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drekklin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
4.75
Picked this one up from a display at the library and read it in a couple hours. Interesting formatting, a lot of poems reminded me of William S. Burroughs. It’s unsettling at times, coming untethered. The added context at the end was really
Impactful, made me rethink everything I had just read. The United States is a torture machine
Impactful, made me rethink everything I had just read. The United States is a torture machine
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Torture, and Sexual violence
Minor: Xenophobia
caleb_tankersley's review against another edition
5.0
Read my review of this book at Newpages.com: http://www.newpages.com/bookreviews/2011-02-01/#Captain-Asks-for-a-Show-of-Hands-by-Nick-Flynn
And good God, go buy the book!
And good God, go buy the book!
zach_collins's review against another edition
2.0
The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands is an underwhelming and surprisingly harmless response to the American war in Iraq and the Abu Gharib prison scandal. Filled with references to pop songs and lines lifted from other poets, Nick Flynn’s second collection of poems suggests that he isn’t confident enough to stand on his own work and feels like he has to bolster his image by associating himself with other successful artists, almost like a teenager attempting to gain credibility by getting a trendy tattoo or “liking” a certain band on facebook. It’s difficult for others to take you seriously if you define yourself by things made by other people.
The critical part of this collection is a series of poems Flynn created by “redacting” several testimonies given by inmates at the infamous Abu Gharib prison (the full testimonies are included in the notes for The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands). It is interesting how removing a few words can completely destroy the original message of the testimony, but because of their very nature and the intent of the author, these redacted poems cannot stand on their own, but each must be read alongside the original testimony for the message to come across. This exercise would have been more effective as a work of nonfiction on the American cover up of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, or maybe even a broader topic such as censorship and denial during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and I assume Flynn would have enough material for a full work of nonfiction, as he had traveled to Turkey to meet the former Abu Gharib inmates whose testimonies are used in this collection). As they are, the poems don’t adequately explore the concept of censorship, and they don’t add anything to the testimonies of the inmates.
Even so, these poems form the most powerful and immediate section of the entire book. I almost feel like all of the poems were somehow redacted and they would make more sense, or at least carry more weight, if I was allowed to read the original versions.
I’m still somewhat at a loss for what Flynn intended for The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands, but whatever it was, it didn’t leave too much of an impact with me.
The critical part of this collection is a series of poems Flynn created by “redacting” several testimonies given by inmates at the infamous Abu Gharib prison (the full testimonies are included in the notes for The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands). It is interesting how removing a few words can completely destroy the original message of the testimony, but because of their very nature and the intent of the author, these redacted poems cannot stand on their own, but each must be read alongside the original testimony for the message to come across. This exercise would have been more effective as a work of nonfiction on the American cover up of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, or maybe even a broader topic such as censorship and denial during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and I assume Flynn would have enough material for a full work of nonfiction, as he had traveled to Turkey to meet the former Abu Gharib inmates whose testimonies are used in this collection). As they are, the poems don’t adequately explore the concept of censorship, and they don’t add anything to the testimonies of the inmates.
Even so, these poems form the most powerful and immediate section of the entire book. I almost feel like all of the poems were somehow redacted and they would make more sense, or at least carry more weight, if I was allowed to read the original versions.
I’m still somewhat at a loss for what Flynn intended for The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands, but whatever it was, it didn’t leave too much of an impact with me.
tmaluck's review against another edition
3.0
While the lengthier poems make what I feel are powerful statements of cruel complicity and cultural confusion, a fair number of poems in here are also short to the point of feeling like scraps. The book may be printed on 100% postconsumer paper, but couldn't Flynn have made better use of all that empty space on the pages?
alanfederman's review
4.0
I have read two previous books by Nick Flynn ("Another Bullshit Night in Suck City" and "The Ticking is the Bomb"). Both were fantastic - difficult stories, more so because they were real. This is a book of poetry, some of which I had heard him read at Book Court in Brooklyn. Like his prose, Flynn pulls no punches - his images are jarring and in many of these poems there is the theme of war and torture from multiple perspectives and voices. As a newcomer to poetry (I think the last time I read a full book of poems was college), I found this a great way to understand an under-appreciated and under-read genre.
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