What do you think?
Rate this book
Anatomy
ANATOMY is a collection of twenty four poems and two essays that are inspired by the Song of Solomon. The book takes the biblical passion of its source material and marries it with the domestic rhythms of the suburbs. The resulting effect is an intensely candid and intimate portrait of a 21st Century marriage.
Readers of ANATOMY eavesdrop into the ongoing conversation of an unnamed husband and wife. Instead of lovers sharing their experience in the public domain; the reader steps into a private, sometimes surreal world. Here they are asked to reconsider marriage and gender identities, and the primacy of vulnerability and grace in human experience.
You can buy ANATOMY in paperback at http://stackhousejones.com/store/anat... or in Kindle format from Amazon.
Readers of ANATOMY eavesdrop into the ongoing conversation of an unnamed husband and wife. Instead of lovers sharing their experience in the public domain; the reader steps into a private, sometimes surreal world. Here they are asked to reconsider marriage and gender identities, and the primacy of vulnerability and grace in human experience.
You can buy ANATOMY in paperback at http://stackhousejones.com/store/anat... or in Kindle format from Amazon.
- GenresPoetry
64 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2013
1 person is currently reading
158 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 8, 2015
The word anatomy makes me feel chilly inside, for it is, after all, defined in the dictionary as the science of bodily structure. Dissection, analysis and anatomical structure are other definitions the dictionary gives. So it summons a picture in my mind of a white boned skeleton on display in a lecture hall for medical students. Anatomy by Simon Travers made me feel warm inside, however, for it is less about the bare bones of the body and more about the spirit. It is about that thing that many find embarrassing to talk about, even to mention by name, and that is love. It is a celebration of married love. It is also a meditation on that subject in the form of poems and essays. The poems, like the prose, are very clearly and well written. The poems do dwell on the body and what could be called the physical aspect of daily life, but all the time through the clear eye of the spirit.
Nowadays, there is a concentration on the body and how to gratify it, and little talk of the soul and how to keep it active, awake. Whether or not there is such a thing as the soul, a thing contained within and yet separate from the body is a big question. It is a matter for debate. Maybe the soul is just another name for the higher mind. One of the things I admire about Socrates is that he spoke of the soul with such confidence.
On the front cover of Anatomy there glints a wedding ring, which suggests the the theme of the book, which is the celebration of a marriage, the love between a mature man and a mature woman. In his introduction to his book, Simon Travers writes of his attempt to "recreate the effect of the Song of Solomon, speaking with both a male and a female voice. The poems start with the husband speaking, and then the wife, and then they alternate throughout. In addition, some poems directly or indirectly reference passages and imagery from the Song of Solomon."
It is an interesting task that Simon Travers set himself and, I think, he achieved what he set out to do. He managed to write poems as the husband and the wife, which is not an easy thing to do, but he has done it convincingly and with ease. In the same way, of course, a male novelist has to find a voice for both his male and female characters.
I was first drawn to Anatomy because it was written by a man who is a Christian, a religious person who took inspiration from the Song of Solomon. It seems that those who put the books of The Bible together were embarrassed by the Song of Solomon because it is, quite clearly, a collection of love poems, which, I have read, does not mention God once. It celebrates the love between a man and a woman, with some erotic passages. So in order to justify its inclusion in The Bible they decided it was an allegory, concerned with God's love for his people or the love of Jesus for his Church. So they made things complicated, for themselves and for readers of The Bible. When I first read the Song of Solomon, the idea that it was an allegory only confused me, for it reads, quite clearly, as a collection of love poems, and not as an allegory of any kind, at all. Now I am free of the allegory idea, I can read it with greater enjoyment.
Anatomy could be called a twenty first century version of the Song of Solomon. The warmth of embarrassment in the skin of my face I felt, at times, reading the poems in the book, for they speak of what happens behind the shut doors and closed curtains of the house of a modern married couple. In the poems, the husband speaks, then the wife. The fears of a middle aged married couple are explored in the poems, fears of illness in the future and the fear of death. There are happy memories, too, such as eating Kendal mint cake, and always there are such good lines as:
"In between discernible notes
Knowing to everyone else,
I sound either flat or sharp,
I tighten my strings to you."
And here is another I liked:
"A gashed cloud reveals a full moon."
