April Lindner

Summary: An anthology of works in diverse styles, aesthetics, and forms from 23 Catholic poets born since 1950.

During the time I was savoring the poetry in this work, a friend of mine expressed the desire to read more poetry but didn’t know where to start. I suggested finding anthologies that allow one to sample the works of many poets to find those one likes. And this anthology is a great place to begin.

What is Contemporary Catholic Poetry? The editors define “contemporary” as born after 1950, writing between the mid-1970’s and the present. A “Catholic” is one who was baptized Catholic and has not renounced their faith. It does not have to do with content, which ranges widely over human experience. Nevertheless, the editors note that Catholic poetry may be characterized as having a sacramental view of reality. That is true of this collection. Finally, poetry covers a variety of forms. There is political and personal poetry; performative and meditative poetry.

In all, twenty-three poets appear in this anthology, organized alphabetically by last name with three to eight poems by each writer. The editors introduce each poet with a brief biography. A date appears at the end of each poem indicating when it was first published. Generally the works are shorter. Ned Balbo’s “Hart Island” is a notable exception spanning ten pages. He chronicles the history of this island off New York harbor that served as a prisoner of war camp, prison, “Madhouse, workhouse, women’s hospital.”

I cannot possibly summarize all the poets, even less all the works that appear here. Without intending to slight any, I’ll single out a few that caught my attention. I’ve long been familiar with the name of Dana Gioia, first poet to head the national Endowment for the Arts. But this is my first time to read his poetry, and I bought more of it as a result. In “Interrogations at Noon” he writes, “Just before noon I often hear a voice, / Cool and insistent, whispering in my head. / It is a better man I might have been, / Who chronicles the life I’ve never led.” I felt like he was listening to the voice in my head!

Julia Alvarez’s “Folding My Clothes” writes of the mother who carefully folded her clothes “which she found so much easier to love.” Marie Howe, in “Prayer” writes of all the aspirations and distractions any of us experience who try to pray. “Fontanel”, by April Lindner, a co-editor, is a tender meditation on the “Canvas-thin” ��stretch of skin” on a newborn’s head whose skull bones have not yet fused. In “Castizo” by Orlando Ricardo Menes, the poet reflects on his mother’s aspirations that he prove himself of “good stock,” unlike his father, a manual laborer. Instead, he asserts that all our handiwork “is charged with grace.”

I liked Daniel Tobin’s work. “Aftermath” is a spare reflection on 9/11. He likens the ascent of souls to the pervasive ashes visible in the floodlit night. David Yezzi, the last poet in this collection reflects on the triumph of weeds in his garden and words of his grandmother.

In summary, the editors speak of giving this book as a gift, hoping it will be a welcome one. I certainly found it so on many levels. It introduced me to some great poets I hope to read more of. The poems both evoked realities I’ve not experienced and resonated with ones that I have. Finally, like so many great poems, these served as windows offering glimpses of transcendent realities in the commonplaces of life.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.… (more)

I wasn’t very fond of the main character, Lucy. I know I was supposed to take her side in all of the squabbles with her travelmate yet nearly every time I thought Lucy was the one being kind of petty and short-tempered and coming across as spoiled. She ditches Charlene left and right, she dates a guy a friend already had her eye on, she cheats on someone, the one time she finally gets fed up enough with Jesse to lash out, I thought well finally, here’s maybe a moment where I can get behind this girl, but no, she almost immediately felt the need to apologize to him. Too often I found myself shaking my head at her actions. There’s a point in the book where it seems like life will become more difficult for Lucy and I wish the book had leaned more into that, unfortunately, the ending didn’t do much to improve my opinion of her, wrapping things up so easily that it just added to the sense of how priviledged she is.

I liked Jesse even less than I liked Lucy, at least she felt like a fully formed character. There’s almost no backstory revealed about this guy and few personality traits beyond him being noncommunicative, prone to ghosting, and being a street musician who didn’t even seem to have aspirations to be a musician. For me, his character was too underwritten, but if you’re in a phase of liking broody boys who treat the girl in their life like an afterthought, you might have a higher tolerance for him than I did.

This modern re-telling of A Room With A View loosely follows the basic structure of the orignal though this mostly stays on the surface of things, it doesn’t really get into independence coming at a cost, there’s no sense of class differences in the love story, and the crime scene in A Room With A View was pivotal in pushing the lovers together whereas here the crime scene doesn’t add or change anything, it’s barely given a thought before they move on from it, it just seemed tacked in here for the sake of the re-telling rather than necessary.

I did think Italy was nicely described, and I liked Charlene, the character you’re supposed to like least, which I guess maybe right there suggests that this book and I simply weren’t compatible enough.… (more)

2.5 Stars

Well sadly this was a weak makeover of one of my favourite classics, [b:A Room with a View|3087|A Room with a View|E.M. Forster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388781285l/3087._SY75_.jpg|4574872].

Our modern Lucy is a bit annoying at times so I found it hard to get behind her. It's a shame because the reimagining itself was pretty good. Unfortunately the powerful metamorphosis of Lucy in the classic felt a little diluted in the modern version. Maybe because the original was set in a time where women had very little right to make decisions about their lives and the fact that she took control of her future was cause for a big fanfare in my heart. A good addition to the library nonetheless.… (more)

I love Jane Eyre and was very intrigued at a modern retelling. Lindner somehow manages to capture the feel of Charlotte Bronte's narrative style through the voice of Jane Moore.

I honestly wasn't sure I would like this. There are so many things about the original story that I was certain couldn't translate believably to the modern day. And yet... there is suspension of disbelief, but then there has to be in any fiction.

I sped through this and while reading the book, the story lived dreamily in my head after I had put the book down to go about my day, and I couldn't wait to get back to it.

Fabulous.… (more)