Fine Incisions: Essays on Poetry and Place

ORMSBY, Eric

ISBN 10: 0889843341 / ISBN 13: 9780889843349

Published by The Porcupine's Quill, Erin, ON, 2010

About this Item

255 p. 22 cm. Paperback. Inscribed by author on title page. Pencil underlining throughout. Essays on Yeats, Walter De la Mare, Bob Dylan, Tolstory, Katherine Anne Porter, La Fontaine, etc.

Seller Inventory # 128566

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fine Incisions: Essays on Poetry and Place
• Publisher: The Porcupine's Quill, Erin, ON
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0889843341
• ISBN 13: 9780889843349
• Binding: Softcover
• Condition: Very good +
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literary Criticism

About this title

Synopsis

"Fine Incisions" is a collection of twenty-four gracious, intelligent and occasionally fractious essays, wide-ranging in their interests and rigorous in their analyses. Ormsby's reverence for language is luminously clear as he examines his international travels, the work of James Merrill, the state of North American literary criticism and more in a series of essays as vivacious as they are provocative.

Review

From the heights of a sand dune in the desert to the achievements of Hart Crane and the minutae of a letter by Marianne Moore, Ormsby presents us with a world that is always fresh, and continually fascinating.'--Ian Ferrier "Montreal Review of Books "

Always, with Ormsby, things come down to the primacy of the word -- the sounds which shape and give ultimate authority. This is refreshing. It's sophisticated yet not done in a complex or over-technical way. It helps to eliminate the general and abstract at the same time as it shows the way such things can and do transform the ordinary into something greater, more permanent, able, through the shaping, to encompass and embody experience. It's admirable criticism and scholarship, certainly, but with the added dimensions of a poet's working knowledge, of fluent multilingual abilities, and a determined search for the almost sacramental autonomy of word and form. It's a heady brew.'--Chris Wiseman "Books in Canada "

... Ormsby is one of the two or three best English-language poets we [Canada] can fairly lay claim to. A fact that should be recognized someday.'--Alex Good & Steven W. Beattie "The Afterword "

A review like this one can only brush the surface of a collection so rich. And it's simply impossible to praise it sufficiently. Its rare erudition and worldliness provide perfect ballast for the chiseled sentences of the essays, which flicker and snap with the energy of live wires. Ormsby borrows his title from a poem by Emily Dickinson, and does her honor in these essays that have the penetration of literal incisions, openings that cut deep into mystery, opening it to reveal all its shining interior.'--Roger Sauls "Rover Arts "

Culture is not something so easily broken down. "Fine Incisions" is a study of literature and culture from Eric Ormsby, as he discusses North American Literary criticism and hopes to challenge it to rise to the challenge, as he mixes in memoir with his own studies of culture, language, literature, and so much more. A poet by trade, Ormsby's writing is sure to draw readers in, and his stories and discussions will resonate with any, critic and non-critic alike. "Fine Incisions" is a strong addition to any literary criticism collection, enthusiastically recommended.--Mary Cowper "Midwest Book Review "