Jan Miklaszewicz's Blog, page 4

BOOK REVIEW - TALES AS OLD AS TIME

Tales As Old As Time by Sophie Bowns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun set of revamped fairy tales, my faves at this point being 'Frog, the Inventor' and 'The Devil in Pied Clothing'. The writer retains a bit of the language register used in stories of old, which is a nice touch. A small minus would be no links in the table of contents, meaning it's a bit of a faff if you want to pick out a specific fairy tale. Overall, though, a good job well done, and I'm happy to see more longer verse like this.

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LINES

You wanta partner whocan read between yours whilewriting as clear as daylight ontheir own.

GOD LITE

good old universehas zero expectations(nothing personal)

SLANDER GANDER

Swift to slander others captain candour blubbers when the geese give as good as the gander. 

OUT OF EDEN

That snake, said Adam, was it venomous? Nuh-uh, said Eve, just poisonous. 

BOOK REVIEW - A WORLD WHERE

A World Where by Paul Brookes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This collection is really up my street. The poems are by turns dark, funny, surreal, too real, and offbeat. Love the vernacular, too. It's a bit of a buzzword, I know, but there's a real authenticity at play here and I'm really pleased to have discovered this poet's work.

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BOOK REVIEW - SOUND NEVER DIES & OTHER POEMS

Sound Never Dies & Other Poems by C S Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really substantial collection, this. Serious here, a tad more playful there, but always with a finger on the beating pulse of language. Early favourites include 'This Poem Is A War Crime', which is particularly apt right now, 'Ghost of Morning' (pure envy from me here), and 'Fishbone Afternoon', containing as it does some absolutely gorgeous sounds. Highly recommend this!

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BOOK REVIEW - FAIRYTALES UNPICKED

Fairytales Unpicked by Sophie Bowns
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a fun book. The poems are cheeky, refreshing, and pleasingly dark. Nice to see more narrative poetry doing the rounds, too. The retelling of The Ugly Duckling was a stand-out on my first reading, though I'm sure my favourites will change as I dip back into it.

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BOOK REVIEW - THE DUST COLLECTOR

The Dust Collector by E.M. McConnell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this. The setting is so well realised (what a bleak, barren hellhole Woestynn is) and I found myself rooting for the laconic Darius, whose character and situation are revealed with great patience and skill as the story progresses. The Crawlers are pretty damn unpleasant, too, which is a bonus. Well worth a read.

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LOCUSTS

Honey in the wilderness and locusts, locusts, 
One can scarcely believe it so. 
Raiment of camel hair and locusts, locusts, 
One can scarcely believe it so. 
Girdle of leather and locusts, locusts, 
One can scarcely believe it so. 
Saviour in the Jordan but locusts, locusts! 
One can scarcely believe it so.