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Title: Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions (Yale Series of Younger Poets (Paper), No 95) by Maurice Manning, W. S. Merwin ISBN: 0-300-08998-8 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (9 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: excellent book
Comment: A truly exciting debut. This book is a theatrical production--a triumphant coming together of imagination, personality and style.
Rating: 5
Summary: Intense
Comment: Once again the Yale Series of Younger Poets has brought a wonderful collection to print. Maurice Manning's "Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions" is a deeply intense book of poems that is likely to affect every reader that comes across it. At times frightening, the poems are about the world of a boy named Lawrence Booth, or Law, at different points during his childhood and adolescence. The characters and events are recounted in a wonderfully vivid manner, but much of the time you are left wondering what is really is occurring in Law's life, and what is just a "vision."
The most remarkable aspect of this book is the use of voice. Different poems are written in different ways, which contributes to the animated nature of the book. At one end of the spectrum are the "Dreadful Chapters" which are written in a backwoods voice that, on the page, may look confusing because of spelling, but when read aloud are amazingly real and powerful: "An why come Law git stuck wit such a name / dat he alway cipher wrong from right-- / so much he git a tooth-clench mood to fight?" (from "Dreadful Chapter Two). At the opposite end is a more elegant voice that uses beautiful metaphors: "Sheepish as a far off echo, Lawrence Booth wades / into the Great Fields and the wide-yawning night" (from "Bellwether"). And, of course, there are countless voices to be found in this collection that lie somewhere in between these two extremes.
One thing must be noted is that this collection is difficult to understand. The poems are not in chronological order, and are sometimes missing some information that is given in another poem later or earlier in the book. Furthermore, some poems are "unconventional." One is in the form of a geometry proof, and another is a complaint form. Personally, though, I think that the search for answers in this book is a big part of the joy in reading it. Piecing together information, finding links between poems because of a certain voice, phrase, or word used, and concentrating on the imagery and form was a pleasure to do, and it really added to the experience of the book. I feel that the ambiguity within the pages helps to suggest the uncertainty in Law's life.
I have rated Manning's book at five out of five stars. It was undoubtedly the best book of poetry I have come across this year, and I am sure he will be bringing us more in the future.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Brillaint Collection of Visions
Comment: Compelling and captivating, this book kept me engrossed from cover to cover. The book keeps you guessing from beginning to end and hence engages the reader at all times. In the book, Maurice Manning gives us glimpses from the life of Lawrence Booth but holds back the entire picture and it is like a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces missing and hence the reader, trying to see the complete picture, is constantly guessing.
That is not the only charm that the book has. What is fascinating is that it is an adult painting a vision of the world through the eyes of a child and not just any child but the strange Lawrence Booth; a child with a fascinating and vivid imagination and a vision of the world that is colored by his troubled home life. A window in to the hopes, dreams and experiences of Lawrence, one cannot help but fall in love with this strange, distressed boy. Your heart goes out to this boy who has been robbed of a childhood due to his difficult family circumstances.
If it seems that the book is a collection of melodramatic and melancholic poems, it is certainly not true. For what stands out most in all these poems is the courage and spunk of Lawrence Booth. His indomitable spirit shines through each poem bringing forth a sense of self-deprecating humor despite his hard family life for he is "The boy with the brains God gave a goose. The boy who took thirteen rabies shots in the belly." This removes any possible air of depression from the book in fact the straight, matter of fact and brutally honest narration gives the book a humorous quality. The language used is honest and in the poems called "Dreadful chapters" it is written as it is spoken. His ability to capture in words not only the accent but also the true feelings and emotions make this book fascinating to read.
There is a wide variety of poems in this short collection for poems like "Shady Grove" will make you think of profound questions, the "Dreadful Chapters" might make you cringe with their language or disturbing scenarios, "Prisoner of Conscience" and "Seventeen" will make you laugh out loud at their blunt sincerity while poems such as "Beck" and "Complain" will astound you with their unconventional formats. Hence, even though the central characters remain the same, each poem offers something new and keeps the reader guessing where it fits in, into the greater picture of Lawrence Booth's life.
During the course of the book it is impossible to dissociate the voice of Manning from that of Booth, which is evidence of the success of the poetry, by the end you are immersed in Booth's friendship with Black Damon, his attachment to Red Dog and his love for the mysterious, Missionary Woman. this book is fascinating and interesting to read. Although some of the images and ideas are violent are disturbing they are thought provoking and sincere. And like any good book of poetry this book will leave you crying and laughing and most important of all, wanting you to come back to it again.
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Title: Jelly Roll : A Blues by Kevin Young ISBN: 0375414606 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 14 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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