|
|
|
|
|
|
HomeShop at BookSurgeBusiness & EconomicsLeadershippoems for augustine |
|
|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 2 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
 heh Jul 25, 2005
By marcus amaker
obviously the above review (by the conman) is meant for amusment. and amusing, it is. i laughed by ass off.
ANYWAY, i put my heart and soul into this work. the subject matter is pretty varied ... but the underlying theme deals with challenging depression and putting a name and face to it.
obviously, it's the best book ever. =)
 a sheer delight! Jul 22, 2005
By theconnman
"SC"
reviewed by theconnman
"poems for augustine" is a delightful romp that combines the spirit of "Benji" with the quiet morality and humor of "Babe," telling the story through poetry rather than prose.
In this mad-cap adventure, a ne'er-do-well border-collie pup named "Snickers" joins a strict, stern, but ultimately lovable Kodiak bear named "Morton" on a journey of self-discovery and introspection, but not without the occasional hearty laugh along the way. Amaker masterfully crafts a tale through free verse of the pup and bear team, beginning with their timid but hilarious first meeting, to their tragic parting near a polluted, overcrowded city. The majority of the poems relate their trials and tribulations down a winding mountain trail, symbolic of life itself, no doubt. The whole time, Snickers and Morton -- or "Morty" as Snickers insists on calling him, much to Morton's chagrin -- discuss their histories, the circumstances that brought them together, and the nature of life and death itself. Amaker uses the language of the animals and the dangers of the forest to convey, I believe, our own struggle right down to the offices, cars, and houses we "trap [our]selves in/Never to know the quiet of the night." His use of imagery is particularly noteworthy, since by contrast the pace and plotting can seem stilted at times.
I was unused to the idea of telling a story through poems, but Amaker is genuinely breaking new ground with the format, and some of his choices, particulary with the animals and their descriptions, seem far more direct than in an average prose work. One might argue he deals too humorously with such controversial subjects as alcoholism, abortion, suicide, and murder, or that by using animals to convey human emotions he's disconnecting himself from the reader or the text. But I found the entire book refreshing and thought-provoking, he's truly a voice to look at for.
|
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
