Saturday, September 30, 2017
Leaves
Canal Bank Walk
Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal
Pouring redemption for me, that I do
The will of God, wallow in the habitual, the banal,
Grow with nature again as before I grew.
The bright stick trapped, the breeze adding a third
Party to the couple kissing on an old seat,
And a bird gathering materials for the nest of the Word
Eloquently new and abandoned to its delirious beat.
O unworn world enrapture me, encapture me in a web
Of fabulous grass and eternal voices by a beech,
Feed the gaping need of my senses, give me ad lib
To pray unselfconsciously with overflowing speech
For this soul needs to be honoured with a new dress woven
From green and blue and arguments that cannot be proven.
Patrick Kavanagh
My experience with that book: I liked the writing but gave it up quite early when the fictional Bush came on the scene. I just couldn't bear it. And off the topic, I disliked Sittenfeld's well-received contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, one of the most loathesome books I've come across. Non-fluffy short reads that come to mind: Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (read it now as it's "soon to be a major motion picture"), The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard Schlink, Between Them by Richard Ford, a highly intelligent memoir of his parents. If I rememeber correctly, Persephone has a book by Margherita Laski, Little Boy Lost, that's short, although I think quite painful.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about long books. My view about most novels over 350 pages in length: if it's not Tolstoy there's no use for it. Although I may make an exception and check out Paul Auster's 4321 which at least is composed of four different narratives.
Thank you for your comments and your suggestions, Phoebe.
ReplyDeleteI just bought Midwinter Break by MacLaverty an can't wait to start it - it looks so good!