"In spite of the risks involved in broad generalisation, let me start with a premise: while much of UK poetry seems to run scared of big abstract nouns, fearful of being sucked into their black hole of mish-mashed connotations and interpretations, American poetry seems to have long overcome such hang-ups and self-limitation."
The above is the first paragraph of my review of Brad Johnson's The Dichotomy Paradox for Sphinx. You can read the whole piece here, alongside alternative views from Matt Merritt and Helen Evans.
In spite of many possible exceptions, am I right? If so, why?
DISPLACED They called her aloof, impractical, clumsy, plain. It was, they
say, difficult for her not to fall in love.In spite, that is, of the first
coughs...
I'm not sure how to respond to your generalization, but it reminded me of Jeffrey Side on Bob Dylan a few years ago:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.argotistonline.co.uk/Side%20essay%202.htm