It may seem obvious to say, but I think a good poem should have at least some memorable, highly quotable lines. "The trouble with Shakespeare is that he is full of quotes," I once read. It is one proof that his works are worth reading and the reason they have lasted. Well, I can assure you that Anatomy has many lines that you will want to remember and think are worth quoting. People like quoting from novels, songs, poems, television programmes and films. Many people who have not read Hamlet at least know the famous quote from its pages:
"To be or not to be, that is the question."
The routine of a married couple, ironing, going to and from work, having a bath, references to pop music records, television programmes, such is what is explored in the poems in Anatomy. Of the books in my book collection, they reminded me most of the love poems of John Donne and some of the poems and song lyrics contained in Stranger Music by Leonard Cohen.
The final essay in the book, on fantasy and reality, I found interesting. It is refreshing and a pleasure to read the work of a poet who is a happy man, as much as anyone can be faced with the world as it is, and that his poems are written in the light. I have noticed a trend towards darkness, with no light to oppose it, in what people write and read nowadays. A poet does not have to be sad, lone, bitter, brokenhearted. A poet can be happy. It seems that the best way to live is to love and be loved. In his poems in his book, Simon Travers reveals the difference between making love and the simple animal function of having sex.
It is refreshing to me that Anatomy is written by a man who is confident enough in his faith to call himself a Christian. Atheism and books by atheists seem to be popular these days. I find atheism and atheists completely understandable. Why should anyone believe in what they cannot see, after all? In his essays in his book, Simon Travers talks much about grace and of experiencing it in his life. The dictionary defines grace as "divine regenerating and inspiring influence." Simon Travers is a lucky man, to be able to speak with confidence about grace and of experiencing it in his life. I recommend his book to anyone who likes poetry and who like reading thoughtful essays on the fundamental relationship in life, that between man and woman.
Not long after finishing reading Anatomy, I read a poem, called I Loved You First, by Christina Rossetti, one of my favourite Victorian poets, the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the founder members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Her poem quite uncannily echoes what Simon Travers says in his essays about the relationship between a man and a woman in a true love state. Here I quote some lines of her poem:
"For verily love knows not
"mine" or "thine",
with separate "I" and "thou"
free love has done
for one is both and both
are one in love.
Rich love knows nought of
"thine" that is not "mine".
Both have the strength and
both the length thereof.
Both of us, of the love
which makes us one."
The most important lines here quoted, in relation to the poems and essays of Anatomy are the following:
"For one is both and both
are one in love."
It seems that Simon Travers would agree with those words, as all those who are or who have been in love would, too.
Nowadays, there is a concentration on the body and how to gratify it, and little talk of the soul and how to keep it active, awake. Whether or not there is such a thing as the soul, a thing contained within and yet separate from the body is a big question. It is a matter for debate. Maybe the soul is just another name for the higher mind. One of the things I admire about Socrates is that he spoke of the soul with such confidence.
On the front cover of Anatomy there glints a wedding ring, which suggests the the theme of the book, which is the celebration of a marriage, the love between a mature man and a mature woman. In his introduction to his book, Simon Travers writes of his attempt to "recreate the effect of the Song of Solomon, speaking with both a male and a female voice. The poems start with the husband speaking, and then the wife, and then they alternate throughout. In addition, some poems directly or indirectly reference passages and imagery from the Song of Solomon."
It is an interesting task that Simon Travers set himself and, I think, he achieved what he set out to do. He managed to write poems as the husband and the wife, which is not an easy thing to do, but he has done it convincingly and with ease. In the same way, of course, a male novelist has to find a voice for both his male and female characters.
I was first drawn to Anatomy because it was written by a man who is a Christian, a religious person who took inspiration from the Song of Solomon. It seems that those who put the books of The Bible together were embarrassed by the Song of Solomon because it is, quite clearly, a collection of love poems, which, I have read, does not mention God once. It celebrates the love between a man and a woman, with some erotic passages. So in order to justify its inclusion in The Bible they decided it was an allegory, concerned with God's love for his people or the love of Jesus for his Church. So they made things complicated, for themselves and for readers of The Bible. When I first read the Song of Solomon, the idea that it was an allegory only confused me, for it reads, quite clearly, as a collection of love poems, and not as an allegory of any kind, at all. Now I am free of the allegory idea, I can read it with greater enjoyment.
