How Long to Read The Diaspora Sonnets

How Long Does it Take to Read The Diaspora Sonnets?

It takes the average reader 1 hour and 49 minutes to read The Diaspora Sonnets by Oliver de la Paz

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY For fans of Diane Seuss and Victoria Chang, a coruscating collection that eloquently invokes the perseverance and myth of the Filipino diaspora in America. In 1972, after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, Oliver de la Paz’s father, in a last fit of desperation to leave the Philippines, threw his papers at an immigration clerk, hoping to get them stamped. He was prepared to leave, having already quit his job and having exchanged pesos for dollars; but he couldn’t anticipate the challenges of the migratory lifestyle he and his family would soon adopt in America. Their search for a sense of “home” and boundless feelings of deracination are evocatively explored by award-winning poet de la Paz in this formally inventive collection of sonnets. Broken into three parts—“The Implacable West,” “Landscape with Work, Rest, and Silence,” and “Dwelling Music”—The Diaspora Sonnets eloquently invokes the perseverance and bold possibilities of de la Paz’s displaced family as they strove for stability and belonging. In order to establish her medical practice, de la Paz’s mother had to relocate often for residencies. As they moved from state to state his father worked to support the family. Sonnets thus flit from coast to coast, across prairies and deserts, along the way musing on shadowy dreams of a faraway country. The sonnet proves formally malleable as de la Paz breaks and rejoins its tradition throughout this collection, embarking on a broader conversation about what fits and how one adapts—from the restrained use of rhyme in “Diaspora Sonnet in the Summer with the River Water Low” and carefully metered “Diaspora Sonnet Imagining My Father’s Uncertainty and Nothing Else” to the hybridized “Diaspora Sonnet at the Feeders Before the Freeze.” A series of “Chain Migration” poems viscerally punctuate the sonnets, giving witness to the labor and sacrifice of the immigrant experience, as do a series of hauntingly beautiful pantoums. Written with the deft touch of a virtuoso and the compassion of a loving son, The Diaspora Sonnets powerfully captures the peculiar pangs of a diaspora “that has left and is forever leaving.”

How long is The Diaspora Sonnets?

The Diaspora Sonnets by Oliver de la Paz is 107 pages long, and a total of 27,499 words.

This makes it 36% the length of the average book. It also has 34% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read The Diaspora Sonnets Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 2 hours and 30 minutes to read The Diaspora Sonnets aloud.

What Reading Level is The Diaspora Sonnets?

The Diaspora Sonnets is suitable for students ages 10 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy The Diaspora Sonnets?

The Diaspora Sonnets by Oliver de la Paz is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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