Thursday, June 26, 2008

Richard Howard: Without Saying

Without Saying, Richard Howard (Turtle Island, 2008)

[34/100]

Richard Howard writes dramatic monologues, sturdy & subtle, historical or literary characters telling little stories. It's not work I seek out, or linger over; I always read his poems with pleasure, but am rarely moved. Sometimes I find myself comparing them, to their detriment, with Guy Davenport's stories: I'll take Guy's "Aeroplanes at Brescia" (Kafka almost meets Wittgenstein) over Howard's "Only Different" (Henry James almost meets L. Frank Baum) any day. The best piece is "Pederasty," a leering little sonnet after Proust.

1 comment:

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I love the dramatic monologues because the person who does it should be really creative to catch the people's attention, dramatic monologues are the best for me.m10m