Aprender a dormir

by John Burnside

Several ghosts haunt Learning to Sleep, John Burnside's first collection of poetry in four years - from the author's mother, commemorated in an exquisitely charged variant on the pastoral elegy, to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, who wanders an implausible Lincolnshire landscape looking for some sign of belonging. Throughout the book, the powers and dominions of a lost pagan ancestry emerge unexpectedly through the gaps in contemporary life: half-seen and fleeting, but profoundly present. Behind it all, the figure of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep, marks Burnside's own attempts to come to terms with the severe sleep disorder from which he has suffered for years, a condition that culminated in the recent near-death experience that informs the latter part of the book. Add to this a series of provocative meditations on the ways in which we are all harmed by institutions, from organised religion, or marriage, to the tawdry concepts of gender and romantic love that subtly govern our personal lives, and Learning to Sleep reveals Burnside at his most elegiac, while still retaining a radical pagan's sense of celebration and cultural independence.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published August 5, 2021

About the author

John Burnside was a Scottish writer. He was the author of nine collections of poetry and five works of fiction. Burnside achieved wide critical acclaim, winning the Whitbread Poetry Award in 2000 for The Asylum Dance which was also shortlisted for the Forward and T.S. Eliot prizes. He left Scotland in 1965, returning to settle there in 1995. In the intervening period he worked as a factory hand, a labourer, a gardener and, for ten years, as a computer systems designer. Laterly, he lived in Fife with his wife and children and taught Creative Writing, Literature and Ecology courses at the University of St. Andrews.

[Author photo © Norman McBeath]

Reviews

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Burnside tiene una especie de mesa de trabajo. Pone una imagen sobre esa mesa. Después una idea, otra idea. Una emoción. Un recuerdo. En algún momento irrumpe un insight que lo conecta todo sobre la mesa. Algo relacionado con la muerte, el duelo, el lenguaje. La lucidez de Burnside es onírica, se trata de cerrar los ojos para ver mejor. Pero hay insomnio. El pulso anímico, sin embargo, es celebratorio. Hay espíritu de fiesta en esta estrategia Barthesiana, Joyceana. Los poemas en el inglés original tienen ese flavour áspero escocés de la intemperie que se impone, del refugio que se vuelve paraíso. “but – listen: / can you hear it in the floor, // the ring that rings / against the ring / of footsteps / when you stumble out of luck?” (p. 68). Hay un Tourneuriano poema dedicado a Jacques Tourneur que casi explica el insomnio luminoso de Burnside, remata “and all night in dreams, / where the Creature was coming for me” (p. 100). Todo el cine que hay en estos poemas opera en sinergia, pero desde dentro de la poesía. También hay algo Borgeano en el ímpetu de Burnside -él mismo lo reconoce en el prólogo-, que por momentos suena tan escocés como argentino en el sentido de esa poética en tensa fascinación entre la vida y la muerte: “so long ago, the room still smells of bone” (p. 88). Slàinte Mhath, John.

[Caspar "moved to storygraph" Bryant]

JOHN a pagan miracle so meticulous so sharp. So eloquent so intelligent. It quivers it has certainty in the Larkiny way. It night-fishes. A gorgeous eye for grammar and the crest of the line. I will be reading more. The bastard managed to get the word minaret into two poems here so I'm very jealous. Take a bow take a nap much love

[Marshall A. Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven’t read any other of Burnside’s collections, but if his style is consistent across this output, I’ll definitely look out for poems by him, but probably won’t prioritize reading full collections. His poems often felt quite intentionally obscured and avoided straightforwardness as a general rule, which made most of them hard to get into. He does however play with some interesting images, and some beautiful word choices, which lent to my appreciation of most of the poems I did enjoy.

My favourite poems from this collection were:

IV. A slaughterman, 1962
Aspects of mental economy
Silkie
Learning to sleep
I. On the animal familiar
The Modern Dance
The price of sand
Toxique
Toxic
A brief memo, for Valentine’s Day

[Keira · Rating 5 out of 5]

As part of a book challenge, I read a chapter of this poetry book every night. Honestly it was stunning, the poems in this book are absolutely beautiful and I really enjoyed reading them all! If you’re looking for a place to start with poetry this is the perfect place!

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are not easy poems, but there are many beautiful ones. Even when they appear sparse, they have a density to them & require a dictionary & few readthroughs. I would count Burnside as one of my favorite contemporary authors someone I never tire of reading & rereading.

[Deni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primer libro que leo de este autor, llega a mis manos publicado por la editorial de un gran amigo y en traducción del Dani Lipara. Son una serie de muy lindos poemas que recorren diversos paisajes, tanto interiores como exteriores. Una voz apacible que va narrando un mundo que existe más allá de las fronteras del yo y las convicciones aplastantes de la cultura. Arranca con un gato enterrado y desde ahí un silencioso luto que no permite dormir va dando lugar a una voz que aparenta ser más sencilla de lo que es. Muy bueno.

[laure · Rating 4 out of 5]

“[...] when i went to look again,
a pail of blood and matter by the door,
the sky slammed shut,
to hold that heartbeat in.”
༄⋆
did not teach me how to sleep :(