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mary_soon_lee's review
4.0
This book takes five poems by John Philip Johnson and presents them as graphic stories, illustrated by different artists. This is a marvelous idea for making poetry entertaining to a larger audience. That said, I myself am comic-book-challenged. I enjoy Garfield comics and Peanuts, but not, say, Neil Gaiman's graphic books, even though I have loved several of Gaiman's novels. So I will not attempt to comment on the artwork.
The poems are largely excellent, though I am zombie-impaired as well as comic-book-challenged. I don't recall ever having liked a zombie piece, and the zombie poem in this book, "You are Horror and Light," didn't appeal to me.
My favorite poem here is "After the Changeling Incantation," which I loved in its entirety, but especially the phrase "filling your wings with sky" and the closing lines. This is a wise, wonderful, wondrous poem, evoking character and situation, and the larger story behind them.
I also loved the surreal title poem, "Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town." The poem leads the reader down the stairs with it, from the specific commonplace details near the start, down to a stranger, larger place. The ending is powerful and perfect.
John Philip Johnson has mastered endings. I found the first three quarters of the short poem "The Secret Edge of the World" fine, but the ending was more than fine. It was excellent.
A great concept for a book, with great poetry in it.
The poems are largely excellent, though I am zombie-impaired as well as comic-book-challenged. I don't recall ever having liked a zombie piece, and the zombie poem in this book, "You are Horror and Light," didn't appeal to me.
My favorite poem here is "After the Changeling Incantation," which I loved in its entirety, but especially the phrase "filling your wings with sky" and the closing lines. This is a wise, wonderful, wondrous poem, evoking character and situation, and the larger story behind them.
I also loved the surreal title poem, "Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town." The poem leads the reader down the stairs with it, from the specific commonplace details near the start, down to a stranger, larger place. The ending is powerful and perfect.
John Philip Johnson has mastered endings. I found the first three quarters of the short poem "The Secret Edge of the World" fine, but the ending was more than fine. It was excellent.
A great concept for a book, with great poetry in it.
divadiane's review
5.0
I rarely give 5 stars. According to GoodReads 5 stars are for the most amazing books. So, unless it's truly amazing I will give a great book 4 stars. this one gets 5. The poems are all excellent, the illustrations/artwork are stunning and the product is wonderful.
I have reviewed this wonderful collection in depth on the SFPA website: http://sfpoetry.com/sl/reviews/14reviews.html
And an expanded review at Amazing Stories: http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2015/05/graphic-poetry-review-stairs-appear-hole-outside-town/
The complete title poem with the illustration and recitation by me (look for the audio file at the end of the graphic poem) can be found on Rattle.com: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/tag/graphic-poetry/
I have reviewed this wonderful collection in depth on the SFPA website: http://sfpoetry.com/sl/reviews/14reviews.html
And an expanded review at Amazing Stories: http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2015/05/graphic-poetry-review-stairs-appear-hole-outside-town/
The complete title poem with the illustration and recitation by me (look for the audio file at the end of the graphic poem) can be found on Rattle.com: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/tag/graphic-poetry/
jamescroaljackson's review
4.0
There are five great speculative poems in here accompanied by stunning artwork. Each poem is relatable and digs at the human condition despite the fantastic subject material. The goose poem is my favorite, and I've read it several times already.
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