Oyster

by Michael Pedersen, Scott Hutchison (Illustrator)

Oyster is the second collection from prize-winning Edinburgh poet Michael Pedersen.

From Grez-sur-Loing and festive nights to sizzling summers stretched out in the Meadows and Portobello, Michael Pedersen’s unique brand of poetry captures a debauchery and a disputation of characters, narrated with an intense honesty and a love of language that is playful, powerful and penetrative; he vividly illuminates scenes with an energy that is both witty, humourous but also deeply intelligent. Oyster is iced, spiced, baked and beaming for your pleasure.

Oyster features bespoke illustrations from Frightened Rabbit lead singer and songwriter Scott Hutchison.

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

Reviews

[od1_40reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having just read ‘Boy Friends’, of course I wanted to read the poetry collection that Michael and Scott created together.

I’m not hugely experienced with poetry, but I really enjoyed these. Very accessible, entertaining, sometimes hilarious.

[David Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first collection of poetry I've ever read, at least since my school days, and the obligatory nod to Burns Night which always felt shoehorned into our school syllabus every January.

I never really 'got' poetry, so it speaks volumes that after seeing Michael Pedersen perform live and discovering that I thoroughly enjoyed it, I bought myself a copy of this (and was then fortunate enough to see him live a second time).

The truth is though I struggled to achieve the same joy from these words written on a page. I dipped in and out of this over a really long time, and to be fair I think I was getting a bit more out of it earlier on as it wasn't long after I'd seen him live and I guess I had his voice and the rhythms of his delivery in my head - though I feel like some of the material toward the end of the collection wasn't as strong generally? At its best this collection was funny, personal, sometimes a little blue, and occasionally relatable, and I enjoyed how it slipped in and out of Scots.

I'd love to see him perform again, and reading this collection at all is certainly further than I've ever gotten with the genre, but I think it's fair to say I still struggle with poetry. Although I enjoyed this a lot in places it wasn't exactly a Eureka moment that unlocked something in my brain.

I also couldn't finish this without mentioning Scott Hutchison's illustration. Scott was the reason I ended up seeing Michael perform at one chaotic Christmas-themed mixed-genre event in Edinburgh just a few months before Scott passed (in what would turn out to be the last time I saw him perform and the second last time I saw him at all). His quirky, sometimes unsettling illustrations are a good fit here, and it's a lovely little reminder of the quite unique sense of identity and humour he had, and I am glad to have it.

[Ellie Beranová · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanna more of such a playful, funny and piercingly beautiful poetry. Pedersen´s wry sense of humour, irony and disarming honesty have aroused umpteen emotions within me, ranging from resigned sadness to exhilarating happiness. It strongly reminded me what a miracle it is to be alive. Numerous wonders of the universe, love, friendships and wild parties are among the key topics that I enjoyed the most. Last but not least, Pedersen´s dedication to a deceased friend and illustrator of the book Scott Hutchison is heartbreaking.

[Sara Bartlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading 'Boy Friends' by Michael Pedersen, I was intrigued to read his collection of poetry. The illustrations by Scott Hutchinson were superb, and the poems made me feel nostalgia/sadness/joy/laughter - sometimes all in the same poem! Definitely worth a read, even if not a massive poetry fan.

[William McCall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweaty, frantic, and entertaining book of poetry made even better by Scott Hutchison’s creative illustrations. It at times meanders too deeply into parochial subjects such as particularly close friends or certain facets of the Scottish experience that don’t translate well to the medium, but Pederson’s creation is generally enjoyable. “Big Feardie” is sure to remain a favorite.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the use of strong (and sometimes unpleasant) imagery and dialect to tell stories of love, friendship, relationships, and Scotland.

