Small World

by Richard Price

The 'Patient' suffers a brain haemorrhage. Small World grows out of the days before and after. It has the authority of lived experience, beginning with what Price dubs 'existential family poems': honed, lyrical, they explore the dynamics of modern life. Price's poems observe and reflect, revisiting and deepening the themes of his earlier books. These poems prepare us for the moment when the poet's lover, the 'Patient', is afflicted. At times angry and despairing, the poems evoke hospital conditions and social attitudes to the ill, but the main focus is on the intricate reality of living day to day, trying to bring memory to bear on the Price's produces a multi-layered collection that builds a rich portrait of love under almost intolerable pressure.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Richard Price is a contemporary Scottish poet and novelist who has also published translations. He grew up in Renfrewshire, and began writing poetry at the age of 14. After leaving school, he trained as a journalist at Napier College Edinburgh, before taking a degree in English and Librarianship at the University of Strathclyde.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Mandy Haggith]

A deeply personal collection of poems about the poet's family, including a really powerful sequence about his wife in a coma and recovering from severe brain trauma.