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sloatsj 's review for:
The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster
by Richard Brautigan
Of the load of books I read on my 2-week vacation this summer, this is the one I enjoyed most. It's a collection of mostly short poems that are overall funny and endearing. Anyone who writes a poem called "Haiku Ambulance" has already scored points with me. I also like the "versus" poems - "The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster," "General Custer versus the Titanic," etc. I like the "Galilee Hitch-Hiker" poems and also "The Wheel" and "I Lie Here in a Strange Girl's Apartment." My very favorite is "Your Catfish Friend."
Not all the poems go over well. Some were crippled by a bad joke or just seemed lame. "Flowers for Those You Love," for example, fell flat.
Butcher, baker, candlestick maker,
anybody can get VD,
including those you love.
Please see a doctor
if you think you've got it.
You'll feel better afterwards
and so will those you love.
**
Some of the poems seemed dated, too, though it may be my own brain dating them.
In the interest of fairness, here's one of the poems I liked:
Your Departure verus the Hindenburg
Every time we say good-bye
I see it as an extension of
the Hindenburg:
that great 1937 airship exploding
in medieval flames like a burning castle
above New Jersey.
When you leave the house, the
shadow of the Hindenburg enters
to take your place.
Believe it or not it's my first go at a book by Brautigan, although I've read a lot ABOUT him and remember well when he committed suicide in the 80s because at the time I was majoring in English at college. I remember also that he was somewhat dismissed for not being able "to grow" as a writer, that his work continued to do the same tricks over and over. Then and now, I don't necessarily find that grounds for criticism.
Not all the poems go over well. Some were crippled by a bad joke or just seemed lame. "Flowers for Those You Love," for example, fell flat.
Butcher, baker, candlestick maker,
anybody can get VD,
including those you love.
Please see a doctor
if you think you've got it.
You'll feel better afterwards
and so will those you love.
**
Some of the poems seemed dated, too, though it may be my own brain dating them.
In the interest of fairness, here's one of the poems I liked:
Your Departure verus the Hindenburg
Every time we say good-bye
I see it as an extension of
the Hindenburg:
that great 1937 airship exploding
in medieval flames like a burning castle
above New Jersey.
When you leave the house, the
shadow of the Hindenburg enters
to take your place.
Believe it or not it's my first go at a book by Brautigan, although I've read a lot ABOUT him and remember well when he committed suicide in the 80s because at the time I was majoring in English at college. I remember also that he was somewhat dismissed for not being able "to grow" as a writer, that his work continued to do the same tricks over and over. Then and now, I don't necessarily find that grounds for criticism.