Author: Anne Carson
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Sep 1993
Brief Reviews - Poetry by Barbara Carey Some poetry books venture far afield in form and/or material; others situate themselves on familiar ground. This month's batch of titles is a mixture of the restless and the stay-at-home, providing the pleasures of the unexpected and of recognition. Read more...
| Oct 2004
A Review of: If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Christopher Patton
"All desire is for part of oneself gone missing." So writes Anne
Carson in Eros the Bittersweet, her study of the twists and lures of
love in Greek lyric poetry. Eros takes his name from the Greek word
for lack or want. He takes his life from, and in turn gives life to,
our fear that we are insubstantial, incomplete, inadequate. He is our
hope that another person will complete us. When we meet someone who
holds the shape of an empty space in us, desire arises, full-ness is
promised, and Eros enters. Here, for example, is the god, overwhelming
Sappho as he enters her in the form of heat and light:
... Read more...
| Oct 2006
Lows and Highs by Iain Higgins
The two writers whose work is reviewed here are as different from each other as chalk and soy cheese. Gary Snyder seems to me more interesting for what he says than how he says it, though such a claim somewhat underestimates his quiet craft. Anne Carson strikes me as more interesting in her manner than her matter, even if to say this means underplaying her intelligence. Read more...
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