to make arrows with text! Even if you can’t use special character/text for formatting reasons you can still use a couple dashes to turn > into -> , or add an extra > to make > into >> to make it read less like an equation! I knew how to do that when I was eight, this pretentious wilted douche has no excuse.
Also hi Rachel, great video as always :) seeing you in my sub box always makes my day ten times better!
As someone whose depression leaves me immune to cute little uplifting platitudes, this book is rendered meaningless to me. Just from the few poems you've shown, I can tell that I would be very, very bored. To Half Price Books!
I’m really looking forward to your review of Lana Del Rey’s poetry book! 💙
What’s it called? Her lyrics are basically poetry so unlike for other celebrities I might actually have hope!
@@blueswan7655 it's called Violet Bent Backwards Over Grass
@@blueswan7655 violet bent backwards over the grass, there's also an album with it set to music of course
the colonizers left way too much of their legacy behind. You can't call the English language the second language for educated people in India. The best schools don't even teach Hindi(our native language) so his grammatical errors are pretty much him being careless.
Yep. India and Pakistan both have more English speakers than the UK. Plus I've noticed that people who speak English fluently after learning it as a second language are actually more aware of grammar rules.
+
French has always been the most used worldwide
@@mrdunnepoetryreallifetvuk1934 That's just untrue. It's English or Mandarin (depending if you're just looking at native languages or if you're counting second languages). And then Spanish and Arabic are up there. I'd say French is maybe fifth or sixth. 🙂
Your upload schedule is really good rn, I’m not pressuring you to upload constantly, I just really appreciate it💚
English is not my first language either. Even though I’m no expert, I’d say I wrote more complex and thought provoking poetry in English ( for myself, in private, never intending to show it to people), than what this guy sells for actual money .
Also, that outfit is amazing 🤩
English isn't my first language either, although I'm more competent in writing English than German simply because I grew up in Canada.
And I can tell you without bragging that writing better poetry than this loon is one of the easiest tasks ever.
Like, even something without any depth like:
"The child looked left
The child looked right
The child looked left
The child crossed the street"
Is way better. And I literally just described how to cross the street with repetition. Wow. Such poem, much award.
@@Nerobyrne Agreed. Blows my mind he sells this and even worse, some people pay for it when they could get something of value if they paid for a book that doesn’t feel and look like an inspirational instagram feed.
@@allegedlyni6939 I've literally read deeper quotes from Inspirobot, an AI designed to create inspirational messages.
Some are actually surprisingly on point with current niche cultural trends.
I think my favourite that I've seen so far was a photo of a pregnant woman's belly with the sentence:
"Men are great" next to it.
@@Nerobyrne "I like boys. I think every girl should own at least one." - bumper sticker, and also deeper than this book.
@@Nerobyrne Continuation game?
The child looked left;
The child looked right;
The child looked left;
The child crossed the street.
The child looked left;
The child looked right;
The child stepped in
The puddle with both feet.
the healing one is soooo bad lol. like all you get from that by reading it is “discomfort is better than acceptance and growth”. make it make sense
Right? I’m quite sure he meant to write something about how you first feel discomfort when you try to heal from something, then you accept that the thing you are healing from happened and then you grow from that incidence and that growth eventually leads to you being healed. But, if you try to use mathematical signs, and use it incorrectly, it becomes real stupid real fast.
I love writing poetry
My first poem was about tyranny and revolution inspired by Pink Floyd's "Animals" album where it portrays different social classes as animals and I wondered why there was no rooster . so I scribbled up a poem about people in power like kings or presidents who get arrogant and corrupt and they were symbolized by roosters and chickens
Also
THE SHIP
Do I see a fellow socialist?
@@walterl322 ehhh I'm not politically aligned towards any side but I do not like tyranny and authoritation goverments :p
@@realtchallamama no
That’s so cool
@@dreamoftheendless7159 well, same, but I’m a bit more radical😂
“Stop thinking the things I put in my book of poetry were meant to be poems, gaaah!”
Love your outfit! And your lego pirate ship
I'm a 17 year old Indian girl and I promise you luv that when I write my first poetry book I'll make you beam with pride because you're basically my tutor🥺🥰
Yes! Have you written any poetry that you can share right now?
