Sharon Olds | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 4 pages of analysis & critique of Sharon Olds.

Sharon Olds | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 4 pages of analysis & critique of Sharon Olds.
This section contains 667 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Review by Andrew Hudgins

SOURCE: A review of The Gold Cell, in The Hudson Review, Vol. XL, No. 3, Autumn, 1987, pp. 517-27.

Hudgins is an American poet, short story writer, critic, and educator. In the following excerpt, he offers a mixed assessment of Olds's The Gold Cell, admiring its powerful imagery and narrative flow, yet faulting its haphazard structure and sensationalistic themes.

Whatever reservations you may have about Sharon Olds's poetry—and I have a number—there's no denying that she's a lot of fun to read. [In The Gold Cell the] poems always open with a great "hook" to grab the reader and the endings are even better—kickers, stunners. But the movement between the opening and the conclusion is usually a headlong rush in which one line collapses into another because the poem is in such a hurry to get to its payoff. The piling up of weak words, especially articles...

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This section contains 667 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Review by Andrew Hudgins
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Critical Review by Andrew Hudgins from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.