Take a photo of a barcode or cover
alchemymakes 's review for:
The Golden Gate
by Vikram Seth
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This week-and-change's reading matter:
the novel-poem THE GOLDEN GATE,
a structural marvel, fit to flatter -
the masterpiece of Vikram Seth,
patchwork, vivid, pensive, vital.
(His surname's said to rhyme the title.)
Six hundred stanzas' worth depicts
San Fran in 1986:
a friend-group, Liz, Phil, John and Janet,
Ed, Sue, their pets, lives interleaved -
loved-up, rebuffed, beset, bereaved,
and fearful for a fragile planet.
It's Reagan's nukes that haunt their stage -
but still rhymes with the present age.
Seth's yuppies haven't met the iPhone,
but there's some questions never date:
is this the one to spend your life on,
or have you left a change too late?
They stumble through six hundred stanzas,
and find more questions, and few answers.
John gets more screen time than the rest,
and mostly shows he's not the best -
all fragile privilege and temper;
(he starts to change, perhaps, in time.)
It's the supporting cast who shine,
off from the straight-white-male centre.
Read it for Ed, Phil, Liz, the cat;
and Jan, who deserved more than that.
the novel-poem THE GOLDEN GATE,
a structural marvel, fit to flatter -
the masterpiece of Vikram Seth,
patchwork, vivid, pensive, vital.
(His surname's said to rhyme the title.)
Six hundred stanzas' worth depicts
San Fran in 1986:
a friend-group, Liz, Phil, John and Janet,
Ed, Sue, their pets, lives interleaved -
loved-up, rebuffed, beset, bereaved,
and fearful for a fragile planet.
It's Reagan's nukes that haunt their stage -
but still rhymes with the present age.
Seth's yuppies haven't met the iPhone,
but there's some questions never date:
is this the one to spend your life on,
or have you left a change too late?
They stumble through six hundred stanzas,
and find more questions, and few answers.
John gets more screen time than the rest,
and mostly shows he's not the best -
all fragile privilege and temper;
(he starts to change, perhaps, in time.)
It's the supporting cast who shine,
off from the straight-white-male centre.
Read it for Ed, Phil, Liz, the cat;
and Jan, who deserved more than that.