Yesss girl let's hear some 😁
@@safala HEY BESTIE your wish is my command
This is a little something I wrote in 5 mins a few months ago, it's very unedited and rough rn but I hope you enjoy it 🥺
Have you seen a dying fire?
As it breathes its last in a whiff of smoke
A spark ignites, a flame comes alive
And dances till it can't anymore
Dances till it's breath runs out
I wonder where it hides it's lungs
Its heart, does it have one?
They burn cigarettes, I prefer incense
For the trance of nothingness
To get a high through every inhale
But in the end we are all searching for the same thing
@@manvysings omg bestie you goooo that was a good one ❤️
I don't think he was trying to emulate sanskrit poetry, rather that he was trying to pull a rupi kaur lol
Yes 😂
Exactly
Every time I see poetry collections of this kind being sold to people, with little to no creative effort, I tell myself I should self-publish my poems too!
But then... what if Rachel finds it? Lol
this outfit is a serve
The Sanskrit poems you shared are lovely. Thank you so much for finding them.
Can you review Florence Welch from Florence and machine’s poetry book next?? It’s called useless magic and has great reviews. :)
"Think positive thoughts!"
"Hardships can also be opportunities for growth!"
Wow. Much very deep wordings. I'm sure he's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people like him!
i think my depression is cured after reading this book!!
I learned sanskrit in school and even though i had a hard time deciphering poems in school, they often had really interesting imagery and unique metaphors, it's a shame he couldn't be more creative about them
It's like paying for Instagram quotes
Atticus, Beau Taplin, RH Sin, would love your perspective on these guys. So much they out doesn't feel swoon worthy to me and yet ovaries are bursting internationally it seems.
Seconded! I haven’t read Taplin but I have read a book each from the other two and had to DNF both because I’ve never felt more like I’m just wasting my time. When a hallmark greeting card is more fulfilling and worth its price than your work, you have failed in my book.
I've read one RH Sin book and he basically wrote one poem, put it through a word jumble, and wrote the same poem, but like fifty pages further in. I can't believe that gets published but I'm struggling
why should writing poetry in a second languague take you off the hook for anything? if youre confident enough to publish it you basically enter the arena and should be judged accordingly
Now that, is true.
It's obviously not a poetry book, Rachel. It's a book of pinterest quotes :)
WIDOWER
Long shadows
on a cold winter’s day
are hiding the cracks
of an ageing pavement.
Pathways of life
now filled with unwanted weeds
have choked the beautiful blooms
of a lonely soul…
my days are bleeding.
The gardener is sleeping,
her tender heart with gentle hands
that once kept my land
free from thistles
is now preparing my pastures
in heaven high …
…the sky cried.
We should give this sort of, uh, "literature," a special title
Non-poetry?
Unpoetry?
Poopetry?
Poetried? Like, they tried? lol
Poetrash.
Faux-etry
@@dionnajenkins3335 I think we have a winner!
I love your bad poetry reviews, but would love more good poetry reviews. Take a break from bad news for a while. lol
Same here. She should treat herself to one good or mediocre poetry book after each bad one.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I feel like this book would taste like cold mash potato and cardboard.
The cover reminds me of that one time my mom bought something she thought was a wool coat, which turned out to be a piece of very cheap stinky fabric with a blurry picture of wool texture printed on it.
how's aziraphale?? 😭
I could swear I’ve seen that cover photo on Pinterest
Same
I am here for Rachel's brilliant analyses 👌 I am also here for style inspo 😍 This outfit is chef's kiss 💛🖤
I've been writing poems in English for the past 5 years, it's not my first language, and I don't think it being your second language is an excuse for writing bad poetry. I know this sounds harsh, but I see so many people who choose to write in English and they don't put in the work to make it good. I've seen people self-publish and sell books full of grammatical errors and incorrect sentence structure and it frustrates me. When you write in a language that's not your mother tongue, it's especially important to edit very thoroughly and get beta readers who are fluent in English.
"maybe maths wasn't his strong point" enjoying the roast
also, i am Indian so I can doubly appreciate how well-deserved this roast is.
I swear to god every single video like this have the same unoriginal, unthoughtful poems in them
The red apple is on the counter
The red apple is in my mouth
There is no more red apple
Like, the fuck, dude??
