I started and finished A Sense of Direction in one evening; I couldn't really stop thinking about it, so I couldn't put it down. I found it...
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"A Thing or Two About Curtis and Camilla" is superbly charming, from the depiction of Curtis's neighbor, Little Green, a little girl with whom he has an innocent friendship worthy of Holden Caulfield, to Camilla's beloved dachsund Phillip, to Curtis and Camilla themselves, to the very funny footnotes. Charming and also sad, as it recaptures that terrible feeling of hopeless love that can't last. The shots--and they're so visual, they seem like snapshots--of New York City are both vivid and hilarious. There were sections where I could not stop laughing, the same helpless laughter as I experienced reading Bruce Jay Friedman's "A Mother's Kisses," especially the section in a gym where Curtis contemplates changing his sexual orientation. I also like the cynicism of the music business, shown through a fat roommate of Curtis's. I love this book for its honest and wide range of emotions. It's "High Fidelity" in a literary vein, a really good vein!
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(8 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
Dana Levin's prize-winning book is stunning. The power of her rhythms and of her shocking images make her distinct among young, publishing poets. On the page, her verse is windy and strong, a breath of laden, almost tragic air infusing our minds with the grief of lost humanity. In the surgical theatre she constructs, she examines many cases that cannot be saved; yet, by posting angels (like Rilke's) in the corners of the operating room, she posits hope. And indeed, a very few poems construct a lifeline where someone's humanity is redeemed. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the poetry of humanity.
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(5 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)
Dana Levin's "In the Surgical Theatre" well deserves the prizes and publicity it's gathering. The poems are haunting; many, with their watching angels, evoke Rilke's "Duino Elegies," no mean comparison. Levin has a wide range of emotion so that while most of the poems are warnings about not losing our humanity, there are poems that celebrate the achievement of that humanity. For example, she writes of a young man's movement from fear of the lusts of his body to a beautiful acceptance and celebration of love. This book is an instant classic!
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(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
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mari-elaine has commented on (3) products.
A Thing (or Two) about Curtis and Camilla (Vintage Contemporaries) by Nick Fowler
mari-elaine, November 8, 2007
"A Thing or Two About Curtis and Camilla" is superbly charming, from the depiction of Curtis's neighbor, Little Green, a little girl with whom he has an innocent friendship worthy of Holden Caulfield, to Camilla's beloved dachsund Phillip, to Curtis and Camilla themselves, to the very funny footnotes. Charming and also sad, as it recaptures that terrible feeling of hopeless love that can't last. The shots--and they're so visual, they seem like snapshots--of New York City are both vivid and hilarious. There were sections where I could not stop laughing, the same helpless laughter as I experienced reading Bruce Jay Friedman's "A Mother's Kisses," especially the section in a gym where Curtis contemplates changing his sexual orientation. I also like the cynicism of the music business, shown through a fat roommate of Curtis's. I love this book for its honest and wide range of emotions. It's "High Fidelity" in a literary vein, a really good vein!(8 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
In the Surgical Theatre by Dana Levin
mari-elaine, November 1, 2007
Dana Levin's prize-winning book is stunning. The power of her rhythms and of her shocking images make her distinct among young, publishing poets. On the page, her verse is windy and strong, a breath of laden, almost tragic air infusing our minds with the grief of lost humanity. In the surgical theatre she constructs, she examines many cases that cannot be saved; yet, by posting angels (like Rilke's) in the corners of the operating room, she posits hope. And indeed, a very few poems construct a lifeline where someone's humanity is redeemed. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the poetry of humanity.(5 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)
In the Surgical Theatre by Dana Levin
mari-elaine, October 30, 2007
Dana Levin's "In the Surgical Theatre" well deserves the prizes and publicity it's gathering. The poems are haunting; many, with their watching angels, evoke Rilke's "Duino Elegies," no mean comparison. Levin has a wide range of emotion so that while most of the poems are warnings about not losing our humanity, there are poems that celebrate the achievement of that humanity. For example, she writes of a young man's movement from fear of the lusts of his body to a beautiful acceptance and celebration of love. This book is an instant classic!(5 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)