[David Kenvyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is astonishing. Michael Pedersen is, without a shadow of doubt, an extraordinary wordsmith. The words flow from is pen in a cascade of beauty that left me wanting more and looking forward to his next book. Some of the words are naughty but they are never gratuitous. They make a statement about the sheer bloody mindedness of life, and are therefore essential to the power of the poems concerned.
There are 48 poems in this book, telling the story of a young man’s life as he travels the world. Birthday Barbeque 2008 is about exactly that as the narrator and his friends sit on a rooftop in Kentish Town enjoying a barbeque. Starry-Eyed is about scanning the heavens and thinking of the gap that Peggy as left in his life. Cliff and Noc is about a guard (Cliff) working in a Maritime Museum in San Diego and of the whale who has learned to imitate human speech. (I assume that the whale was imitating American English, but that is not made explicit). James Dovetail is about the discovery that baked beans are a working-class food. Wherever the poems are set and whatever their subject matter, they are firmly rooted in Scotland because of the references and the language used. It is that sheer gallus language that gives the poems their power.
Conversation overheard in Craigmillar Dental Practice is an account of a racist rant. It is actually very scary simply because no-one challenges what the woman is saying., until she is called in to have the dentist fix her teeth. We are not told what happens then. We are simply left squirming with embarrassment, reading the poem. You have to know that Craigmillar is not the kind of area in Edinburgh where it would be safe to issue such a challenge. Edinburgh is not all Morningside or Stockbridge. It is the city where “Trainspotting” was set.
These are taut, well-constructed poems, vibrant with the Scots language. But do not let that put you off. You may not be familiar with some of the words used, but there is nothing obscure about them. The meaning is translucent and crystal clear.
If you think that you do not like poetry, read this book anyway. It is a kind of writing that we were never introduced to in school, more’s the pity. This man has a talent that we can all enjoy.

[Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

These poems were dripping with Scotland and Scottish spellings and it was a pleasure for me to get into this mindset. I’m going to unfairly compare this to the other book of poems Scott Hutchison illustrated just because that’s how I found this collection. Between the two though, I preferred this one — somewhat for the fact that the design of this felt more appropriate (read my other review to see why I disliked the other collection’s design), but mostly because its poems were more fleshed out and fully formed, though there were some that went a bit too abstract for me. My tastes run a bit more on the grounded, and poems like “(In Between) Mud & Stars” and “When Carla Moved Out” were my favorites, or even the hypothetical but much more linear in its delivery “Guide to Space Proofing Your Robot Heart” which had some of the best lines in the whole collection. The others were fine, but just a bit too non-sequitur for me. The drawings were great, particularly the cow and the Scotland drawing. I’ve sent off an email to hear audio files of 11 poems the author read, as I can tell they would be very intriguing when read aloud. Overall a decent collection and though predominately not my style, there are enough glimpses of beauty to give it four stars.

[Alexandra Morel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Pedersen is my absolute favourite contemporary poet. His work draws laughter, tears, a twist of pain in the gut, or a wry smile from poem to poem. He hits on the entirety of the human condition, whether recounting conversation, actions, events not witnessed but heard about through one way or another, or even the tiniest aspects of nature. Love, hate, anger, sadness, the sharpest interest, an acute sense of I-don't-care jump between lines and pages. These are poems you can hear in your head, can see inscribed behind your eyelids. They stick because they mean something, even if it seems they don't at first read. Scott Hutchison's illustrations add another level of artistry and another human's emotions to the work as a whole and are, in fact, why I found this in the first place, having been a fan of FR for years. If you are a person capable of feeling, or even if you think you aren't, you must read every poem in this book. Multiple times. Out loud, if you have trouble with dialect. But read you must.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this after having read Pedersen's novel 'Boy Friends' and having such a fondness for it. Subsequently I entered reading this book of poems with some sentimentality that the same two people who featured in my last favourite were also involved in this together, however was met with a harshness and dissatisfaction I did not expect. Unfortunately these poems weren't for me and there were very few I felt any connection with. The Scottish slang slowed me down a bit and I didn't favour the structure, subject matter or cadence of much of it.

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 I dunno I got bored reading this but I appreciate some of the poems and the art.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up because of Scott's illustrations. Loved Michael's words. The delicious dirt under the fingernails.

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable with a rhythm to it. I’ll probably revisit at a later point, though short there were many parts that really stick to me

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every poem in this collection is witty, relatable and insightful and yet is a breath of fresh air. The use of dialect, text message inserts and humour is all new and exciting, and makes this collection a joy to read. There is real narrative to all of Pedersen's poetry, to a point where you don't need the recorded releases of some of the poems to truly hear his voice. Like his other work, Play With Me, Pedersen offers dalliances in romance and politics back to back, and presents the world through his eyes and accompanied with a wry smile.

[Claire Milne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the poems in this book, I love the illustrations and I love the honesty that is in the written word and also in the drawings. I could one of each that would be my favourites at this time but both would change in another reading of it.

[Seò · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reread this every year and I love it

[Roxani]

Whimsical, delightful, powerful.