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A review by aceface
Kingdomland by Rachael Allen
3.0
There are some great poems in this collection, and Allen definitely has a sure sense of her own voice. The poems 'The Indigo Field', 'Prairie Burning', 'The Slim Man' and 'Banshee' really stood out to me, as well as the series of untitled poems that lace through the collection really wonderfully. The surreality of the book is great - sometimes funny, often a little disturbing (which I don't mind too much).
But, unfortunately, I found myself thinking something that I thought at times when reading passages of 'The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem' - what is the significance of what I'm reading? I'm definitely not saying that there was none, only that it was lost on me in this reading of the collection. I suppose an anthology like 'The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem' has the advantage of having a range of poets and styles, so my impression could change in a little more from page to page. But with this, there were just times that I felt like I was reading something just for the sake of running my eyes over the words, and I really wanted more than that. But as a whole, I think the collection is impressive. The reoccurring images of burning forests, fields, prairies, the sea and dead flesh all seem to build up together into a narrative of sorts. I only realised this right at the end of the collection - and it hit me like a tonne of bricks - so perhaps I would get much more out of this collection with a reread. I hope it grows on me with age.
But, unfortunately, I found myself thinking something that I thought at times when reading passages of 'The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem' - what is the significance of what I'm reading? I'm definitely not saying that there was none, only that it was lost on me in this reading of the collection. I suppose an anthology like 'The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem' has the advantage of having a range of poets and styles, so my impression could change in a little more from page to page. But with this, there were just times that I felt like I was reading something just for the sake of running my eyes over the words, and I really wanted more than that. But as a whole, I think the collection is impressive. The reoccurring images of burning forests, fields, prairies, the sea and dead flesh all seem to build up together into a narrative of sorts. I only realised this right at the end of the collection - and it hit me like a tonne of bricks - so perhaps I would get much more out of this collection with a reread. I hope it grows on me with age.