It’s time for me to refocus back on the RDF Poetry Finder, and to that end I made a trip to my favorite place tonight — my local library. Among the prizes brought home are Folk Poetics: A Sociosemiotic Study of Yoruba Trickster Tales by Ropo Sekoni; Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris, and John Le Carré’s newest (for me that is), The Constant Gardener
I used to buy all the new Le Carré book’s for my father, who is a huge fan of his. I’d then borrow the books from my Dad to read, though this type of political suspense/thriller isn’t necessarily my favorite type of book. Still, I can admire a way with the written word, which Le Carré definitely has.
When I spotted The Constant Gardener, I checked the flyleaf to see what it was about. I was curious as to who could possibly be the new type of villain since so many of Le Carré’s stock and trade antagonists have turned out to be paper tigers. According to the cover:
A master chronicler of the deceptions and betrayals of ordinary people caught in political conflict, Le Carré portrays, in The Constant Gardener, the dark side of unbridled capitalism.
Oh my. Le Carré’s finally found a villain he can sink his teeth into and hold on for the rest of his career — western capitalism. Of course I had to bring the book home.
The Folk Poetics book covers Trickster from an African perspective and looks to be an effective blend of story and analysis, thorough but possibly a bit dry. As I was checking it out, I found that it also isn’t a popular book — it’s been in the St. Louis library system since 1994, but I’m the first person to have checked it out. It’s an old new book, with crispy, limp, dusty, fresh, bright, faded pages.
Anyway, back to RDF and the Poetry Finder now that the technician’s been silent, and the poets have had a chance to chat in my comments.