Destruction Myth: Poems

by Mathias Svalina

Poetry. Expanding the palette of contemporary surrealism while harkening back to the stories and prayers at the origin of poetry, DESTRUCTION MYTH is a series of absurdist myths of creation and destruction that are at times both inventively silly and surprisingly emotionally direct. This book attempts the world again and again, only to find that even the most ridiculous of creations contains the seeds of its own destruction.

Genres: Poetry, Surreal

83 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

Reviews

[Carrie Lorig · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am exposed to "surreal scenarios" so often that i am beginning to feel, not annoyed with them, but i am wanting more from them. initially, reading this, i felt that. and in the end, there were still times i wanted this to surprise me in the way it was trying to digest me into itself. i am so interested in what a scenario actually tells us and how we might make it tell us more. however, it's also incredibly smart, deft, thrilling, and heartbreaking. the world is created and destroyed so many times in the text it doesn't matter anymore how it got here. it's still the same horrible / incredible place that is about to fall apart. some of these sentences collected together, too, really ripped my throat apart. so careful and painful and BIGsmall. a very fun book to read and finish just before the bus breaks down on the side of the road. it will make you run up the embankment of the MN HWY in case it's end of days time in the cornfield just over there.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpected in its imagery and playfulness. Darkly funny.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Destruction Myth is an inventive, exciting, and genre-defying collection. It reminded me much of something one of my favorite authors, Italo Calvino, would write, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Svalina name drop Calvino. I love surrealist snapshots like those offered in Destruction Myth. Svalina’s writing is at times whimsical, absurd, and thought-provoking. Ultimately, he’s gotten me interested in reading more of his work and Destruction Myth will inevitably be one of those few works I return to again and again.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little repetitive but the multiple "Creation" periods are a blast. Rather it's the who, what, where...and you get the point.
A mixed concoction of absurd, dark, humorous revisions of how it all began.

Creation pages that I followed all the way to the Destruction of it all or what Svalina calls it THE END.

#7, #29, #42, #54, #57

[Marissa Kempf · Rating 4 out of 5]

weird but wildly inventive and hilarious

[Trey Harris]

halfway through this book I asked myself "what makes this poetry?" and by the end I realized it was because it couldn't be anything else.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was the strangest thing I've ever read. For surprising me, making me laugh and giving me headaches:
- B

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one again and it does not disappoint. A heap of creation and a clump of destruction. Svalina's origin story of sorts. Recommended for poetry lovers who haven't smiled in a while.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Brilliant. Terrific, a new writer to stalk.

[Ryan Bollenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

"X.

Years later the history books
will refer to The End
as The Intervention."

[Kenji · Rating 5 out of 5]

inventively silly and trenchant

[James Grinwis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Destruction Myth had my awe from first line to last. Thanks Mathias Svalina!

[Martyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection for two reasons; both of them pretty obvious to me and which may also turn out to be my opinion only.

I really appreciated the taking back of creation myths from religious territory and the presentation of them as wildly chaotic and random events - they made about as much sense as a "Creationist" creation myth and at the same time made a whole lot more sense as a way of looking at the blinding surrealism of the universe and reality.

I also loved the humor, which ran througout the book. There were many moments where I laughed quite openly and honestly, and I really appreciated that.

One of my favorite lines, taken completely out of the context in which it came as a stunning surprise, was this:

"For the PhD in air one had to get one's pilot's license, one had to live on the beaches in North Carolina for a summer & work at the kite shop".

It's not fair to pluck that line out at random because it was in context that it made me say out loud "Perfect!" (It was the "& work at the kite shop" that did it for me).

Very inventive and funny; I'd recommend you try it.

[Letitia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really beautiful poems here. Particularly loved the creation myth that starts "God created the world in a span of four years" and "My mother and father are both chemists". Although I was sometimes annoyed by what seemed like a kind of forceful flippancy in some of the poems, Matthias Svalina is such a good poet & this is a strong collection.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inventive, beautiful, exotic. A book that everyone should own and read aloud to their children before they drift off to sleep or if you don't have children to yourself, over and over.

[Mark Mullee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very absurd, very engrossing. Has the best table of contents I've ever seen. A good book to read in one go, for the cumulative effect, to get you in a good sweat.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are certainly some evocative passages of languages here, the conceit does run thin in places.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

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