It should not be so hard to write both poetry and fiction. Both arts, after all, make use of the same materials, words and punctuation. Poems...
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This book is all that is properly grotesque - deftly mixed repulsion and fascination. This is Sorine's story, the story of a Danish dwarf "gifted" to Peter the Great. She's angry yet tender, confused yet wise. This book is rich but handled with a delicate touch, so it's not too cloying. This is not a proper bildungsroman. Her life is ugly with moments of brightness and if you're the sort who needs a clear path and a clear plot, then it's probably best to avoid this work. But if you don't mind some ramblings through the consciousness of a fascinating human - and despite what the rest of her world seems to think, Sorine is decidedly a human being - try this. It's up there with the best I've read this year.
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The Tsar's Dwarf by Peter H. Fogtdal
Maggie E, November 17, 2009
This book is all that is properly grotesque - deftly mixed repulsion and fascination. This is Sorine's story, the story of a Danish dwarf "gifted" to Peter the Great. She's angry yet tender, confused yet wise. This book is rich but handled with a delicate touch, so it's not too cloying. This is not a proper bildungsroman. Her life is ugly with moments of brightness and if you're the sort who needs a clear path and a clear plot, then it's probably best to avoid this work. But if you don't mind some ramblings through the consciousness of a fascinating human - and despite what the rest of her world seems to think, Sorine is decidedly a human being - try this. It's up there with the best I've read this year.(3 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)