Started: July 14, 2012
Finished: August 24, 2012
Pages: 126
What is it with the poetry? Really, it's been a long time since I've read as many as 3 books of poetry in a year. Unfortunately, I liked where I started (Memory's Daughter) more than where I've ended up.
Which isn't to say that YVR was without merit. But I suspect that it would be difficult to read and enjoy without both a knowledge of Vancouver and a knowledge of Vancouver's history. Too much of the imagry and too many of the references would slip by you otherwise. But if it's our cup of tea, the book is a single poem to Vancouver, past, present, and future.
"This is a praise poem:
for the public school,
where cultures mix to become now,
the lion dance as everyday as
Robbie Burns and Halloween
for the idea of the Vancouver neighbourhood,
which no longer paints living space,
by colour, languge, filiation --
for crossing meaningless lines, for talking over
fences, for walker's right-of-way, for
public space to meet in, share --
We do not stop hearing the pipes and sitar,
cymbals, fiddles, dulcimer, drums --
But the past does not fix our children
sing their own songs, wear their own clothes --
If we choose, we will learn who we are
from the breath of our grandchildren:
Praise them -- "
(from "Main Street", pg. 96)
Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts
Monday, 27 August 2012
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Killdeer by Phil Hall
Started: June 16, 2012
Finished: July 5, 2012
Pages: 118
The last book of poetry to appear on this blog went slowly because reading it was so intense. Every poem had a lot to offer, and each one demanded some space and time to absorb.
This one....well, for most of the time I was reading it, I was actually reading 3 other books (The Diviners, Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow, and The Nonesuch). That hinders progress. But the real reason this one went slowly is that I didn't enjoy it all that much.
I was initially puzzled as to why this book is a GG award winner. It hardly seems like poetry: more like short boring essays written to scan like modern poetry. You know:
"I read the first poem--
and couldn't understand
why
anyone
would
ever
read another"
My initial working theory was that the book won a Governor General's award because it is self-consciously "Canadian Literature". For example, one early piece in the collection is about the "writer" meeting Margaret Laurence, and there are multiple other callouts to Irving Layton, George Grant, etc. etc. I think chances are even that this book won a GG because the judges of the GGs are Canadian authors. It reminds me of an experience I had as a young woman. Just for fun, I "competed" in a blitz poetry competition at my local public library that was sponsored by the CBC. Every competitor drew a page of a dictionary, and had 10 minutes to compose a poem that used one of the dictionary words they'd drawn. The 3rd prize winner confided to me that the sure fire cheap-ass way to get on the winner's list was to use the names of the judges and CBC personalities who were present in your poem. It worked for him! And while the prize jury did not include the named authors (I think they're all dead), if you're competing for the Griffin Prize, it probably doesn't hurt to appeal to the Canadian judges.
I did warm slightly to the book as it drew to a close. I enjoyed some of the later poems, like the scathing "The Bad Sequence", and the seemingly autobiographical "A thin plea". But.....I still suspect that the book is a prize winner because it appeals to prize judges. The subject matter is often writing, writers, and the writer's life. Many of the references are to the work of other authors. I think I'd have gotten more out of it if I were a professor of English literature. In other words....even the best poems are not really for general reader.
If you're looking for poetry, read Memory's Daughter, whose imagery and some of its subject matter is drawn from the world of science.
Finished: July 5, 2012
Pages: 118
The last book of poetry to appear on this blog went slowly because reading it was so intense. Every poem had a lot to offer, and each one demanded some space and time to absorb.
This one....well, for most of the time I was reading it, I was actually reading 3 other books (The Diviners, Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow, and The Nonesuch). That hinders progress. But the real reason this one went slowly is that I didn't enjoy it all that much.
I was initially puzzled as to why this book is a GG award winner. It hardly seems like poetry: more like short boring essays written to scan like modern poetry. You know:
"I read the first poem--
and couldn't understand
why
anyone
would
ever
read another"
My initial working theory was that the book won a Governor General's award because it is self-consciously "Canadian Literature". For example, one early piece in the collection is about the "writer" meeting Margaret Laurence, and there are multiple other callouts to Irving Layton, George Grant, etc. etc. I think chances are even that this book won a GG because the judges of the GGs are Canadian authors. It reminds me of an experience I had as a young woman. Just for fun, I "competed" in a blitz poetry competition at my local public library that was sponsored by the CBC. Every competitor drew a page of a dictionary, and had 10 minutes to compose a poem that used one of the dictionary words they'd drawn. The 3rd prize winner confided to me that the sure fire cheap-ass way to get on the winner's list was to use the names of the judges and CBC personalities who were present in your poem. It worked for him! And while the prize jury did not include the named authors (I think they're all dead), if you're competing for the Griffin Prize, it probably doesn't hurt to appeal to the Canadian judges.
I did warm slightly to the book as it drew to a close. I enjoyed some of the later poems, like the scathing "The Bad Sequence", and the seemingly autobiographical "A thin plea". But.....I still suspect that the book is a prize winner because it appeals to prize judges. The subject matter is often writing, writers, and the writer's life. Many of the references are to the work of other authors. I think I'd have gotten more out of it if I were a professor of English literature. In other words....even the best poems are not really for general reader.
If you're looking for poetry, read Memory's Daughter, whose imagery and some of its subject matter is drawn from the world of science.
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.
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.
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