tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2989090137714864005.post5548246543141373580..comments2008-10-03T22:28:37.832+13:00Comments on Recent Poets and Fiction in NZ: Peter Reading's mean streetsDr Jack Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01805945600952222957noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2989090137714864005.post-5690869202207331562008-07-26T11:10:00.000+12:002008-07-26T11:10:00.000+12:00"Per me si va tra la perduta gente / Lasciate ogni..."<EM>Per me si va tra la perduta gente / Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate.</EM>"<BR/><BR/>This is the famous inscription above the gates of the city of Dis in Dante's <EM>Inferno</EM>:<BR/><BR/>"By me go in amongst the lost people / Lay down all hope, you that enter here" <BR/><BR/>I like your analogy with the death by fire, Gregory -- very appropriate. I still think there's a lot more to be said about the form of Reading's poetry, though. What precisely is the narrative of the poem, and how does one deduce it from so many mosaic fragments?Dr Jack Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01805945600952222957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2989090137714864005.post-65799535831991683942008-07-18T11:42:00.000+12:002008-07-18T11:42:00.000+12:00Brent Beattie's death certainly serves as a local ...Brent Beattie's death certainly serves as a local exemplification of Reading's poetry. How easy it would be for us to say "Oh but he's talking about England, that stuff doesn't happen here." Unfortunately it does, not to the same extent perhaps but that's not a good reason to turn a blind eye. <BR/><BR/>I have to admit that I really don't enjoy reading these kinds of poems, but I do appreciate them. Being forced to face the underbelly of our society is a prompt into some kind of action, even if it is only making the 0900 phone line donation to the Auckland City Mission. There can be the danger when you're involved in the high culture of literature and the arts in general to get your head stuck in the 'beauty cloud', blissed out in an artistic head space. It's not a bad thing, of course, but writing like Peter Reading's reminds us that, oi, there are some other things that need looking at and commenting on and they're down here in the gutter.Kathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16731173186767835989noreply@blogger.com