'A source of uncompromising elemental warmth' Ali SmithBy turns moving, playful and wise, the poems gathered in Dearly are about absences and endings, ageing and retrospection, but also about gifts and renewals. They explore bodies and minds in flux, as well as the everyday objects and rituals that embed us in the present. Werewolves, sirens and dreams make their appearance, as do various forms of animal life and fragments of our damaged environment.Dearly is a pure Atwood delight, and long-term readers and new fans alike will treasure its insight, empathy and humour.BOOK OF THE YEAR OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES
CONTRIBUTORS: Margaret AtwoodEAN: 9781529113280COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 130 gHEIGHT: 198 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Vintage PublishingDATE PUBLISHED: 2022-03-17CITY: GENRE: POETRY / Canadian / General, POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Death, Grief, Loss, POETRY / Women AuthorsWIDTH: 129 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Relating to the stages of life, Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards), Poetry by individual poets, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss
Here we see Atwood at the height of her poetic powers, A poignant yet playful collection of verse, about endings and departures, it is sliced with clever, sharp humour, This collection of poems is a reckoning with the past that comes from a place of wisdom and control . . . You can almost hear her speaking voice, see the twinkle in her eye . . . wonderfully observed, Atwood's first poetry collection in over a decade is intimate, lingering delicately between the human and the natural, and this world and the next, She's become world famous for The Handmaid's Tale, and jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize for The Testaments, but Canadian author Margaret Atwood was once better known as a poet . . . this new volume brings together some of her favourite themes, from zombies, werewolves and aliens, to the passage of time and the most pressing political issues of the day
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. She established herself as a poet in the 1960s and has published sixteen books of poems, most recently The Door in 2007. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid's Tale, went back into the bestseller charts in 2017, when the Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series. Its sequel, The Testaments, was published in 2019 and was a global number one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. Atwood has won numerous awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
Format:
'A source of uncompromising elemental warmth' Ali SmithBy turns moving, playful and wise, the poems gathered in Dearly are about absences and endings, ageing and retrospection, but also about gifts and renewals. They explore bodies and minds in flux, as well as the everyday objects and rituals that embed us in the present. Werewolves, sirens and dreams make their appearance, as do various forms of animal life and fragments of our damaged environment.Dearly is a pure Atwood delight, and long-term readers and new fans alike will treasure its insight, empathy and humour.BOOK OF THE YEAR OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES
CONTRIBUTORS: Margaret AtwoodEAN: 9781529113280COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 130 gHEIGHT: 198 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Vintage PublishingDATE PUBLISHED: 2022-03-17CITY: GENRE: POETRY / Canadian / General, POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Death, Grief, Loss, POETRY / Women AuthorsWIDTH: 129 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Relating to the stages of life, Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards), Poetry by individual poets, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. She established herself as a poet in the 1960s and has published sixteen books of poems, most recently The Door in 2007. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid's Tale, went back into the bestseller charts in 2017, when the Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series. Its sequel, The Testaments, was published in 2019 and was a global number one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. Atwood has won numerous awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
A book packed with beautiful artwork and words of wisdom and encouragement
I fell in love with The Boy, the mole, the fox and the horse of the first book, which I borrowed, but now purchased, Always remember is a precious sequal, once again packed with inspiration and exquisite artwork. A book that you can read in one sitting, but will go back to time and again, taking time to fully appreciate the beautiful line drawings and pastel paintings.
It will be foolish to think that one can escape storms in your life, but you will find wise words of encouragement here: “But I need to remember who I am: that I am loved, I matter, and I bring to this world things no one else can. So I’ll hold on.” I simply love the sentiment about a storm: “The blue sky above never leaves.”
I could spend much more time quoting from the book; my own words fall short. Rather I would encourage you to add Always remember, as well as The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse by Charlie Mackesy to you to-keep bookshelf.
These books are published by Penguin Random House UK and made available in South Africa by Penguin Random House SA.
Incredible ! My grandson devours the Amulet books. He cannot put the book down once he started. It literally says "5, no 3 pages in you'll be hooked !" And that is true !
I mean he is 8.5 years old.
Mev Smit is gereed om haar verlede finaal uit te wis
Mev Smit het ’n huishoudelike naam geword onder die geledere van Afrikaanse lesers. Met die verskyning van die vierde boek in die reeks, was skrywer, Elizabeth Wasserman, slim genoeg om af te skop met ’n volledige lys van karakters wat oorgespoel het uit die vorige sages van mev Smit se lewe in Aronspoort.
“Die bakkie is so deel van mev Smit se mondering soos die goueraambil met die lense wat donker word in sonlig en haar vormlose klere.” (p78 e-boek) Mev Smit se poging om te verdwyn is natuurlik die gevolg van die geld van haar oorlede man wat sy uit sy vennote se “gulsige hande” wou hou. Haar grootste begeerte is egter om doodgewoon te wees, wat sy uiteraard nooit gaan regkry nie.
Hierdie vierde aflewering van haar manewales verskil nogal van die voriges. Vir die eerste maal begin sy dinge in werking stel om haar verlede finaal uit te wis, juis om daardie doodgewone status te bekom, of, as dit dan so móét uitwerk, om te kom in die proses. Dit skep ’n sterker spanningslyn en meer kompulsiewe leeslus. Wat my veral beïndruk, is die fyn humor wat telkens raakgelees word. “Wat praat jy, Elsa? Afrikaans of komitaans? Ons is nie nou in ’n vergadering nie.” (p85 e-boek) Sinsnedes soos: “’n ernstige verbrokkeling van sy oordeelsvermoë” (p288 e-boek) dui op die skrywer se puik hantering van taal en die vertelkuns.
Die sogenaamde “knussies” het gewild geword onder lesers soos ekself, wat nie té veel eksplisiete geweld goed hanteer nie. Doodgewoon mevrou Smit is ’n gawe aanbieding in hierdie genre.
Daar ontwikkel 'n unieke en intense verhouding tussen Zak en Samantha
“Dis eenvoudig. Eintlik heel eenvoudig. Sy het niks verloor nie, want sy het hom nooit gehad nie. Sy het net wonderlike herinneringe bygekry. Herinneringe van hoe om in absolute harmonie met iemand te voel. En totale vrede te ervaar.” (p.129)
Hierdie paragraaf is sprekend van die unieke verhouding wat ontwikkel het tussen Zak en Samantha op Kruisklipbaai. Terwyl die aantrekkingskrag tussen hulle vanuit die staanspoor intens was, het die skrywer dit meesterlik bestuur en weergegee. Geen storm en drang en in die bed spring nie. Wel twee mense met hulle eie wroegings. Samantha wat vasklou aan haar belofte van ewige liefde vir ’n verloofde wat verdrink het. Zak wat verbete skuil agter sy vrees dat hy, soos sy pa, homself sal verloor as hy lief kry.
Daar is ook ’n goeie skeut spanning wanneer skurke op Zak se spoor is en dan vir Samantha ook teiken. Hierdie onverwagte verwikkeling kleur die goeie storielyn verder in en sorg vir ’n heerlike leeservaring.
En toe kom jy, uit die pen van Nerine le Roux, is hoogs aanbeveel vir lesers wat hou van ’n goeie romanse.