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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
Generally, I find blackout poetry a bit gimmicky - just sort of cut and paste shenanigans, really. This one was saved by the sheer scope of its project: take an entire Victorian novel, spend decades finding little nuggets of poetry in each page, painting over everything else, then rearranging the pages into some sort of thematic order.
For example:
http://www.chrismclaren.com/blog/wp-content/images/2008/04/142.jpg
A few dozen of the poem-pages struck me as pretty bland and uninspired, and were a bit of a drudge to get through. When the individual lines/poem-pages were good, though, they absolutely soared.
All in all, the book didn't win me over to the blackout style, but it definitely caught my eye and juggled with it for a few hours
For example:
http://www.chrismclaren.com/blog/wp-content/images/2008/04/142.jpg
A few dozen of the poem-pages struck me as pretty bland and uninspired, and were a bit of a drudge to get through. When the individual lines/poem-pages were good, though, they absolutely soared.
All in all, the book didn't win me over to the blackout style, but it definitely caught my eye and juggled with it for a few hours
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
"With Beckett’s ears, you don’t need to emphasize them. They emphasize themselves!"
My conversation with Tom Phillips can be read for free at The Collidescope here: https://thecollidescope.com/2021/10/01/failing-better-a-conversation-with-tom-phillips/
Spread the word!
My conversation with Tom Phillips can be read for free at The Collidescope here: https://thecollidescope.com/2021/10/01/failing-better-a-conversation-with-tom-phillips/
Spread the word!
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
poetry, art, creativity, victorian
challenging
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
challenging
funny
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I'm going to edit this review when I submit my MA thesis on Humument. #manifest
Certainly a beautiful physical object, but not a super strong literary work. The text exhumed from the original was pretty haphazard and had neither narrative nor tonal interest. Many of the pages were visually stunning (though many were not) and I'm glad it exists (and that I have access to it) as an early published altered book.