No more red apple 😔💔😭
I cry.
I feel like a lot of male writers are very rarely challenged on the quality of their writing. I don't have any evidence of this but my point is like THANK YOU FOR CRITIQUING MALE POETS TOO!! XD
Would’ve been hilarious if you’d been like “here’s how he could’ve explored this theme better?”
And shown something like a Gabby Hannah “poem”. As in “this is still utterly horrible, but better than what we have here”
I’m so sorry you read that book. I can only imagine it feels like wasted hours that you’ll never be able to get back or compensate for.
Hey, i would love to see your review of Lana Del Rey's poetry book!
There is a definite pattern with this kind of poetry. The authors almost always speak in the second person. The use of form (sestina, villanelle, triolet, sonett) is nonexistent. Poetry is nothing more than a transfer of emotion which is achieved through figurative language. The world at large triggers emotion in the poet who then uses poetics to transfer that emotion to the reader. When the author simply tells the reader how they should think and feel the poem becomes shallow. The deepest water in the ocean of literature is poetry. There are many poets operating today who seem to have overlooked this. The question then becomes why?
omg you saved me from buying that collection i was so close to doing it... it looked so great on amazon
I don’t think it’s fair to make the leap from ‘his prose sucks’ to ‘he’s ESOL’ and then analyzing his name for a possible ethnic background. It feels. Idk skeezy. If I write a shit book id rather ppl call me a shit writer than blame it on my being Hispanic and having a bad grasp of English. He tried something and it failed. Judge what’s on the page, don’t speculate about it being possibly an homage to Sanskrit because his pen name is Dhiman.
I talked to my mom about this - we’re both bilingual - and I have to say Rachel the leaps of logic you make in this video don’t come across well at all.
The speculation about his background and English ability did make me feel a bit strange too. 😬...
She could’ve been trying to make it make sense. If I was reviewing a poetry in my language written by someone whose language and style of poetry I didn’t know, I’d try to research on it as well in case they were trying to write it in their style.
But, that doesn’t mean he gets to get off the hook for writing shitty stuff.
When I reviewed Rupi Kaur's book people said I didn't take into account her background and the type of poetry she was trying to emulate enough, so I tried to correct that in this video but now it's not ok? I'm really confused about what people want from me. It's like I can't do anything right. Should I try and understand a poet's background and influences or not?
@@RachelOates I see what you were going for, I guess what rubbed me the wrong way was that in the video you state you don’t know Dhiman’s background and are instead guessing based on his name. Making the leap that someone’s first language isn’t English because they have a foreign name and write bad poetry came across as a bit xenophobic. There’s a difference when an author is open about their inspiration and background. The fact is, Dhiman might not be Indian. He might have grown up speaking English at home. He might be fully fluent. He’s still a bad poet and banal as hell, but I actually bought the book and nothing in it read to me, someone who has taken classes on how to work with non-fluent English speakers, as broken or rudimentary English. It just read like really dull or bad poetry.
I guess my point is that while it’s important to understand a poet’s influences, if you don’t know where they’re from, don’t speculate because you may be wrong and when you make assumptions like this, people might get confused as to the reasons behind why your making these leaps of logic.
I’ve been a fan for a few years now and I know you don’t ever come from a place of hate, and I’m sorry if my comments have distressed you. It’s very hard to modulate tone through this medium and I hope I made sense.
The lego pirate ship + Rockstar energy drink combo is such an aesthetic and I'm here for it
i often feel very self conscious about my poetry, but at least now i know nothing i can write can be this bad. thank you
p.s. i am excited to watch your video about atticus. i have very strong feelings about his poetry as well
Sometimes I watch videos of bad reviews of books, and I feel bad watching them... Because... We are judging these artists and picking on super small details, and we don't know if these videos are helping anything. I think it's not. I see a lot of people commenting on how they are scared to write poetry after watching these reviews, because they are not good enough. I agree. I write poetry everyday. And, before watching these videos, I would get deeply in touch with my perceptions... but now, after watching a lot reviews on trashing poetry and trashing writers, I'm mostly erasing what I have written. I feel like every verse of mine is an absurd mistake. Or worse, mediocre. And I should be ashamed.
