P.J. Kavanagh
Peter Reading's Ukulele Music (Seeker & Warburg) is unlike anything else. He takes, for the most part, horrible bits of experience (granny-bashings, and so on) and makes poems of them, without relish. This should guarantee him a place in some Gallery of Pseuds but it does not; because of his tone and skill it enlarges the world that poetry can incorporate. Little Girl Lost, The Poetry of Stevie Smith by Arthur C. Rankin (Barnes & Noble) is a slim essay that seriously examines the themes and methods of Stevie Smith. As she is a poet of great accessibility and popularity, who could be quite as disturbing as Peter Reading, it is time this was done and it is done well.
My least favourite book of this or any other year remains The White Hotel by D. M. Thomas.
To be continued next week
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