Sunday, 11 March 2012

Memory's Daughter by Alice Major

Started: Feb. 24
Finished: March 26
Pages: 134

I don't read much poetry.  When I do, I usually pick modern Canadian poets, and I buy their books.  Somebody should: poets need the encouragement.

There's also a practical rationale.  I read poetry very very slowly.  Memory's Daughter has only 134 pages, and perhaps 100 poems but I started it weeks ago and I'm only on page 64.  There's just so much compressed onto every sparsely printed page.  The first poem, "Baucis and Philemon" runs for 6 brief stanzas over 2 pages, but comprises a novel's worth of beauty and tragedy.

I finally finished over a month after starting.  There are in fact several novel's worth's of emotion and observation compressed into these poems.    Recommended.



No comments:

Post a Comment