The Jade Suit (Paperback)

I have to confess to always having had a great problem with verse. I admire it, indeed stand in awe of it, but I don't really have any ear for it. I guess I'm deeply, deeply prosaic. Wanting to be more and better than I was, I studied verse in university, read critiques, thought about the critical terms and schools, and all that. But still, on a deep and essential level, I was deaf...I guess one of my problems with this more modern kind of verse (modern in the old critical sense of Post-romantic' is that my relative tone-deafness ...blends with my eagerness to 'get it' to make the reading as much a task as it is a pleasure. I have been told that I'm going about it all wrongly, and I'm sure that's true. I should just let the poem flow over me, gleaning what I can with each reading. Then I could study the culture, the literary, historical, mythological background to be able to understand better...

And when I read The Jade Suit, I did it as one ought to. I carefully read the background and all the notes, both before and during. Then I worked my way slowly through the very dense, very rich meal, not trying to bite off too much to chew. I ended up having had a pleasurable experience, having 'got' several of the lines (the motion of the couple through time) (the references to Shi Huang-ti and the Great Wall) (the references to the rise of modern China). And I greatly enjoyed the interesting, useful, and well-written notes and background.. More importantly to me, I enjoyed many evocative images...which are the part of verse that I most enjoy.

To cite a few:
...like clouds lending speed to the moon.
(Prince Sheng's spirit) ...hung as a note upon a stave.
"The fish revolve; space into void, void into space... (delightfully evocative image of the yin/yang symbol, like two circling carp seen from above.)
The 'crowd-warmed game hall.'
and 'Stories and memories the only flowers of winter' which was an elegant image for a group of courtiers trying to pass the winter days when it is too cold for outings and games.

You have every reason to be proud of this poem (and of the production of the book). I've always been sorry that neither verse nor music were among my receptive skills. I know I miss out on a lot.

Good Work.

Trevanian