Poetry collection review: The Arctic (2022) by Don Paterson.

I am here with another book review... For this one I am reviewing Don Paterson's The Arctic (2022). The title comes from the name of a bar in a post-apocalyptic world where survivors go. Yet again Paterson amazes me with his work. Let us get into another wonderfully written collection...

This collection is different from the other two I have read - Rain (2009) and 40 Sonnets (2015). Each time I read one of his poetry collections, it stands out to me its own distinct way. The writing is evidently his with each collection but none are the same as one another. With this collection one thing that I noticed straight away was how cleverly depicted thought-out the poems were. He brings new light to things we are already familiar with. Take his poem 'I am Sleepy', who knew the denial of grief could become materialised as though a living thing? This is what he writes about denial - 

‘O here's Denial, shaking his wee head
like he doesn't know the girl's as good as dead.¹’

This is one example of many where his words are so uniquely his own and how he makes me see things in a different light. Another poem that made me see things differently was ‘from cool tricks for kids’ because I certainly never considered any of those to be tricks from my childhood. I found that poem rather funny if I am being honest. This poem for be brought back memories from being a child in the past.

The collection itself seems to brings the past, present and future together. We have references to ancient Greek times for instance in 'On Being Seen', the present was well... present in poems such as 'Spring Letter' and poems offering glimpses of the future such as ‘The Alexandrian Library, Part IV: Citizen Science’.

His collection brings together current and recent relevant themes such as Ukraine, 2020 and Brexit. It is a mix of poems for the here and now that I loved to read and I am giving it a 9.5/10.


Until next time,


Thomas.


Footnotes:

¹ Don Paterson, "I Am Sleepy" in The Arctic, (Faber & Faber, 2022), 15.


Bibliography:

Paterson, Don. "I Am Sleepy." in The Arctic. Faber & Faber, 2022.

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