And in this era of chatgpt and midjourney, calling poetry the worst book, or lazy, looks like a nail in the coffin. Even worse, people are reading less and less. And the youtube book community makes bad reviews for entertainment. It's a whole genre. Can you imagine a whole video attacking a painting? Or attacking a painter? That's why the art community tends to be healthier than the book community. I feel bad watching these videos because, we are killing future writers. I really like Rachel. She is so well-spoken. I really love the coziness of her videos. But I'd love if her videos were a celebration... even of bad poetry. Because even bad poetry are made of gold. They are human expression, even if short, or lacking, it's still the human voice from a time and place. And what is bad poetry? What is bad art? I used to dislike Rothko with a passion. Now, on my 30's I adore him. And I regret ever bad mouthing his art.
I don't know... I see a lot of reviewers burying the book alive and, when they get a bad response from the author, they get offended. And people go after the author, as if they should accept every bad criticism ever made on the internet. But people don't realise that authors get bad criticism everyday, in every possible way. The most famous, the harsher. In time, bad criticism hinders you from creating. It's not constructive. It's destructive. Art is made from fragments of our souls. Cristicism only works on technicalities, but technicality is a process. Artists create throughout their whole life, as they learn how to be more technical. A poet is not born. A poet grows within the initial desire to write. But a large amount of criticism can hurt phisically. So, it worries me. Is it fair to create an entertainment from the 'lacking' or the 'badness' of an artists? Are we good evaluators? I used to think Rothko was bad.
Rachel has a beautiful channel and I'm thankful for her creations. But I'd like to propose videos of celebration. Especially in front of AI taking over.
"Idk maybe math isn't his strongest point"
Rachel you gotta calm down 🔥🔥🔥
hold on can we just talk about how vibrant rachel's hair looks today... is it the lighting?!
I am sooo happy i found this video!! I decided to try some poetry (inspired by your enthusiasm for the form) and i went to the Amazon top 10 list assuming it would be a trustworthy source. I ended up with this book and was feeling really down that i was so bad at reading poetry that I didn't understand this super popular book. Now i feel a lot better
I like your outfit, especially the boots!
Also, how is a maths equation or an incomplete sentence meant to count as a poem? I don't get that either
Theres a difference between positif quotes and poetry.. a lot of people dont get that
For me, good poetry sticks in your mind because it makes you see normal concepts in an abnormal way, or contains lines that stick in your mouth because of the language play. You want to say them over and over again. This book feels like hallmark cards.
Rachel actually thinks most people want to change and be challenged hahah
I love your poetry reviews! You really inspire me to write my own poetry :)
I can't believe that I was always sooo fucking anxious about showing my poetry to the world that I spend 6 years slowly bringing myself to even post something on a stupid Instagram and then there are poeple like this who are selling their own shits and don't feel (surprisingly enough) ashamed of it and on top of that (more surprisingly enough) have actual profit from it and (most surpisingly enough) earn good reviews.
Seriously, what is wrong with this world?
I have a lego bookstore and the ISS on the way. My cat will undoubtedly stomp them to bits.
Oh my god YOU HAVE THE LEGO PIRATE SHIP. I bought it for myself as a Christmas present back in December. It was so much fun to assemble!
Looked up "Dhiman" and it's "a Boy/Male baby name and origin is Buddhist, Indian, Sanskrit. Dhiman, Boy/Male means: Knowledgeable; Wise."
Tried the translation page, and it recognised it as Somali for "Die!"
Yeesh.
Told it to go from Hindi, and it comes up with a sound somewhere between "Deemaan" and "Diimaan."
Love the yellow top! Mega cute
I can't wait to see your video on Atticus! I'm so happy to have found a channel like this
How in the world do people have thousands of reviews? I barely get a few...
this all gives me drunk girl crying vibes, there’s just so little to it in both content and creativity i feel like i couldve heard anyone say it.
i’m sure a drunk girl in a bathroom can give me more inspiring monologues than this
That’s honestly insulting to drunk girls
now im considering to publish absolute turd poetry as Rachel bait
Oeh, that pirateship ❤
Now I have to go on amazon and see if they have a category for "working pirate ship".
My poems might be bad but at least they're poems with structure and stuff!
Can I hear one of your poems?
