Friday 10 April 2009

An insightful review of Yet

There have been three reviews of Yet by poets who, I gather from their reviews, have read little experimental poetry. Trained in practical criticism to the exclusion of other ways of reading, it seems, the reviewers try hard to "decode" the poems rather than seeing how a poetics of consciousness might work. I don't fault them for that--it's partly a result of the gulf between mainstream and experimental British poetry.

Imagine my pleasure, then, on the occasion of Scott Thurston's more understanding review of Yet in Stride. I don't agree with all he says, but his appreciation of the Divinings as thinking through language in the lyric makes me hopeful that when Divining for Starters comes out at last, there will be some readers who enjoy it for what it is.

1 comment:

  1. A thoughtful and intelligent review indeed, Carrie. And I can assure you Scott Thurston won't be the only reader to appreciate Divining when it appears in full!
    I'd be interested to see, for comparison if nothing else, the "prac crit" reviews you mention... ;-)

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