In Mint Condition 2013: Impressions and Criticism
Links to reviews in this thread:
Mr.Scratch's Murder Circus (review by Jean)
Excelsior! (review by BROWNINGS CHILDE)
Overview of the book by TwistedNadine
The Receptionist (review by Jean)
Overview of the book by Hannah
Overview and review of The Train Graveyard; Excelsior!; My First Book; The Rule of Three and On Monday, I ate my Cat by divemaster
Excelsior! (review by Hannah)
Tabula Rasa, The Receptionist, The Train Graveyard, Brothers (review by Heather19)
The Train Graveyard (review by Jean)
http://www.thedarktower.org/custom/i...ition%20PB.jpg
So, this amazing thing actually happened and people started receiving the book and reading it!
It's a truly great event, and a giant milestone. Many people have posted here their poetry and prose, but very few had seen their works published - before this very day.
I hope with all my heart that we all will have a lot to say about one another's stories and poems that have been chosen by Shannon, Amber and Brice for this - our very first - volume.
Not only praise (though of course this too!), but any criticism is very welcome!
P.S. Mark your spoilers! Not all of us have read the whole book yet!
Mr.Scratch's Murder Circus, by Jeremy Gooch
The man whose poem opens the collection is very well known around here. I personally consider him one of our three best poets (the other two being Frunobulax, who has been absent for so long there's hardly any hope for his return, and Jon, who, as I dearly hope, has submitted something for IMC 2014), and our first Poet of the Month.
I know there are people around who are better at literary criticism than me, and I hope they will post soon; I'll only say a few words.
The poem is captivating and rich in imagery, cruelly apt in its painting a world where nobody is innocent. The "discordant harmony" reigns between the "wicked" and "ghouls" on the outside, and "the damned and cursed" inside: everybody wins the same lot where souls are readliy traded, and no-one escapes.
The same "discordant harmony" is shaping the stanzas: Jeremy chose to rhyme only the even lines (while I know very well he can rhyme everything he wants, inside out and upside down, thus his technical skill allows him to chose exactly how and what he wants to rhyme) and the flow of the verse acquires the very degree of discordancy that allows it to stay within harmony; likewise, he associates incompatible things, which brings everything together into a deliciously disturbing whole.