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5.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible, varied and packed with warmth and humour!, 16 Dec 2000
By A Customer
"Stations of the Heart" is aptly named as this Liverpool-born resident of Aberdeen offers an accessible collection of poetry packed with places and emotions.Eddie Gibbons is at ease in a variety of poetic forms: villanelle, haiku, free verse... and he is a master of the witty epigram (Epitaph for Nico: The first/Velvet/Under/Ground). While some of his work is clearly for comic effect, other pieces effectively mix humour and outspoken social and political commentary (Euston to Euclid, www.coma and Haiku for Hussein, to name but three). Obviously creations of the post-Thatcher era, some of his works more effectively (and enjoyably!) denounce the destructiveness of her policies than many a political rant. Honed and deadly, the more tragic pieces fall nicely short of sentimentality and so hit one in the solar plexus - the best example is his mantra-like, sonorous and intensely moving Memorial (to the victims of the Piper Alpha oil disaster). The more personal works evoke people and eras that the reader may not have experienced directly; through the intercession of Mr Gibbons' pen one cannot help but feel nostalgia (Consider the Lily, a memory of the author's aunt in her heyday in swinging 60's Liverpool, is a good example). Although he's a master of the subtle portrayal of emotion, Eddie loves words for their own sake and is adept at playing with them. Portrait of Ana Dali is a poetic parody of Salvador Dali's art - a daring experiment that works! Jesse James Joyce wittily re-writes the history of the west to great poetic effect. This great book takes one on an emotional, political and geographical journey, and illustrates perfectly the saying that travel broadens the mind. It also opens the heart. I could go on and discuss every poem in this gem of a book, but I shall leave you with the information that none other than the great Les Murray, Australia's poetic genius, has lauded this, Eddie Gibbons' first book. So order it now, and if you're not absolutely delighted then poetry is not for you!
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