Published by Jonathan Cape, part of Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback
£9.00
Author:
Adam Thorpe
Format: Paperback
EAN: 9780224063852
£9.00
Available for dispatch within 1-2 working days
EAN: 9780224063852
Published: 20 Nov 2003
Adam Thorpe's fourth collection continues his engagement with history: the living continuum that connects us with our near and distant past, nourishing and illuminating our present. Here are traces left of presence: Indian scratchings on rock, the nail-marks of destroyed frescoes, spoken fragments of war memories - petroglyphs that function as both memorials and re-awakenings, traceable with the finger of the imagination. And here, too, are images of the stilled, the stopped life: a snowed-up village, the paralysed victim of motor-neurone disease, a soft drink fermented in an old village cafe.
From this rueful equilibrium of mid-life, Thorpe circles his own personal history, allowing regret and anticipation their Janus-like say. These are erudite, generous poems, formally versatile yet rich in startlingly original observation and a natural lyric grace. Performing his unique archaeology on lives lived, Adam Thorpe once again displays the range of his imagination and the depth of his humanity.
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It's hard to imagine greater skill or concision. There are never going to be many poets in any generation who leave you strapped for superlatives; excitingly, Thorpe is one of them
- Literary Review
He is a powerful lyric poet, able to evoke place in the manner of Geoffrey Hill
- Observer
Excellent...Thorpe's poems are finely scored for the voice, but they go beyond the recognisable into the mystical
- Observer
Erudite, observant, an artist with the language
- Poetry Review
Verve and intelligence - a beauty of feeling and language
- Evening Standard
Elegiac, haunting landscape, a refusal to give redundant biographical detail, yet the feeling of genuine experience... masterly
- Times Literary Supplement
A writer with exceptional gifts
- Sunday Times
Adam Thorpe was born in Paris in 1956. His first novel, Ulverton, was published in 1992, and he has published two books of stories and six poetry collections - most recently Voluntary. His new translation of Madame Bovary has just been published by Vintage. He lives in France with his wife and family.
