Retribution Binary

by Ruth Baumann

RETRIBUTION BINARY is a study in wreckage and palpable absence. “The morphology of chaos.” Part dreamscape disjointed, part gutter-bucket realism, Baumann sings trauma in a syntactically ecstatic, trance-like pitch somewhere between punk rock and opera, not to be missed.

—Marcus Wicker, author of MAYBE THE SADDEST THING

Genres: Poetry

36 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2017

Reviews

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a self-professed scaredy cat when it comes to poetry, I was really pleasantly surprised by Retribution Binary. I wasn't thinking about what exactly Baumann meant or what I was supposed to get out of a certain line break because I was just so lost in her imagery. I did prefer the first half of the collection ("Girl") over the second, but overall it was a shame the chapbook was so short!

I never (ever) say this about poetry, but I would gladly read more of Baumann's poetry in the future.

[Danya Stoyanova]

I couldn't get a single thing.
English is not my mother tongue, but still...

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Plucks the hours from her life like petals, terrified there may be no stem."

[Vanya Prodanova · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't expect it to be so short this book, but even though it was very short, for me it was a challenge to understand most of the poems. The art of poetry is definitely the highest level of understanding of a language. The few poems from the collection which I successfully understood, I really enjoyed, but that was not enough.
The one thing that was really my main problem (given you always have access to a dictionary if you need it) was the strange and kind of chaotic way that the poems were structured. It was really confusing. Even, if I read these poems in my native language, I'll find them diffucult to read this way.

At the end, I can feel from every written word that Baumanm has incredible imaginary, but I'm girl who likes the simple poems, that speak to everyone with soft and understandable words. :)

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

2017 Read Harder
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#21 a book published by a micropress