Bluets

Best little book I've read in a long time.

Maggie Nelson's Bluets is a mesmerizing exploration of the color blue, blending memoir, philosophy, and poetic prose into a unique and compelling narrative. Through 240 short entries, Nelson delves deep into the emotional and intellectual resonances of blue, crafting a work that challenges and delights, leaving readers pondering the complexities of perception and existence. This edition celebrates Nelson's profound insights and lyrical prowess, making it a must-read for those captivated by the intersections of art and life.

Maggie Nelson's Bluets embodies true ambiguity. The combination of the lyrical and the essayistic within this book is truly remarkable and makes for an extremely compelling read. Nelson completely defamiliarizes the common associations with the color blue, opening up immense possibilities and honoring so many different meanings of the color at once. She searches for a deeper meaning throughout, providing insight into the human experience of love, pain, and so much more. The writing is intentional and well-crafted, moving toward a poetic feel at times. Thought-provoking and enjoyable, Nelson's Bluets feels like falling in an out of love over and over again with each turn of the page.

An achingly poignant odyssey through personal anecdotes & observations, ruminative poetic prose & artistic references coiled around themes of love, loss & yearning that deeply resonated with me. I would definitely recommend.

I was made aware of this book from one of my classes in art school and I have returned to it a few times since graduation. The last time I read this book I was 10,000 feet in the air while on an eight-hour flight. It was a great companion in this setting as I soared through the blue sky around me. This book inspired me to do some of my own writing and to look at something as simple as the color blue with a little more depth, curiosity, and appreciation.

I love this book. It is nonfiction, and comprises a series of small, numbered writings. They're more similar to Nietzsche's aphorisms in size--that is, they can be a sentence or two, or fill a few pages--but they are affirming, profound, and provocative. What are they about? Ostensibly, the colour blue. The entire book comprises reflections on the colour blue--its symbolism, its place in the spectrum of light, its manifestations as moods and states of being, its place in literature and music. The writing is brilliant. Maggie Nelson, whose most recent book, THE ARGONAUTS, is a tour de force, has such a fantastic style. Her writing evoked feelings in me as her writing placed a series of sensory experiences in my mind, each of which was evoked by what she was writing about. This is a work of philosopy, of aesthetic theory, of cultural criticism, a meditation on what it means to be alive and human, all creatively told by writing about the colour blue. At first glance, it may sound like another form of navel gazing, but that would be a misreading of what's going on. This is a book about the human condition, one that Nelson writes about with style and aplomb.

I read this book (poem) twice, each time becoming more impressed. It became clear to me that the protagonist's obsession with the color blue served as an escape for her deep depression about lost love. The actual mentions of love were relatively few, which made her loss seem even deeper. I did, of course, eventually search for the original "Bluets" painting, but could see no relationship between this "smudgy" painting and this beautiful poem. Maybe someone else can?

Nelson holds the intensity of her vision with the anguished search of an obsession and the clarity of a desire. This slim volume operates like a grand segmented essay exploring the history of blue and its meaning in art and life. It is Nelson’s concision that dazzles and upends the reader with painful revelation, both tempting and warning the reader that the path we’re walking together is dangerous.

Amo este libro, lo leí por primera vez en verano 2020 y me hizo tanto bien. Es un libro muy muy hermoso con el cual definitivamente puedes conectarte. Es la primera vez que leo a Maggie Nelson y este libro ensayo-prosa poética (aún no sé dónde colocarlo) me parece increíble. No podría criticarlo objetivamente aunque quisiera, porque para mí ha sido una experiencia sumamente enternecedora.

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É lindo demais, casa comigo Maggie Nelson!

exzellent

bluets is definitely one of my favorite books of all time and whenever someone asks me the coolest book to gift someone it is this!