The Violence

by Ethan Paquin

Poetry. Ethan Paquin's third book is a sprawling meditation touching on the loss of love and commitment, the painfulness of memory, and the disorientation as well as the consolations of travel. The poems of THE VIOLENCE contain a rawness of emotion and clarity of feeling rare among writers of Paquin's generation. Where form plays a part, it is likely to be the poet's page becomes more of a canvas than a neutral vehicle. "THE VIOLENCE is a compact of determining forces both poet and language must survive, whether they be fact of a day's events or else lodged in the very fabric of language itself. It is Ethan Paquin's power that he can admit these furies and survive them"--Robert Creeley.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Anne (Not of Green Gables)]

Some poetry collections just don't click with you and sadly that was the case with The Violence for me.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paquin is coming to read here next week, so I thought I'd look this over to see what he's all about.... It's a weird book, one that I think traps itself too tightly into this tough guy pose. It feels like there was an outside pressure, a need to shut down the poems before they reached any lyrical swing. I don't care too much, but it was strange, as if the storyline (such as it is: more a persona, I guess, that a throughline or narrative) meant that certain things couldn't happen.

That said, the voice was fresh and interesting, even if it didn't totally connect for me every time. And there are weirds notations about how the poems are to be read, so I'm curious to hear what the poet does with them when he reads them.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked him better in person than on the page...