Anatomy could be called a twenty first century version of the Song of Solomon. The warmth of embarrassment in the skin of my face I felt, at times, reading the poems in the book, for they speak of what happens behind the shut doors and closed curtains of the house of a modern married couple. In the poems, the husband speaks, then the wife. The fears of a middle aged married couple are explored in the poems, fears of illness in the future and the fear of death. There are happy memories, too, such as eating Kendal mint cake, and always there are such good lines as:
"In between discernible notes
Knowing to everyone else,
I sound either flat or sharp,
I tighten my strings to you."
And here is another I liked:
"A gashed cloud reveals a full moon."
It may seem obvious to say, but I think a good poem should have at least some memorable, highly quotable lines. "The trouble with Shakespeare is that he is full of quotes," I once read. It is one proof that his works are worth reading and the reason they have lasted. Well, I can assure you that Anatomy has many lines that you will want to remember and think are worth quoting. People like quoting from novels, songs, poems, television programmes and films. Many people who have not read Hamlet at least know the famous quote from its pages:
"To be or not to be, that is the question."
The routine of a married couple, ironing, going to and from work, having a bath, references to pop music records, television programmes, such is what is explored in the poems in Anatomy. Of the books in my book collection, they reminded me most of the love poems of John Donne and some of the poems and song lyrics contained in Stranger Music by Leonard Cohen.
The final essay in the book, on fantasy and reality, I found interesting. It is refreshing and a pleasure to read the work of a poet who is a happy man, as much as anyone can be faced with the world as it is, and that his poems are written in the light. I have noticed a trend towards darkness, with no light to oppose it, in what people write and read nowadays. A poet does not have to be sad, lone, bitter, brokenhearted. A poet can be happy. It seems that the best way to live is to love and be loved. In his poems in his book, Simon Travers reveals the difference between making love and the simple animal function of having sex.
It is refreshing to me that Anatomy is written by a man who is confident enough in his faith to call himself a Christian. Atheism and books by atheists seem to be popular these days. I find atheism and atheists completely understandable. Why should anyone believe in what they cannot see, after all? In his essays in his book, Simon Travers talks much about grace and of experiencing it in his life. The dictionary defines grace as "divine regenerating and inspiring influence." Simon Travers is a lucky man, to be able to speak with confidence about grace and of experiencing it in his life. I recommend his book to anyone who likes poetry and who like reading thoughtful essays on the fundamental relationship in life, that between man and woman.
Not long after finishing reading Anatomy, I read a poem, called I Loved You First, by Christina Rossetti, one of my favourite Victorian poets, the sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the founder members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Her poem quite uncannily echoes what Simon Travers says in his essays about the relationship between a man and a woman in a true love state. Here I quote some lines of her poem:
"For verily love knows not
"mine" or "thine",
with separate "I" and "thou"
free love has done
for one is both and both
are one in love.
Rich love knows nought of
"thine" that is not "mine".
Both have the strength and
both the length thereof.
Both of us, of the love
which makes us one."
The most important lines here quoted, in relation to the poems and essays of Anatomy are the following:
"For one is both and both
are one in love."
It seems that Simon Travers would agree with those words, as all those who are or who have been in love would, too.
May 5, 2014
There is something remarkable about an author’s endeavor to record the ideas and emotions set in place by divine inspiration. Simon Travers does that and so much more with ‘Anatomy,’ a book of poetry and essays deemed an echo of such spiritual writings as the Song of Solomon and the Bible as a whole. When reading Travers’ rich text, I experienced a wide range of emotional convictions that writing as good at that remarkably exposes: I found myself blushing with the intimacy revealed between husband and wife, delightfully sighing with their sighs, and applauding the brilliance of such passages:
“Say it’s forever,
and promise to try
with a ring on a finger
shaped by love and π [pi].”
Simon Travers writes with an author’s tone that is appreciated and admired; such fluidity of sentiments and notions are revealed to us in a vulnerable way: through published writing. By sharing ‘Anatomy’ with us, it is as if one human has made naked his soul, and in doing so, calls each of us to lay aside our own shameful coverings and embrace the arms of our love, be it the written word, a significant other, or the GOD who made us: in all things, reciprocating the love given to us.
