Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Saturday 18 June 2016

"The Hudson Review (LX11.2, Summer 2009)"

1 story, 9 poets, some essays and some reviews (covering opera, art galleries, etc). On the front cover by the bar code it says "Display until October 15, 2009". The first long essay concerns food. There are poems about historical characters - Wordsworth, Longfellow, Spender, MacNeice - and several set in the countryside. It feels a little escapist. A poem about George Foreman the boxer can't help but hark back to Troy. The poetry hovers on the edge of narrative prose - here's the start of "Thomas Reiter's "Entryways" - "Good sun and drainage, so we'll turn/ the soil and give it blood meal, then work/ our Tom Thumb Carrot Seed Dispenser,/ an inoculator's tube and plunger./ And in time install a half-pint/ of ladybugs, the garden's SWAT team.". There are long essays on Robbie Burns, Milton biographies, EM Forster's broadcasting and criticism, and the more recent Lee Wiley (who however is a singer). I like "The Afterlife", and wish there were more poetry, fewer (or shorter) essays and more stories that weren't quite as telly as the long one in this issue.

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