- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Salt Publishing (17 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844712893
- ISBN-13: 978-1844712892
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,451,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Boudicca & Co. (Salt Modern Poets Series)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
In her unconventional aspect, Boudicca is peculiarly modern, and there are moments in the sequence, where modern wars and conflicts appear to be invading the ancient story. In ‘'Last Stand'', the woods are ‘'thick / with sniper fire'’ and Romans beat the men with ‘'rifle butts''. By breaking with the historic period of the tale, Holland comments on the repetition of atrocities and war, as if Boudicca is looking forward to the suffering and dehumanisation of twentieth-century wars. (Zoë Brigley English Studies )
In the process of dismantling the Boudicca myth, then, Holland has opened up new avenues for the possiblity of an engaged and visceral war poetry written by non-combatants, which evades the pitfalls of much protest poetry – we need only compare Holland's work with the anti-war ‘poetry’ of Harold Pinter to gain some indication of how rich and rewarding her response to modern conflict is – by shifting methods towards the imaginative and narrative elements of poetry, rather than the rhetorical and political. In this sense, the ‘Boudicca’ sequence has a great deal in common with David Harsent's Legion, which represents a similar attempt by a non-combatant poet to engage intelligently with the realities of war. This is, frankly, an outstanding collection, and Holland, as a result, can now count herself amongst the front rank of contemporary British poets. (Simon Turner Gists and Piths )
In the process of dismantling the Boudicca myth, then, Holland has opened up new avenues for the possiblity of an engaged and visceral war poetry written by non-combatants, which evades the pitfalls of much protest poetry – we need only compare Holland's work with the anti-war ‘poetry’ of Harold Pinter to gain some indication of how rich and rewarding her response to modern conflict is – by shifting methods towards the imaginative and narrative elements of poetry, rather than the rhetorical and political. In this sense, the ‘Boudicca’ sequence has a great deal in common with David Harsent's Legion, which represents a similar attempt by a non-combatant poet to engage intelligently with the realities of war. This is, frankly, an outstanding collection, and Holland, as a result, can now count herself amongst the front rank of contemporary British poets. (Simon Turner Gists and Piths )
Review
Boudicca & Co. is a bold re-imagining of Britishness. Our contemporary England of Sunday roasts and cyberspace gives way to a wild and alien landscape, a place that Holland lays glinting before us “like a coin tossed in the sun / blunt-edged, foreign.” Steeped in myth and medieval poetry, this is a land of “ruins under rain,” hares, oaks, gargoyles and the Green Man. At the heart of it, embodying both Britain’s fierce beauty and its bloodied past, is Boudicca, and her voice is a startling achievement: modern, pitch-black, funny, and yet hauntingly lyrical. Jane Holland’s second collection is full of love and astonishment, a tribute to the resilience of women, to the power of literature, and, most of all, to: “England // my beleaguered sunken island.” (Clare Pollard )
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This poetry is an intense re-imagining of such a mysterious historical figure as Boudicca; her gritty exceptence of death over surrender. The writer shoves you into a wild, ferocious world of warfare, mysticism, and beauty; reflecting a modern woman's view of Britain at a time when we were shielding the freedom of our land from invaders. The use of Boudicca's tragic yet inspiring life as a narrator to these poems leaves the reader breathless, feeling as though it is you stepping out on the medieval battlefield, defending your country and you're life.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Boudicca & Co is an entertaining and varied collection of poems. The writing is precise and evocative, and even the sound of the words is often enough to convey a strong visual image. From 'Love Song for a Gargoyle':
Speak, rain-stone,
prodigal son of the buttress,
springing like a fist
foot-first from the mother,
foothold of birds
and deluge-summoner.
This collection includes many types of poems - elegies, personal memories, and mysterious reflections on landscapes - many of which are quite moving. 'Warwickshire' describes the flat rural land far from the sea:
my flat beleaguered sunken island -
no sign of a peak, only
that thin steely line
they must have seen from the ark
in those languorous days
before the dove came back
a green twig in her beak.
The final and longest section of the book concerns Boudicca, who briefly raised a rebel army against the Roman colonisers around 60 AD. The poems document her suffering, courage, ruthlessness and fragility. Jane Holland's language is rhythmic and full of energy, and a sense of humour runs through these poems, despite their, at times, gory subject-matter.
I'd certainly recommend buying this book if you are interested in finding well written contemporary poetry.
Speak, rain-stone,
prodigal son of the buttress,
springing like a fist
foot-first from the mother,
foothold of birds
and deluge-summoner.
This collection includes many types of poems - elegies, personal memories, and mysterious reflections on landscapes - many of which are quite moving. 'Warwickshire' describes the flat rural land far from the sea:
my flat beleaguered sunken island -
no sign of a peak, only
that thin steely line
they must have seen from the ark
in those languorous days
before the dove came back
a green twig in her beak.
The final and longest section of the book concerns Boudicca, who briefly raised a rebel army against the Roman colonisers around 60 AD. The poems document her suffering, courage, ruthlessness and fragility. Jane Holland's language is rhythmic and full of energy, and a sense of humour runs through these poems, despite their, at times, gory subject-matter.
I'd certainly recommend buying this book if you are interested in finding well written contemporary poetry.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The above is just one of many eminently quotable lines from this fine - and long-awaited - second collection. Its wide-ranging contents include direct and intensely personal lyrics of love, motherhood and mourning alongside poems which explore the England JH has inherited - its language, its architecture, and its battle-scarred landscape. Her directness of address and feel for history come together in the fourth and final section, 'BOUDICCA', in which the Queen of the Iceni tells her story in her own shocking words. Highly, highly recommended.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Boudicca & Co
An eclectic poetry collection with a feminist perspective. Elegies, reflections and memories contrast with descriptive landscape poems and the Boudicca collection, which... Read more
Published 8 months ago by SarahH
Boudicca & Co
This is a jewel of a book, jam-packed with precious stones. The early poems address some of Jane's varied life experiences ranging from childbirth (she has five children) to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Elodie
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
