What is a poem? What can it do? How does a poet know when a poem is finished? Can poetry be taught? How can we tell if a poem is any good? What is it like to share the breakfast table with a poet? How political should a poem be? Are there actually "shoulds" and "should nots" in poetry? Through quotations which are themselves as pithy and memorable as good poetry, hundreds of poetry readers, poetry practitioners and poetry sceptics have their say in this rumbustious and instructive book. Their comments are arranged by subject-matter and juxtaposed to allow sparks to fly - if one poet swears black, another is sure to swear white; and their viewpoints are encapsulated in terse and trenchant language. Offering fascinating insights into the mindsets and dress codes of poets, their lusts and lives, hates and loves, as well as taking readers to the heart of the creative process itself, "The Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations" is an ideal book for teachers, students, reading groups, workshops and anyone interested in poetry - whether as casual readers, seasoned writers, curious onlookers or aspiring practitioners. Books about poetry are rarely as entertaining or rewarding as this: an entirely original compilation, drawing exclusively on remarks made over the past 20 years. With its wealth of contemporary maxims, witticisms and jibes, it provides a definitive snapshot of the current state of poetry - the art defined here by Seamus Heaney as 'language in orbit'.
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About the Author
Dennis O'Driscoll has published seven books of poetry, including New & Selected Poems (Anvil Press, 2004), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. A selection of his essays and reviews, Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams (Gallery Press), appeared in 2001. Among his awards are a Lannan Literary Award in 1999, the 2005 E.M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the 2006 O'Shaughnessy Award for Poetry. He works as a civil servant in Dublin Castle.
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Because I am lazy and the book's title said to me that this is a book of quotations from poems, I did not buy it. In fact, it is a book of quotations about poetry, and an entertaining one.
The Introduction makes clear that it, `consists less often of self-contained epigrams than of remarks . . . selected for their vitality no less than for their plausibility. . . assembled without consulting any dictionaries of quotations.' And that is its strength. If you want on tap some well-known highlights from the `Preface to the Lyrical Ballads' or a popular passage from Ezra Pound, this is not the book. For the latter, you might try Bloodaxe's `Strong Words' to which this is a first-rate companion volume.
This book is the result of twenty years' informed trawling in well-known and less-well-known journals, newspapers, broadcasts and books including, as the author points out, the `Irish Farmers Journal' - not one that I know. This does not mean that the remarks are by unknown journalists: on the contrary, Seamus Heaney, Rita Dove, Czeslaw Milosz, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti all appear on the first page. Critics and newer poets are featured in the book, too.
The author is sharing with us some reading that we have probably not had the opportunity or the time to do for ourselves and I, for one, am grateful to him.
The remarks are divided into sixty-five topics. O'Driscoll says, `Some quotes could as easily have slotted into one category as another and many could conveniently bilocate or trilocate'. This sounds to me like a good reason to provide a standard `Book of Quotations' index which is unfortunately missing. If you come across an entry you particularly like, make a note at the time.
In sum, if you love poetry and like an argument (or discussion), buy this book. It will get you thinking.
The Introduction makes clear that it, `consists less often of self-contained epigrams than of remarks . . . selected for their vitality no less than for their plausibility. . . assembled without consulting any dictionaries of quotations.' And that is its strength. If you want on tap some well-known highlights from the `Preface to the Lyrical Ballads' or a popular passage from Ezra Pound, this is not the book. For the latter, you might try Bloodaxe's `Strong Words' to which this is a first-rate companion volume.
This book is the result of twenty years' informed trawling in well-known and less-well-known journals, newspapers, broadcasts and books including, as the author points out, the `Irish Farmers Journal' - not one that I know. This does not mean that the remarks are by unknown journalists: on the contrary, Seamus Heaney, Rita Dove, Czeslaw Milosz, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti all appear on the first page. Critics and newer poets are featured in the book, too.
The author is sharing with us some reading that we have probably not had the opportunity or the time to do for ourselves and I, for one, am grateful to him.
The remarks are divided into sixty-five topics. O'Driscoll says, `Some quotes could as easily have slotted into one category as another and many could conveniently bilocate or trilocate'. This sounds to me like a good reason to provide a standard `Book of Quotations' index which is unfortunately missing. If you come across an entry you particularly like, make a note at the time.
In sum, if you love poetry and like an argument (or discussion), buy this book. It will get you thinking.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
This book is a self portrait of the editor, and he has written only 4 out of 250 pages. How is it? It is a collection of remarks on what is poetry and related subjects and a selection of clever phrases is not neutral. It happens that Dennis O'Driscoll cultivates sense of humor and knows how to read between the lines. Hilarity and intelligence get on well, also fingers and rings. This is an anthology of comments on poetry and literary affairs published mainly in newspapers, magazines and journals. It is organized around 65 sections and readers may find out ironic comments made by authors who show a tragic or depressive profile in the poems and books they get printed and sell. What is the intended audience? First all kind of cynics, and surviving disciples of Diogenes of Sinope. That is controversial figures, so poets, scholars, divergent thinkers, dissidents, and addicts to critical thinking. Also sophists and devil's advocates. This is their vademecum, the anvil they need to sharpen the pencil and write, the bambou they need to test the blade of the samurai sword. Politicians and their assistants are the third target, they may discover in this book ready made answers to questions and story lines plotted by interviewers. They may influence lates news headlines. Most poetry is shorter and goes further than prose. Finally press officers may use it to warm up counter arguments.
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