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jheinemann287's review against another edition
4.0
I put this collection on hold at the library immediately after reading Constellation Route, and I think I may have enjoyed this one even more. My instinct, without actually looking back at Constellation Route is that this collection doesn't have as much of the corniness as that one -- though we still get some and, hey, I'm not NOT here for it.
Also, in both (the letters/post office stuff in Constellation Route and museum exhibits/art here), Olzmann does a good job threading the needle between theme and gimmick.
Some favorites:
From "The Gallery of Every Living Thing" (75)
Who wouldn't long for some kind of release?
Who wouldn't scan the landscape for an exit route,
as he, without sleep, kept pointing and naming,
pointing and naming, each time hoping
that this was the last one?
But there is no end, he discovered.
Not even when he named the trails of ants
that latticed themselves over and under
the iron fence posts, or the worm
in the fruit, or the thing that crawled toward him,
on its belly, anonymous and kind.
From "The Raising of Lazarus" (47)
In fact, if Caravaggio hadn't titled this The Raising
of Lazarus, I'd have no reason to think I was witness
to the impossible. Yet here I am, like those painted
into the crowd, watching the body for a flicker of life.
The flare of a lung. A tremble in the lips.
Here's the power of saying something, of suggestion,
where the suggestion -- in this case, the painting's title--
makes the audience strain to see
what they're supposed to see: resurrection.
From "The Skull of an Unidentified Dinosaur" (21)
I imagine the man who wired these
dinosaur bones must have imagined
his vision was real, must have pictured
it alive. Covered in flesh, the imagined life
can also be terrifying -- able to cleave you
open with the swipe of a claw
or devour you in seconds.
But as it is now, having never existed
after tricking you into believing,
it eats at you more slowly, let's you feel
every new rip in your gut, makes you beg
Also, "Astronomer's Locate a New Planet" (41) and "Contradiction in the Design" (28). You kind of have to read those two in their entirety.
Also, in both (the letters/post office stuff in Constellation Route and museum exhibits/art here), Olzmann does a good job threading the needle between theme and gimmick.
Some favorites:
From "The Gallery of Every Living Thing" (75)
Who wouldn't long for some kind of release?
Who wouldn't scan the landscape for an exit route,
as he, without sleep, kept pointing and naming,
pointing and naming, each time hoping
that this was the last one?
But there is no end, he discovered.
Not even when he named the trails of ants
that latticed themselves over and under
the iron fence posts, or the worm
in the fruit, or the thing that crawled toward him,
on its belly, anonymous and kind.
From "The Raising of Lazarus" (47)
In fact, if Caravaggio hadn't titled this The Raising
of Lazarus, I'd have no reason to think I was witness
to the impossible. Yet here I am, like those painted
into the crowd, watching the body for a flicker of life.
The flare of a lung. A tremble in the lips.
Here's the power of saying something, of suggestion,
where the suggestion -- in this case, the painting's title--
makes the audience strain to see
what they're supposed to see: resurrection.
From "The Skull of an Unidentified Dinosaur" (21)
I imagine the man who wired these
dinosaur bones must have imagined
his vision was real, must have pictured
it alive. Covered in flesh, the imagined life
can also be terrifying -- able to cleave you
open with the swipe of a claw
or devour you in seconds.
But as it is now, having never existed
after tricking you into believing,
it eats at you more slowly, let's you feel
every new rip in your gut, makes you beg
Also, "Astronomer's Locate a New Planet" (41) and "Contradiction in the Design" (28). You kind of have to read those two in their entirety.
staceface's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
“Prayer For An Unremarkable Day” was perfect.
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