I suspect they're actually good
8:42 Rachel, you're not understanding. These aren't poems, these are calculus equations. Completely understandable that he calls himself a poet, he's a poetcalculator, carefully crafting generic sentences into poems that are as in depth as a blank piece of paper.
I love your style, every video you have on some wonderful looking clothes and I really like your critiques as well. They’re very informative and interesting
THIS GUY GIVES ME GABBIE HANNA VIBES!! he's SOOOO defensive, can't take criticism, and when you criticize his work he says it's because you "don't understand" lol
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Atticus
Is there
A single
Metaphor
Or simile or
Something
In this book ?
you look so good in that outfit 💕
this has nothing to do with the video but I’m just curious: what do you do with shitty books like these after you’re done with reviewing them? do you keep them on a shelf of shame, or give them away, or idk? you do so many of these videos that i wonder about this sometimes 😂 thank you for the amazing video as usual!!
Maybe sell them off to libraries/bookstores who buy second hand book or something like that.
@@CipherDorito That’s a good idea. I was just thinking ‘it has so much blank pages. This would make a great sketchbook.’
@@CipherDorito that would make sense (although I pity the people who’d end up buying and reading them, but I guess someone out there is bound to like it!)
@@safala 😂😂😂 I never considered that but you’re right actually!
Seems like he ran a Google search for "love yourself" and copied and pasted memes into a book format.
With
Odd line
Breaks
Just started the video but have to comment that I love this outfit 😍
Edit: I completely agree. I found his Instagram and basically his profile is his whole book lol interestingly enough, he has a very strong and dedicated following.
Honestly, I don’t mind these as long as you know, you don’t claim they are poetry or try to sell them.
"Anything is better than this" - there's a quote for the back cover! 😆
that outfit is so cute it makes me wanna steal your clothes
13:01 Valley Rachel!
I would say the sales on Amazon of this poetry book are largely down to the cover design. Yes, I know... all a bit shallow... especially when the cover is more important than what is inside, but way too many people are attracted by striking or pretty book covers. Images of flowers, blue sky and words that infer you, or a specific subject 'matters' are extremely powerful at drawing attention... that cover contains all three of those elements! Once a book is purchased it's a sale regardless of any Amazon feedback... so it moves up the success list to number eight. More authors should take advantage of that than they do!!
The content comes across more as quotes to me, like those uninspiring endless quotes you find on social media. But strangely, a lot of minds seem to connect to those dull obvious statements. I have heard it said that the majority of society are not bright, but I've not counted myself... it's too vast! But if it is true, it makes a lot of sense to the popularity of low grade thinking when it comes to books, films, art and music. Which might explain why the deeper thinking creators often fail to gain success or take many years to be discovered. Vincent van Gogh would be a good example of that.
I would be a little cautious on criticism of Amazon reviews, unless they don't make any coherent sense... for two reasons... 1) If it genuinely meant something to the reader, even if we find it empty of inspiration, how can any of us question what it meant to someone else? 2) Some reviews are not genuine... possibly paid for by the author... in which case, they are meaningless.
i would almost think this book would be better suited as like a collection of affirmations to make you feel great or little tips to acceptance because at least that’s closer than calling it poetry...
This wouldn't bother me except for the fact that it reads more like a scam because it's being sold as a work of poetry..of which it is not..and the author is profiting from a work which seems not to be created in earnest.
Sometimes I wonder if 'poets' like this just have a Pinterest board somewhere where they just collect these 'inspirational quote' boards/tiles/prints what have you, you know? And just type them over with some 'interesting' line breaks and call it a day.
It's just soooo uugghh, cheap? Lazy. And makes me feel like they don't give a crap about art, any kind of art. They just see it is as a quick way to make a buck.
And while I fully understand that we all need to make a living, nobody appreciates a fake, let alone a lousy fake.
Especially when you know there are so many artists out there who struggle to put their art into the world and make ends meet at the same time, and then a plonker like this comes along and just makes everyone look bad and lazy.
Just watching jimmy Snow
Did something exciting happen on his channel? 😊
@@sammendez925 nothing new just mostly the sometimes show
@@connerkent9641 Ah k. I just wondered if something exciting was happening as you mentioned it here. 😊