There are many passages within ‘Anatomy’ that may ring true to the a one-minded conglomerate which is the believing nation. I found a sheer exhilaration in reading these lines:
“If I have to choose, then I believe that the knowing of sex belongs
in the world of truth and reality, both in the physicality of the
everyday world placed before us and in the spirituality of what is
invisible but known, like two people carrying the weight of one
identity…
So why not do our best to consign reality to the dustbin? Why not
build a new utopia if the world is all these things, even if it only
exists inside our minds or computer screens? Why should we put
up with it?”
This is asked by Travers in his essay ‘In Love with Reality.’ It is indeed a precept worth living: to figure out whether we can make the choice to pursue a better reality. I believe it is possible through a mind “continually renewed,” (Romans 12:1-3) that we are given the blessed opportunity to see life as exponentially increasing in excellence. Only though grace- the favor of GOD given to us through belief, and justifiably so, HIS ever-enduring love bestowed- can we perceive this more excellent reality, and know for certain that life is truly worth living.
“Say it’s forever,
and promise to try
with a ring on a finger
shaped by love and π [pi].”
Simon Travers writes with an author’s tone that is appreciated and admired; such fluidity of sentiments and notions are revealed to us in a vulnerable way: through published writing. By sharing ‘Anatomy’ with us, it is as if one human has made naked his soul, and in doing so, calls each of us to lay aside our own shameful coverings and embrace the arms of our love, be it the written word, a significant other, or the GOD who made us: in all things, reciprocating the love given to us.
There are many passages within ‘Anatomy’ that may ring true to the a one-minded conglomerate which is the believing nation. I found a sheer exhilaration in reading these lines:
“If I have to choose, then I believe that the knowing of sex belongs
in the world of truth and reality, both in the physicality of the
everyday world placed before us and in the spirituality of what is
invisible but known, like two people carrying the weight of one
identity…
So why not do our best to consign reality to the dustbin? Why not
build a new utopia if the world is all these things, even if it only
exists inside our minds or computer screens? Why should we put
up with it?”
This is asked by Travers in his essay ‘In Love with Reality.’ It is indeed a precept worth living: to figure out whether we can make the choice to pursue a better reality. I believe it is possible through a mind “continually renewed,” (Romans 12:1-3) that we are given the blessed opportunity to see life as exponentially increasing in excellence. Only though grace- the favor of GOD given to us through belief, and justifiably so, HIS ever-enduring love bestowed- can we perceive this more excellent reality, and know for certain that life is truly worth living.
August 3, 2016
Anatomy is a collection of poems inspired by the Songs of Solomon, the book of the bible which celebrates carnal love and affection between a man and his wife. The Songs of Solomon, or the Song of Songs, tells the story of two people who love, desire, yearn and invite one another to share in the most intimate relations two lovers can share. Simon has given a contemporary facelift to this biblical tale and placed it in a modern context and with a modern glossary while staying true to the traditional message of the passages. He's created a unique and graceful love story told in snapshots of inner dialogue and emotions of the two lovers from the dawn of their romance into the twilight of their devotion.
Please take the time to read my review of Simon's book Anatomy on All The Things Inbetween: Tongue Wagger - Anatomy by Simon Travers
Also check out his Word Slinger Profile: Weekly Indie Word Slinger - Simon Travers
#SimonTravers #Anatomy #Poetry #Verse #SongofSolomon #StackhouseJones #Poet #GenderIdentity #WeeklyIndieWordSlingerProject2014 #WeeklyIndieWordSlinger #WordSlinger #IndieAuthor #SelfPublisher
Please take the time to read my review of Simon's book Anatomy on All The Things Inbetween: Tongue Wagger - Anatomy by Simon Travers
Also check out his Word Slinger Profile: Weekly Indie Word Slinger - Simon Travers
#SimonTravers #Anatomy #Poetry #Verse #SongofSolomon #StackhouseJones #Poet #GenderIdentity #WeeklyIndieWordSlingerProject2014 #WeeklyIndieWordSlinger #WordSlinger #IndieAuthor #SelfPublisher
January 11, 2014
Loved it..brilliant clever intimate ...between couple can see hesitantcy in beginning poems and more honest in depth trust and vulnerability in the middle to ending poems...puzzling at times...i already have favorite quotes from anatomy. ...received a copy for free from goodreads first reads.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews