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Review: Carson’s Red Doc>

Red Doc>

Anne Carson

A bit too much.

As deeply as I loved Autobiography of Red, and as badly as I wanted to like this this, Red’s kinda sorta sequel, Red Doc> was too avant garde for me.  Ostensibly, this is the story of what happened to Geryon, the protagonist of the Autobiography, when he grew up. He returns home, he raises cattle, he meets a woman, he travels again in a new triangle of sorts, he suffers loss. There are parts (sentences, really) that are stunning, but on the whole, the work was too difficult for me.

Carson demanded more than I could give — finishing was a struggle. Perhaps I’ll return to this later, when the kids are older and I’m not so bone tired. For now, this left me exhausted, and underwhelmed. Odds are, I wasn’t really getting it.

Recommended for the enthusiast.

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  1. Bibliography: Anne Carson | Milo and the Calf

    […] Autobiography of Red is one of my favorite books of contemporary poetry (can we call it that?) but Red Doc> was too much for me. But even when I don’t like an individual work, I love what I see to be […]

  2. 2016: My Year In Books | Milo and the Calf

    […] Red Doc >, Anne Carson – Recommended for the enthusiast […]

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