Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters
Does Wood review poetry? If not, that may explain why he was flummoxed by The Road.
I think in review of poetry, you are much more likely to deal with the thing that is directly before you.
You don't spend time second-guessing particular words, or poem endings. You look at what it is. You don't imagine the poems that are not there. You consider the poem that is there.
You want a different poem? Go write your own.
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Maybe you would imagine a different poem if it had a plot. I always the Aeneid ended abruptly--probably does since Virgil hadn't finished it when he died.
Of course your post made me google James Wood and poetry. (What did we do without the Internet!) The linked review of Wood's recent book about the art of fiction (I have it; a slight but tough read) gives some quotations concerning Wood's opinions of poetry and poetry vs. the novel. I don't think he's talking about the Iliad or the Aeneid.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008...iction.reviews